referred to as the 'Big Man' on the laptop from hell was caught red haded in getting 10% of the Chinese pay off.
I may be naive, but I do not believe such things. I don't believe it when it's written about Putin, either.
Surely there are examples of esteemed politicians trading away their good name for some silly bribe. Francois Fillon comes to mind, who lost his shot at the French presidency over free suits and nepotistic job appointments in the French parliament for his wife and son. The state of Illinois, in the United States, has produced quite a few crooked individuals... while in the developing world it's more the norm.
However, I still do not believe that a man that has become leader of the most powerful country on Earth, would continue to think of things so close to the skin. In my business, I deal often with ultra high net worth individuals. When other people try to explain what it's like being a UNHWI, they often say - the "only people that are somewhat close in behavior are located at the head of state level". That is, head of state in Azerbaijan, or Malaysia, or Tunisia or some such place. Personal jumbo jets, never having to carry a wallet, not owning a cell phone, never having an idea of your itinerary, constantly being surrounded by a huge security detail, etc. The thing is, even these things do not approach the godlike status of a person like Putin, Xi, Modi, or Biden. Nobody can understand what it means to be on their level, unless you have been there yourself. It's foolish to project our notions of wealth and pride onto them.
To me the idea that Putin would risk what he has, even for $300B (that would make him the richest person in history), is laughable. Similarly for Biden. If Biden decided to be corrupt, he could make infinitely more money, and in a much more obscure way, than accepting a 10% bribe off some transaction in China.