Prosecuting those who purport to act in the public interest while concealing a political intent "invites indictment of every public official who justifies her actions on policy grounds without confessing the base political calculus that lies beneath," her attorneys wrote. "Which is to say, every official. From the mayor who approves a grant to help a political supporter, to the state official who orders an environmental study to please an interest group, to the federal prosecutor who pursues a case to boost his own political ambitions."