You Can Bribe Public Officials Legally If You Do It Right

From a newsletter I receive:

The Department of Justice recently adopted a narrow interpretation of the emoluments clause, which would exempt Trump's hotels from a ban on foreign payments or gifts. DOJ filings since June 2017 reveal a new interpretation that allows federal officials "to accept unlimited amounts of money from foreign governments, as long as the money comes through commercial transactions with an entity owned by the federal official." (The Guardian)

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are moving to prevent the IRS from creating a free electronic tax filing system. The makers of TurboTax and H&R Block spent $6.6 million lobbying to block the IRS from ever developing its own online tax filing system. (ProPublica)

 (The latter is everyday lobbying, of course, against the public interest.)