Suppose you’re a senator, and suppose you have a wealthy friend. Suppose he was your friend long before you were a senator. Suppose he has entertained you and your family at his vacation home in the Caribbean. Suppose he has put you up at a nice hotel in Paris. Suppose he has been a major contributor to your campaigns. Your friend has done these favors without ever asking you for anything, but now he says that a government agency is treating him unfairly. His complaints are reasonable, and he wants to tell top agency officials his side of the story. Will you make a phone call and ask the officials to hear him out? Or will you tell him to take a hike? If you make the call, will you be guilty of bribery? Will your friend be guilty of bribery, too?

The case of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Salomon Melgen is currently on trial in a federal court in New Jersey. This week a judge rejected a defense bid for dismissal. There’s more to that case than to yours, but your situation poses some of the same legal issues and conundrums. What’s an “official act”? Is proof of a “stream of benefits” in exchange for unspecified official acts enough? What’s a “quid pro quo”?

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