New Jersey progressive cheers Congresswomen who seek to outlaw bribery

The criminal charges against New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez — which include allegations of accepting gifts and cash in exchange for official acts— have prompted a bipartisan attempt in Congress to expand and strengthen federal bribery law.

The challenger who took four of ten votes away from Menendez in New Jersey’s 2018 Democratic primary election welcomed the legislation from Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota and GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

“For 50 years we had a strong economy and a functioning democracy then we got supply-side lunacy, which resulted in a declining middle class, debt & demagoguery,” said Lisa McCormick. “My suggestion is that we reverse Reaganomics and outlaw bribery and this measure would improve the honest services fraud statute and make it harder for officials to get away with selling out the public.”

Craig explicitly referenced mounting federal bribery and corruption charges against Menendez in the press release announcing her Gifts for Officials, Legislators, and Delegates (GOLD) Standard Act.

The Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in McDonnell v. United States interpreted the definition of an “official act” to be extremely narrow. This definition has made prosecution of public officials under the federal bribery statute extremely difficult in the years since.

Under Craig’s GOLD Standard Act, any approval, disapproval, recommendation, rendering of advice, or investigation on any question would be considered an “official act” made by a public official, and prosecutable under federal bribery law.

“Public officials should be held to the highest ethical and legal standards – not be immune from them,” said Craig. “Senator Menendez’s case is an urgently needed reminder of the risks weak bribery laws pose to our democracy and national security. My bipartisan bill changes that to ensure public officials who abuse their office can be held accountable.”

Craig’s legislation is co-sponsored by Illinois Democratis Rep. Eric Sorenson and Andy Kim, who supported Menendez and appeared as his running mate in the 2018 Democratic primary, following the corrupt lawmaker’s first criminal trail, but is seeking to replace him in the Senate.

“Now more than ever, we need to restore trust in our government institutions, especially in light of recent scandals involving members facing superseding indictments and multiple counts of conspiracy and obstruction on both sides of the aisle,” said Mace.

“While candidates benefit from a corrupt campaign contribution system and greedy donors gain from this legal form of bribery, Americans want to see campaign finance reform become a reality,” said McCormick, who has called on Congress to establish public financing for campaigns and prohibit anyone from giving money to politicians and politician organizations that would be expected to influence government decisions.

“My neighbors back home in Central and Northwestern Illinois are tired of Members of Congress who put their financial interests ahead of the communities they serve,” said Sorensen.

“In New Jersey, we’ve seen scandal after scandal in pay-to-play schemes. Now more than ever we need leaders who will step up and codify anti-bribery legislation into law. That’s why I’m proud to cosponsor this bill, to try and take another step towards regaining people’s trust in their representatives,” said Kim, who is vying against two other Menendez supports, Patricia Campos-Medina and First Lady Tammy Murphy.

Larry Hamm, the civil rights leader and former Newark school board member, is the only candidate for the Democratic nomination for US Senate who supported McCormick in 2018.

“We live in a time of the greatest distrust in government in modern American history,” said Kim. “As public servants we have a duty to be truthful and faithful to our oaths of office and to the people we serve above all else. I hope members of both parties see this as a way of restoring people’s trust and join our efforts and we can all agree to hold ourselves and one another to the highest standards for the people we serve.”

The GOLD Standard Act has been endorsed by Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and End Citizens United (ECU).  

“There are few things more important to a functioning democracy than honest public servants,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Senior Government Affairs Manager at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). “Unfortunately, not all government officials are model public servants. Compounding this reality is the fact that the rules meant to prevent and bring accountability in the face of public corruption are too weak and riddled with loopholes to do the job effectively.”

“There should be no loopholes when politicians accept payoffs and there should be no question about the definition of ‘official act,’ so that public officials are held accountable for betraying our republic,” said McCormick. “This is a crucial first step toward restoring faith in the integrity of our democracy and I commend Congresswoman Angie Craig and her co-sponsors for taking action to fix this problem, which is the product of many poor court decisions.”

“Over the past 36 years, the Supreme Court has made it progressively harder to prosecute public officials who engage in conduct that any rational person would consider outright bribery,” said Debra Perlin, Policy Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). 

“The GOLD Standard Act would help to ensure that public officials cannot trade government power for personal gain,” said Perlin. “By passing the GOLD Standard Act Congress would take a key first step towards rebuilding our public corruption laws and bring real accountability to officials who abuse their position of trust.”

“Too often, elected officials skirt ethics rules by accepting gifts from special interests with business before Congress. It creates a situation ripe for corruption,” said Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund. “The GOLD Standard Act would close this abused loophole in the federal bribery statute, ensuring our elected officials cannot be bought and paid for.”

Bill text for the bipartisan GOLD Standard Act can be found here.

Click here for a one-pager about the GOLD Standard Act.