A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic. “This is completely beyond the pale,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said in court on Monday. During the trial that began in April, defense attorneys questioned the quality of the FBI's investigation and suggested that this might be more of a case of record-keeping problems than fraud as these defendants sought to keep up with rapidly changing rules for the food aid program.
Personally, I think the bias caused by attempting to bribe a member of the jury would be entirely fair. It should be used as further evidence of guilt in the trial itself. Even if they are innocent of the original charges, they are corrupt and I can’t say I have any problem with removing power from such corruption.