A presidential candidate walks up, takes out his billfold and tells you: "Here´s $100. All you have to do is vote for me."
You take the money and vote for him.
Congratulations!! Have fun in prison. You are both criminals.
Here´s the federal law:
"18 U.S. Code § 597.Expenditures to influence voting
U.S. Code
Whoever makes or offers to make an expenditure to any person, either to vote or withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate; and
Whoever solicits, accepts, or receives any such expenditure in consideration of his vote or the withholding of his vote--
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 721; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 601(a)(12), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3498.)"
If the same candidate, however, offers you -- the same person -- the same $100-bill and says it is a "coronavirus stimulus check," and you accept it, then neither of you has committed a crime.
Same act; same people; same money. The only difference is in the telling.
As for any relationship between the check that is manifestly corona virus stimulus money and its latent purpose which is...well...you know...
You don´t think there is a relationship between the checks and votes? I know somebody who disagrees with you: Donald Trump. Why do you think he held up the checks until he could get his name printed on them?
I have counted 17 ways in politics in which legal crimes are committed. You just saw one of them.
Another case study: Hillary Clinton´s $110,000 speeches. All you have to do is look at who is in the audience. What you will see -- invisibly, of course -- is a whole lot of nodding and winking going on. The Spanish word "sobrentendido" catches the spirit of what is happening: "overunderstood."
I´ll go ahead and string Hillary´s beads, If you offer money to a president for a favor, that is a bribe and you go to prison. If you pay the same money to attend a speech by his wife after the president granted you the same favor, no crime is committed. Nod; wink.
We have all heard the saying "There are governments of laws and there are governments of men."
Really?
Who do you think makes laws? God?
A false dichotomy, then.
The giveaway about who really makes laws is a not so self-evident truth:
Laws involving politics are written not to be obeyed, but to be evaded.
My "stimulus check" was deposited this morning in my bank account. I did not ask for the money; it arrived anyway. Just to be sure there will be no legal problems, that nobody anywhere can ever possibly construe my act or the government´s as criminal vote buying, I hereby take a solemn oath not to vote for Donald Trump.
You should thank me, Donald, for letting you off the hook.
Nod; wink.