A political office holder in Orlando was criticized a great deal last year and this year for some joint venture dealings with a land developer in the area. The politician pocketed over $10,000 in profit from an investment in a land deal where the city purchased the land from the developer. He was not prosecuted for conflict of interest because it could not be proven that he was aware that the city would purchase the land when he made the investment. Public opinion, and mine, is that he skated on a technicality.
Yesterday the politician was re-elected. In his victory speech, he proclaimed that the voters had vindicated him. That's a common claim in the US where a politician either wins an election despite some charge against him, or an individual is not convicted of something in a trial.
As I understand "vindicated", it means to free from blame. To be properly vindicated, it must be shown that you were unfairly charged with something you did not do. Politicians and corporate executives, though, use it to mean "I got away with it". They have not been freed of blame, but they have been elected/acquited/retained anyway.