From Rick Hills at Prawfsblawg:

The ambiguity of the "honest services" provision of the federal Mail Fraud statute (18 U.S.C. section 1346) has for decades been an open invitation to federal prosecutors to expand their sway over the political process in harmful and even corrupt ways, all in the name of fighting corruption. ...

That patronage politics are now a criminal offense in Chicago is surely eye-opening. That U.S. Attorneys can determine when patronage politics are criminal, based merely on their own sense of ethics laced with miscellaneous rules on disclosure and conflict of interest, is simply wacky. ... Have all of these state and local rules now been transformed into political weapons for use by U.S. Attorneys -- political appointees themselves and often aspiring politicians -- against their political rivals?