It's probably time to mention, yet again, that many things are bad - but not actually crimes.

Selling access to a public official is bad. It is corrosive to the integrity of public institutions, and ethically unsound. However, it's almost certainly not criminal. Back in the *McDonnell* case in 2016, SCOTUS held (unanimously) that even when the person selling the access is themselves an elected official, it's not a crime: - albaby

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Thank you albaby for explaining the minutiae of the law whereby an apparent unlawful act to a civilian is really just an awful act that perhaps should be illegal but is not. With that in mind, the above much to my surprise says influence peddling is not a crime. But how about bribery? If that is a crime, what makes it different legally than influence pedaling. Does it depend on public official receiving the bribe actually making an official act favorable to the person paying the bribe that the public official otherwise would not have made?

To put in the Biden context, Hunter selling access to Joe to X is not a crime. Later Joe sets down with X to listen and discuss. Later on, Joe carries out official duties some of which are favorable to X. Does it have to be shown Joe would not have acted in any way favorable to X were it not for the bribe? Seems nearly impossible to prove, like so many other things you have explained.