Barak Cohen was quoted in "Attorneys React To High Court's Political Bribery Ruling," an article in Law360, regarding new standard for bribery charges against politicians, overturning the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. He stated, "What is remarkable about the Supreme Court’s decision is that it is so unremarkable. To be sure, it is an important decision, particularly for former Gov. McDonnell and his wife, but it is not a radical shift. It merely reflects the crystallization of analysis in bribery caselaw that has long strained to define ‘official acts’ — a core requirement for a bribery conviction — while acknowledging the roles of money and access in our democracy. And now we have that definition, more or less: If an official is to be convicted for having committed federal bribery, she must have been bribed in exchange for some sort of decisive act that represents an actual exercise of her powers of office.”