Are Conspiracy And Collusion The Same?

The term “collusion” may not be in the lawbooks, but other crimes like conspiracy are. A conspiracy is defined as a combination or confederacy between two or more persons formed for the purposes of committing unlawful or criminal acts. It can refer to the plot itself or the act of planning it. The difference between conspiracy and collusion is that conspiracy is the act of two or more persons, called conspirators, working secretly to obtain some goal.

Acts of collusion span the legal gamut, including campaign finance violations, conspiracy, bribery, and fraud. Federal Election Commission rules prohibit such acts. Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights. While none of these acts amounted to the crime of conspiracy, all could be described as “collusion”.

In the study of economics and market competition, collusion takes place within an industry when rival companies cooperate for mutual benefit. Conspiracy usually involves an agreement between two or more sellers to take action to suppress competition between sellers in the market.

Rep. Doug Collins asked former special counsel Robert Mueller whether his use of the terms “collusion” and “conspiracy” in his report have the same meanings. Former federal prosecutor Harry Sandick discussed the difference between the concept of collusion and the legal definition of “collusion”.

In the context of criminal law, collusion includes specific criminal charges that might be charged. Conspiracy is a crime defined by statutory law, while collusion is an act that may or may not meet the elements of that statutory law.