Lock John Oliver Up
His Attempt to Bribe Clarence Thomas into Leaving the Court Is Clearly Illegal
John Oliver offered, on live television, a bribe to Clarence Thomas in exchange for his retirement.
If I am not mistaken, offering a Supreme Court justice money to retire is illegal---esp. if your goal is to influence decisions of the court. The smart way to do it would have been to offer him a writing position on your show with a contract. Or, better yet, to offer him a position as a legal commentator on a related network: That way you could argue that you were not intending to affect the court, merely to bolster your ratings. But to offer the money to him directly for his retirement clearly runs afoul of the law.
Let's look at 18 U.S. Code § 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses.
Arguments about Oliver's motives "not being corrupt" only seem to apply to section (b), section (c) however puts him squarely on the hook again.
(c) Whoever---
...
(2)directly or indirectly, gives, offers, or promises anything of value to any person, for or because of the testimony under oath or affirmation given or to be given by such person as a witness upon a trial, hearing, or other proceeding, before any court, any committee of either House or both Houses of Congress, or any agency, commission, or officer authorized by the laws of the United States to hear evidence or take testimony, or for or because of such person’s absence therefrom;
Let's look at this portion again: "or officer authorized by the laws of the United States to hear evidence or take testimony, or for or because of such person’s absence therefrom." In its recent reporting, where former Federal Prosecutor Michael McAuliffe is interviewed, Newsweek focused on section (b) and the requirement for corrupt motives to distract from section (c) where the word corruptly does not appear. Now, giving someone money specifically to retire is bribing someone specifically to be absent from proceedings before a court, in this case the Supreme Court.
John Oliver, you should be in hot water, you limey bastard. We know that if any conservative had attempted such a stunt to change the composition of the court while Trump was in office that the left would be calling for blood. Satire and the lack of “corrupt motives” would be no defense.
You can find the text of the law here:
18 U.S. Code § 201 - Bribery of public officials and witnesses