October 1, 2019
A key question in most public corruption cases is whether a public official was part of an unlawful quid pro quo. In recent years, the “quo” issue has received particular attention: what type of acts must a public official perform, or contemplate performing, to give rise to criminal liability. In this article, we describe the definition of “official act” in McDonnell, discuss recent Second Circuit decisions which declined to extend the reach of McDonnell’s “official act” requirement, and highlight the continued fluidity of key aspects of anti-bribery law.