The Manhattan Contrarian is comparing the Menedez and Pinocchio Joe situations when it comes to bribery
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2023-9-25-the-bidens-stone-cold-crooked-10-how-do-you-tell-when-a-payment-to-a-pol-is-a-bribe
Three elements for bribery are
- you get paid with a "thing of value"
- in return for
- some official act that benefits the briber.
That second one is usually the hard part to prove. He isn't sure of the backup in the Menendez case but for Joe it looks pretty clear with the email messages already disclosed.