Instead of something merely sketchy and probably not real, what about something clearly illegal and proven real like for example the VW emissions thing? Or doe

Instead of something merely sketchy and probably not real, what about something clearly illegal and proven real like for example the VW emissions thing? Or does being sketchy / probably immoral vs being actually illegal make a difference? Maybe something around twisting yourself in knots to justify something being corrosive in ways that knowingly doing wrong isn't?