Bribery
Bribery is the exchange of value — money, goods, employment, favorable treatment — for an official action the recipient is in a position to perform or influence. The federal bribery statute and its state equivalents have specific elements; the publication tracks both formally charged bribery cases and conduct that meets the substantive definition even where prosecution does not follow. The corruption is not in the receipt of a thing of value but in the relationship between that value and the official action that follows.
2026 Events (4)
Former USCIS Senior Immigration Services Officer Lukman Ganiyu charged in $960,000 bribery scheme to fast-track green cards, citizenship
A federal criminal complaint filed August 31, 2026 in the Northern District of Texas charged former USCIS Senior Immigration Services Officer Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and an associate, Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official. Prosecutors allege that from December 2019 through March 2026, Ganiyu used his USCIS access to reroute and approve immigration applications from field offices outside his own jurisdiction — including Minneapolis, Charlotte, and Houston — bypassing required interviews, background checks, and supervisory review, in exchange for roughly $960,000 in payments funneled through Somoye. Ganiyu, who according to court filings had been promoted to Senior Immigration Services Officer in a USCIS office in Dallas in April 2024, resigned from the agency in March 2026.
Former Fauci adviser David Morens pleaded guilty to conspiring to conceal COVID-19 origin records from FOIA requesters
David Morens, a former senior adviser in the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Office of the Director who worked under then-NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty on August 18, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to a federal conspiracy charge for scheming to evade Freedom of Information Act and Federal Records Act requirements. Prosecutors said Morens and a co-conspirator used his personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email, to hide communications about COVID-19-origins research funding -- including efforts to restore a terminated NIH coronavirus grant tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology -- from public disclosure between roughly April 2020 and December 2022, and that Morens accepted wine and meals as an illegal gratuity for advocacy work favorable to that co-conspirator's interests.
NBC News investigation revealed Corey Lewandowski solicited kickback payments from DHS contractors GEO Group and Salus
NBC News published an investigation on March 19, 2026 reporting that Corey Lewandowski, a Department of Homeland Security special government employee functioning as de facto chief of staff to Secretary Kristi Noem, solicited payments from DHS contractors GEO Group and Salus Worldwide Solutions in exchange for protecting or securing their contracts. GEO Group's founder declined the demand, while representatives connected to Salus were told a Lewandowski-tied "consultant" needed to be hired to secure contracts worth up to $50 million. Congressional Democrats opened multiple investigations following the report, and Lewandowski denied the allegations through a spokesperson.
Former San Leandro councilmember Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from the Duong family for housing-company votes
On February 11, 2026, former San Leandro City Council member Bryan Azevedo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and making false statements to federal investigators, admitting he accepted a paid 2023 Vietnam trip and set up an LLC in his wife's name to receive kickbacks from David Trung Duong and Andy Hung Duong in exchange for advocating city contracts and purchases for their company, Evolutionary Homes. Azevedo, who resigned from the council the day before his plea, is cooperating with prosecutors in the related federal bribery case against former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, in which the Duongs are also charged.
2025 Events (2)
ICE deportation officer Jose Muniz indicted for accepting bribes to lift immigration detainers at Harris County Jail
On June 24, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas indicted Jose Angel Muniz, an ICE deportation officer, on charges of accepting bribes from three Houston bail bondsmen to lift immigration detainers on inmates at the Harris County Jail. Prosecutors allege the scheme ran from April 2023 to March 2024 and let people the government was holding for removal be released on bond. All four defendants were taken into custody when the indictment was unsealed on July 2, 2025, and face up to 15 years if convicted.
Federal grand jury indicted former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on bribery and corruption charges
On January 9, 2025, a federal grand jury indicted then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her partner Andre Jones, and recycling-company executives David Trung Duong and Andy Hung Duong on eight counts including bribery, conspiracy, and honest-services fraud. The indictment, unsealed January 17, 2025, alleges Thao promised official mayoral actions in exchange for a $75,000 negative-mailer campaign against her opponents and $95,000 in no-show-job payments to Jones.
2024 Events (1)
Hinds County DA Jody Owens accepted at least $115,000 in cash bribes and facilitated payments to Jackson officials
Between October 2023 and May 2024, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens orchestrated a scheme in which he accepted at least $115,000 in cash from two undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers seeking support for a Jackson hotel project, and facilitated more than $80,000 in bribes to city officials, including $50,000 to then-Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's reelection campaign. Owens, Lumumba, and then-Councilman Aaron Banks were federally indicted and arraigned on November 7, 2024, and all three later pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges; Owens resigned as district attorney. Sentencing for all three is set for October 15, 2026.
2022 Events (1)
Hawaii state Rep. Sylvia Luke agreed to accept $35,000 in campaign funds in exchange for steering COVID-19 testing emergency appropriations
On January 20, 2022, Hawaii state Rep. Sylvia Luke — then chair of the House Finance Committee — attended a dinner at Morton's Steakhouse in Honolulu at which businessman Tobi Solidum promised her $35,000 (half of a committed $70,000) in campaign contributions in exchange for her assistance in directing emergency state appropriations to fund COVID-19 testing contracts held by the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, which Solidum's consulting firm managed. Luke was indicted on 12 bribery and conspiracy counts by a Hawaii grand jury on July 25, 2026, alongside four co-defendants.