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Congressional_______
R' fesearch Servi e
Public Corruption and the Limits of Federal
Fraud Statutes
August 21, 2023
Over time, Congress has shown consistent interest in policing public-sector corruption, enacting a number
of criminal provisions aimed at holding corrupt officials and those who entice them accountable for their
actions under federal law. Federal prosecutors' most potent existing tools for combating such corruption
include the federal mail and wire fraud statutes and a provision defining those crimes as including so-
called honest services fraud. This Sidebar provides an overview of the federal mail and wire fraud
statutes and the development and codification of the honest services theory of fraud; surveys some of
the major Supreme Court decisions limiting the reach of those statutes; and explores some considerations
for Congress.
In summary, the mail and wire fraud statutes have been a source of contention between the courts and
Congress for years. While Congress has passed broadly worded legislation to cover the self-interested
actions of federal, state, and local officials, among others, the Supreme Court has repeatedly adopted
narrow interpretations of the statutes, at times signaling that broad constructions could raise constitutional
concerns about vagueness or federalism.
This trend continued in two cases the Supreme Court decided in May 2023-Ciminelli v. United States
and Percoco v. United States. In those cases, the Court reversed two wire-fraud convictions: Ciminelli
involved bid-rigging to obtain state-funded development projects, and Percoco involved bribery to assist
a real-estate development company in its dealings with a state agency. The Court in both cases rejected
statutory interpretations used by the lower courts that it viewed as too vague or as vastly expand[ing]
federal jurisdiction to an almost limitless variety of deceptive actions traditionally left to state . . . law.
Overview of Mail and Wire Fraud Statutes
18 U.S.C. § 1341 prohibits use of the mails (including the United States Postal Service and any private
or commercial interstate carrier) for the purpose of executing any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for
obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises. 18
U.S.C. § 1343 likewise prohibits transmissions by means of wire, radio, or television communication in
interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of executing such schemes or artifices. These federal
crimes, commonly known as mail fraud and wire fraud, encompass multiple forms of fraudulent
conduct using jurisdictional hooks that reach practically all forms of modem communication. Because the
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB11025
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govempd0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)