◆ SpookStack

aa the word bribe in the on camera discussions, they handled the matter in each case as tactfully and delicately as 57 one might suppose, given the nature of their undercover > role as agents of foreign principals offering a bribe to 17/ a high public official.” But, as the videotapes clearly showed and as the juries necessarily concluded, each congress- man was aware of the criminal nature of the transaction, and each acted wilfully. The claim that the justice department "targeted" only supporters of Senator Kennedy in his presidential race was unsupported by the evidence. In short, on this record it is clear that those defendants who appeared and accepted bribes were not "tar- gets" in the sense that any government agent selected them for some sort of "honesty test"; instead, each was a willing volunteer seeking illegal and corrupt payments. 4, Size of Inducements. .«~ ‘All defendants argue that the inducements offered to the congressmen were overwhelming, designed to overpower their otherwise adequate resistance and to induce honest ‘and innocent people to commit a crime they would normally 18/ avoid. Congressmen Myers, Lederer, Thompson and Murphy were each given $50,000. In addition, each was told that the sheik would invest money in the congressman's district.