I would argue that it is transitive but diminishes in proportion to the degrees of separation and depends upon both awareness and the nature of the association.

I would argue that it is transitive but diminishes in proportion to the degrees of separation and depends upon both awareness and the nature of the association. For example, discounting somebody's moral standing for knowingly befriending a pedophile seems more reasonable than discounting their moral standing because their cousin unknowingly befriended a pedophile.