What Bribery Is

WHAT BRIBERY IS:

A bribe is the offer of something of meaningful [or consequential] value by a requesting person or a consensus of persons in exchange for the performance of an illegal, immoral, unethical or otherwise undesirable or unwillful act or acts on the part of another person or group of people solicited to perform the concerned act or acts. A bribe may be implicit or explicit and it may be of a positive or negative nature (with the offer, the promise, being a reward or a punishment (or threat)). The elements of a bribe are, 1., an offer or promise of a reward (affirmative bribe) or punishment (extortion, or extortive bribe) by the bribe maker or bribing agent, 2., a request or solicitation by the bribe maker or bribing agent for the performance of an illegal, unsavory or otherwise unwillful act or acts by, 3., a bribery performance subject (targeted bribery-performance subject). Implied bribes can be made by situational, circumstantial and/or verbal hints, insinuations, body language or expression, events, or credible, intelligible, other connotations (e.g., a drawing, symbol or symbolism) or by such oblique written or vocal remarks.

Unlike a contract, the bribery performance subject does not have to exchange value with the bribe maker or agent or perform the bribe-contingent act or acts in order for there be a legally recognizable or criminal bribe or for there to have been such a bribe. A bribe arises or occurs upon the bribe maker or agent having offered or promised a reward or punishment in exchange or contingent connection with a request or solicitation of the performance of an illegal, unsavory or otherwise unwillful act or acts from the bribery-targeted subject (some would say bribe-targeted "object").

A bribe may also be an offer or promise to not do or say something the bribery subject does not want done or said, and the bribery performance requested by the bribe maker or agent of the bribery subject may be an inaction by the targeted bribery subject.

In addition, a bribe may concurrently entail each a positive incentive (If the bribery subject "does" versus "doesn't do" this, then there's a reward) and a negative incentive (If the bribery subject "does" versus "doesn't do" that, then there's a punishment) for the performance or nonperformance of an act or acts requested by the bribe maker or agent of the bribery subject. Basically, this means if the bribery subject performs a given behavior requested by the bribery maker or agent, then the subject gets a rewards, versus, if the bribery subject does not perform a given behavior performed by the bribe maker or agent, then the bribery subject gets punished -- or vice versa for these concurrent bribery conditions.

Also, a bribe may be made with a disclaimer or disclaimers that it is or was a bribe -- a duplicity (two-faced, figuratively oppositely speaking out of both sides of one's mouth simultaneously) tactic.

The elements of Trump's bribe were Trump's, 1., request of a favor from the newly elected president of Ukraine, in a telephone call between him and Ukraine's new president Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Ukraine's new president mentioned that his government was interested in and/or looking forward to his government's purchase of weapons (already authorized as military aid by both houses of the US Congress for delivery to Ukraine, already under military attack by Russia), with the public announcement by Ukraine's government of the opening of a criminal corruption investigation on US citizen Hunter Biden, an attorney who was formerly a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma and the son of former US Vice President Joe Biden, his leading Democratic Party challenger for the US presidency, at the time, in the 2020 US presidential election, 2., the scheduled delivery of the US Congressional aid to Ukraine was delayed by the Trump administration well beyond the delivery date previously established by the Congress and the Trump presidential administration -- and was only delivered when a whistleblower outed the reason for the protracted delay -- to psychologically induce, by the hint of inaction in the delivery of the military aid, the Ukrainian president to comply with Trump's request for the said investigation and its public announcement. Trump was the bribe maker and the new president of Ukraine was the targeted bribery subject and the bribe, 3., was the implied conditional delivery, with the suggested loss of the otherwise expected, but inexplicably much overdue, delivery of the US Congressionally scheduled military aid for Ukraine, under military attack by Russia.

Trump also offered an invitation (conditional) to the president of Ukraine for a visit by him to the White House in the same telephone call, the initial context of the bribe. Other incentives were offered by his administration for the public announcement, including a visit to Ukraine by US Vice President Pence circa to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Volodymyr Zelensky as the newly-elected president of Ukraine. Neither did the new Ukrainian president nor any member of his government perform the favor requested of the new Ukrainian president in their telephone call of concern. Nor did the Trump administration make good on his offers. Nor did Trump in the concerned telephone call request a criminal corruption investigation on or the public announcement of such an investigation on any other US citizen doing business in or involved in a business relationship within Ukraine, although he has remarked publicly circa that he knows of all kinds of US citizens doing business in Ukraine.

Furthermore, it is against federal law for a US citizen to solicit or engage with a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government to interfere in or influence a US government election.

“The GOP questioners in the impeachment inquiry hearings on Trump concerning this bribe-extortion scenario complain that most of the testimony given at the hearings is from hearsay or secondhand sources, yet most of the direct witnesses and relevant documentation have been respectively prohibited and denied by President Trump and his personal attorney, with them invoking presidential executive privilege, from testifying at and being released to the hearings, which they all know, all of the news media know and all of the political news consuming public of the US and most of the nations of the world know. President Trump and some GOP members in both houses of the US Congress also complain that the impeachment inquiry process led by House of Representatives' Democrats has been unfair toward Trump in denying him due process rights in his and his legal representation not being able to confront and challenge the testimony of witnesses testifying against Trump, though they all must know that in any legal or administrative investigation the object of the investigation has no right to confront and challenge witness in the information and evidence gathering phase of a litigation or potential litigation, as any cop or prosecutor will tell you."

Grassroots Republicans are increasingly adjusting to the understanding that President Donald Trump is a klepto, grifter, con artist, scammer, cheat-stiffer, pathological, hyperbolic liar, hoaxter, trash talker, bigot, demagogue, bully, thug, lecher and morally-bankrupt, totally-corrupt, scum-gutter derelict.

Impeachment or the 2020 national US elections will bring about a cleaning out of the unhumanly trash heap in the White House, and the latter of the GOP likewise trash trio in the US Senate, as well, at a minimum.