So the bribery investigation disappears, right?

SPOILERS

Walter Garber was demoted pending the outcome of a bribery investigation.

Later he tells Ryder that he accepted $35,000 to choose the Japanese trains. His supervisor and the police present all heard him say this to Ryder.

At the end he saves the day and the Mayor expresses his deep gratitude and gives a vague promise that his efforts will be acknowledged.

So the bribery charges simply go away and he is promoted back to his old job, right?

Also he could say something like "I didn't accept a bribe. I was just telling Ryder what I thought he meant to hear." It wasn't like he was in a court of law under oath. He was talking to a criminal pointing a gun at hostages. So he could just deny that he took the money later.

If you look at what he did and what was at stake $35,000 doesn't seem like such a big deal, right? And as stated above he could deny it later and say he was only trying to please Ryder by admitting to taking the money.

The only fly in the ointment here was that he sounded very sincere when he made the admission. Transit Authority employees would probably think he took the money. That might make matters difficult.