Grease the pockets

Richard Ojeda, a guest on the show, Real Time with Bill Maher (9/24/21), was on a panel discussing the national debt and U.S. tax laws and said this:

“The problem is that the filthy, filthy rich in this country can pay for lobbyists to grease the pockets of our legislators to make sure that they’re protected while the rest of the people—and the working class people—have everything stuck on their friggin’ shoulders.”

This is a congruent conflation of “line (one’s) pockets” and “grease (someone’s) palm”, both referring to making money in a dishonest or greedy fashion. Reminds me of another malaphor, “He’s feathering his own pockets”. https://malaphors.com/2012/09/02/hes-feathering-his-own-pockets/ A shout out to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!