i think it is legal .
BTW whos Lois Lerner ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_LernerBounties are always legal to some extent. For instance if you post a bounty for people to find your missing friend it's totally legal, but if you post a bounty so that they find and turn his life into hell it's not legal. I'd say if a person is under investigation and your research could help to close the case it should be legal.