Today's NY Times has an interesting article on the "honest-services fraud" statute: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/us/07honest.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=joun%20schwartz&st=cse (URL may require subscription) [Quote]: It has become an important tool for federal prosecutors, who used it successfully against the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and many of his associates. It is an element of the cases against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois; the former New York State Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno; and former Gov. Donald E. Siegelman of Alabama. [...] One of the two cases coming before the court next week involves Conrad M. Black, the newspaper executive who was convicted of defrauding his media company, Hollinger International. He is arguing that the law should not be applied to him because he did not contemplate “economic harm” to Hollinger. [endQuote] Worth watching the outcome...