Shoftim – Shochad, Bribe

I heard on shabbos a story which happened to the Oheiv Yisroel, Apter, where at a Din Torah he was bending to pasken for one of the litigens even though all his logic pointed to the other. He found some money accidently which that litigent placed in his beketcher when he was not looking. The Apter somehow unknowingly felt the influence of the money.
When I examined the pasukim, I realized that the Torah actually alludes to this. We find that shochad bilnds chachamim and distorts the words of tzadikim. Why the two expressions? Maybe, to be blinded, one must see, so the chachamim know about the money whereas tzadikim feel the influence even without knowing and their words get distorted by wanting to say one thing but ending up saying something else.