[colechristensen]

In the US legal system individual states and the federal governments both have enforceable laws. This case was federal and it boils down to “fraud” of a few types which comes down to lying for financial gain and “money laundering” which involves hiding the source of money.

California though (but it doesn’t seem this was charged by the state) explicitly has a law criminalizing commercial bribery where if you take money secretly and privately to make a decision at your job, you have committed a felony.