Bribery is the offering,giving,receiving,or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official,or other person,in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations,essentially,bribery is "Corrupt solicitation,acceptance,or transfer of value in exchange for official action." Gifts of money or other items of value that are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis,and not for dishonest purposes,are not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example,it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost of electricity,when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However,giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be considered bribery.
Influence peddling is the practice of using one's influence in government or connections with authorities to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another,usually in return for payment. It is also called traffic of influence or trading in influence. Influence peddling per se is not necessarily illegal,as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has often used the modified term "undue influence peddling" to refer to illegal acts of lobbying. However,influence peddling is typically associated with corruption and may therefore delegitimise democratic politics with the general public. It is punishable as a crime in Argentina,Belgium,Bulgaria,Brazil,France,Hungary,Italy,Portugal,Romania,Spain,and the United Kingdom.
Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist,businessman,film producer,writer,and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty,including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian,U.S. Representative Bob Ney,and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.
Stephen Coronel is an American guitarist and former member of the rock band Wicked Lester. He co-wrote a handful of songs that would later be recorded by the group Kiss,a band which featured former Wicked Lester members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. In 2014,Coronel was charged with possessing child pornography,and was incarcerated at Kershaw Correctional Institution in South Carolina since 2016.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is a government agency in the US state of South Carolina. Its mission is to build and maintain roads and bridges and administer mass transit services.
Peter Kott is a former Republican state representative for District 17 serving Eagle River,Alaska,in the Alaska Legislature for seven terms,from 1993 until 2007. He was Speaker of the House during his sixth term in 2003–2004.
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends,including bribery and improper favouritism. Corruption was at its highest during the period of state capture under the presidency of Jacob Zuma and has remained widespread,negatively "affecting criminal justice,service provision,economic opportunity,social cohesion and political integrity" in South Africa.
Alan McCrory Wilson is an American lawyer,politician,and South Carolina National Guard serving as the 51st Attorney General of South Carolina since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Patrick DeAngelo Cannon is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served on the City Council of Charlotte,North Carolina from 1994 through 2013 and was subsequently elected the city's 56th Mayor in November 2013. On March 26,2014,Cannon was arrested on charges of accepting over $48,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen wanting to work with the city. Cannon resigned as mayor later that evening,and was later sentenced to 44 months in prison.
Corruption in South Korea is moderate compared to most countries in the Asia-Pacific and the broader international community. Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index scored South Korea at 63 on a scale between 0 and 100. When ranked by score,South Korea ranked 31st among the 180 countries in the Index,where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison,the best score was 90,and the worst score was 12.
The Lynx Blue Line is a light rail line in Charlotte,North Carolina,United States. Opened in 2007,it was the first rail line of the Charlotte Area Transit System,and the first major rapid rail service of any kind in the state. The 26-station,19.3-mile (31.1 km) line extends from its northern terminus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in University City through NoDa,Uptown,and South End,then runs along South Boulevard to its southern terminus just north of Interstate 485 at the Pineville city limits. The line carries an average of over 27,700 passenger trips every day and offers connections to the CATS' CityLynx Gold Line which opened in 2015.
On April 4,2015,Walter Scott,a 50-year-old black man,was fatally shot by Michael Slager,a local police officer in North Charleston,South Carolina,United States. Slager had stopped Scott for a non-functioning brake light. Slager was charged with murder after a video surfaced showing him shooting Scott from behind while Scott was fleeing,which contradicted Slager's report of the incident. The radical difference led many to believe that the shooting was racially motivated,generating a widespread controversy.
The 2020 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 3,2020,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of South Carolina,concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election,as well as other elections to the United States Senate,elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Jaime R. Harrison is an American attorney and politician who is the chair of the Democratic National Committee. He previously served as the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 2013 to 2017. Harrison unsuccessfully ran against incumbent senator Lindsey Graham for the South Carolina U.S. Senate seat in the 2020 election.
Richard Quinn Sr. is an American former political consultant currently under indictment for perjury in the state of South Carolina. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant,he advised the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan,John McCain,and Lindsey Graham. He is known as one of South Carolina's most prominent political consultants. He was once the editor of the Neo-Confederate Southern Partisan magazine although he later recanted the views he held while in that position.
David Michael Pascoe is an American lawyer serving as the First Circuit Solicitor in the state of South Carolina since 2005. The First Circuit comprises Dorchester,Calhoun,and Orangeburg counties. In 2016,Pascoe won a Supreme Court case against the South Carolina Attorney General where the Attorney General attempted to remove Pascoe as the special prosecutor in a corruption probe involving the General Assembly. Pascoe oversaw the investigation and secured convictions on five powerful South Carolina General Assembly members that included the House speaker,President Pro Tem of the Senate,Chairman of the House Judiciary,and two former House Majority Leaders.
Richard Quinn Jr. is an American politician who served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1988 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2017.
The South Carolina Statehouse corruption investigation was a probe into unlawful interactions between members of the South Carolina General Assembly,the political firm of Richard Quinn,Sr.,and major state institutions and corporations from 2013 to 2021. The influence of Quinn's consulting firm was called the Quinndom. By the end of the investigation,four members of the South Carolina General Assembly were indicted on public corruption charges. This investigation is often considered the most significant political scandal in the history of the state of South Carolina since Operation Lost Trust in 1989. Lost Trust directly influenced the passing of South Carolina's Ethics Reform Act of 1991,and led to the restructuring of the state government in 1993. The investigation raised questions about the effectiveness of that reform in the face of dark money influence.
United States 
