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John Murtha — Part 28

137 pages · May 10, 2026 · Broad topic: General · Topic: John Murtha · 134 pages OCR'd
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While there may be-"tinducements" that are "over- whelming", such as a threat against the life of a loved one, when the inducement is nothing but money or other personal gain, this court does not believe that. the size of the inducement should be a determinative factor in whether’ a public official can be prosecuted for accepting it. . No matter how much money is offered to a government official as a bribe or gratuity, ‘he should be punished if he accepts. It may be true, as has been suggested to the court, that "every man has his price"; but when that price is money | only, the public official should be required to. pay the penalty when he gets caught. In short, as a matter of law, the amount of the financial inducements here could not render the agents' conduct outrageous or unconstitution- al, But even if the size of the inducements were | -relevant, on the facts here they do not approach "overwhelm~ ing". The undercover agents were dealing with members. of Congress, sophisticated people who function at the highest level of our government. In these inflationary times, _ $50,000 is simply not an overpowering sum of money. The agents sought to keep the bribes reasonable and realistic in light of all the circumstances, and the sheer Length of time Abscam ran without raising suspicions or being — -
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