Politics and indictments seem to go hand in hand. Why?
The headline gives it away -- but the answer will surprise you
It's not because politicians are naturally more corrupt. There are two reasons.
First, elected and appointed officials -- and prominent business leaders and entertainers -- are "name" targets whose prosecution can make legal careers for the often-young-and-green prosecutors worried about ever getting a private-sector job which pays well. A prosecution of a faceless "nobody" does little or nothing for an ambitious prosecutor going on interviews. But a "name" scalp, a takedown of a big shot, can have a slingshot effect on a young lawyer's career and make him that much more appealing to employers and to their clients who will also be impressed. ("Hey, I just hired as my defense lawyer the guy who brought down Bernie Madoff!")
Second, elected and appointed officials are often subject to various freedom of information or "sunshine" laws which allow inquiring citizens access to all sorts of documents. The same type of access from private citizens is much tougher to get because you need a warrant or subpoena.
Without the "open government" and sunshine/transparency laws, many questionable public-sector practices would go unnoticed.
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