“All takers of bribes are, by taking it, transforming into a blackmailer as the cash rolls in”
tsk tsk you’re making things up. Blackmailing is an action. Taking a bribe is generally speaking , passive.
If you keep taking a bribe you are active, not passive. I would argue that you are active with the first bribe in that you do not HAVE to take it. But this is an ongoing situation so...by taking it you are also essentially a blackmailer. You may tell your conscience you are not, but the act of accepting money to stay silent — whereas if you did not get the money you would not stay silent — is the same thing as being a blackmailer. It just was not your idea to blackmail, but you went along with it. If it were not blackmail, the person could quit paying you.