Tootfinder

Sources: the US is working on a settlement that could see ZTE pay $1B over alleged foreign bribery from 2018 and earlier; a deal would require China's approval (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/soc

How Legalized Bribery Works in America
https://www.inequalitymediacivicaction.org/debunking-myths/how-legalized-bribery-works-in-america

How Legalized Bribery Works in America — Inequality Media Civic Action
“Corporate political donations are free speech.” Give me a break. Corporate political donations are legalized bribery, plain and simple.

RE: https://flipboard.social/@newsguyusa/115861173721374216
Hey, this is a great idea! While we're at it, we should send lump sum payments to everyone who lives in the US, too. We could call it.. Universal Bribery Income or something. This "UB…

So I was going to write a short piece about this, but I'm so plumb out of time, and it would be so weird to put this in Metacurity as a special report that I'm writing a social media thread instead.
Last summer, I wrote a piece about the Coinbase breach based on an extensive conversation I had with the exchange's CSO, Philip Martin, who has serious chops as a cybersecurity guy.

Behind the Coinbase breach: Bribery emerges as enterprise threat
Coinbase’s breach shows how bribery schemes — long used for SIM swaps — can be a potent enterprise attack vector. Experts urge security leaders to add bribery training and red-teaming to their cyber defense toolkits.

Trump expects loyalty from those who benefit from him.
Days after issuing him a pardon,
Donald Trump criticized US House member
Henry Cuellar of Texas
for deciding to run for re-election as a Democrat.
Trump pardoned Cuellar and the congressman’s wife on Wednesday as they faced bribery charges.
They were alleged to have accepted thousands of dollars from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank in exchange for advancing their interests.
Shortly after the pardo…

Former Ukraine border guard chief embroiled in bribery scandal dismissed from military: https://benborges.xyz/2026/02/06/former-ukraine-border-guard-chief.html

Border czar Tom Homan didn't receive normal background check during bribery probe (Carol Leonnig/MS NOW)
https://www.ms.now/news/border-czar-tom-homan-didnt-receive-normal-background-check-during-bribery-probe
http://www.memeorandum.com/251230/p22#a251230p22

Justice department officials felt sure "Border Czar" #ATom #Homan would not be able to obtain a security clearance based on the evidence gathered in the corruption probe, which they and FBI agents believed had shown Homan unsuitable for a trusted senior role in government service

Border czar Tom Homan didn’t receive normal background check during bribery probe
President-elect Trump initially balked at submitting names of likely nominees to the FBI for background checks, a basic step intended to flag possible financial conflicts or ethical problems.

Trump on Wednesday said he was granting a
"full and unconditional pardon"
to Democratic Representative
Henry Cuellar of Texas, and his wife Imelda, who were charged with bribery.
Last year, Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 in bribes
in two schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico

"The Founders were so concerned about bribery that the Constitution forbids it three separate times.
Two emoluments clauses ban officials—unambiguously including the president—from accepting things of value,
plus bribery is the only named impeachable offense besides treason.
Unprecedentedly corrupt."
-- Nicholas Grossman

Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum.bsky.social)
To negotiate a trade deal with the President of the United States, the Swiss government arrived with a "special Rolex desktop clock" and "a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar" https://www.axios.com/2025/11/14/trump-swiss-gifts-gold-rolex