[haswell]

The definition of what constitutes bribery is not limited to legal matters or government officials.

The legal vs. ethical distinction helps determine what can be done about the bribery, but does not change the nature of the act itself. It’s just that bribing government officials has been (appropriately) deemed problematic enough to make it a legal issue vs. just an ethical one.

This scandal may very well provide the impetus to make this kind of bribery illegal too, because of the degree of harm and public interest in that harm.