Or it is explicit cash transfers for bribes. I know from …sources that an awful lot of drug deals are listed as lunch or similar rather than tagged with the phrase criminal felony. Seriously, in any position of public trust you shouldn’t be taking money from people with matters before you. Hell you shouldn’t even be attending Christmas parties with them to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Here are some of the relevant parts of the ethics codes for other people in the federal judicial system.
Judicial employees
A judicial employee should not solicit or accept funds from lawyers or other persons likely to come before the judicial employee or the court or office the judicial employee serves, except as an incident to a general fund-raising activity.
Now, that doesn’t bind justices, but does show that the expectation up and down the ladder is avoiding even the appearance of impropriety. Direct financial transfers are dead center on the appearance of impropriety.
When everyone around is bound by strict ethical rules it can sometimes be easier than figuring out what is reportable and what would constitute undue influence, but even in those situations you shouldn’t be partying with people you are judging.
The standard every official should judge their behavior on isn’t the most they can get away with, but taking the actions that best preserve the integrity of our institutions.
