Trump orders Justice Department to stop enforcing foreign anti-bribery law

from the-official-2nd-term-trump-corruption-thread

in 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from
bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests.

Today, the 78-yr old convicted felo] signed an executive order directing the Justice Department

to pause prosecutions of Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials
while trying to win or retain business in their countries.​

 

Anything that stops rich people from doing criminal behavior.
This is Cut Throat Capitalism

Rocket River

 

I remember talking about FCPA in a business school class and the frustration of the professor with the law which put American companies at a disadvantage making deals in corrupt countries. A lot of shady businessmen rationalize it, saying officials are going to accept bribes from someone regardless, so you're not making anything better by being too upright to bribe. I think that's stupid, but I'm not surprised at all to see Trump is of that type.

 

Nothing says fixing the corrupt deep state like making sure companies can be in deep with corrupt foreign governments.

 

SMGDH and people wanted this clown in office again . Is this even legal for him to do.

 

The executive branch does have some discretion in enforcement priorities, but outright directing the DOJ to stop enforcing a law entirely - without repealing or amending it through Congress...

is another clear violation of the executive branch’s constitutional duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed”

 

Any business or person that is risky enough to start bribing needs to think twice. The law still exists. It just takes an executive branch that faithfully executes the law...

 

There is a 5-year statute of limitations. Now, if you aren't favored by Trump, I'd still avoid foreign bribery because this is just a pause and he can still have you prosecuted later. But if you are favored, maybe you can get away with it for 4 years, and then the next Administration only has 1 year to find you and collect enough evidence for an indictment. There's still risk, so you want to make sure the prize you're bribing for is worth the risk.

 

And there are also your reputation, EU laws, and the laws of other countries. Multinational corporations aren’t going to ditch FCPA anytime soon.

 

It's not that nobody will do it, even with FCPA. Some people will do it if they think they can get away with it. The risk profile just went down, so it stands to reason that incrementally more people will see an opportunity to do it. It's not open season now or anything, but I think we can expect some marginal increase in corrupt practices.

 

I initially read marginal person, lol.

That being said, I don't think it's marginal for some individuals who have been eager to embrace bribery.

Government officials accepting bribes here in the U.S., especially those protected by the POTUS immunity ruling. (open ads for bribery hasn't been a secret and the pardon power)

Unethical people doing business in countries where government officials routinely accept bribes for favors. (think manufacturing in China)

 

I think of all those Trump rallies like when you hear nothing but a bunch of white noise on an old tube TV and nothing makes sense, but they listen to it anyway and cheer.

 

As @JuanValdez posted, he had a professor who believed it was a hindrance.

There is a lot of outrage in this thread but I'm sure there are a lot of otherwise ethical business people who feel the same as JuanValsez's professor

 

I thought Carter may have signed this law in respect to issues with oil companies in the middle east but I would encourage read the Wikipedia on the law

Corruption everywhere wide ranging implications

 

Absolutely. Same people might not dream of paying a bribe in the US but just see it as the practice of doing business in some foreign markets. Just like how my old British parent company wouldn't lobby a politician in Great Britain, but will lobby in the US. That's how things are done.

My counter-argument would be that we would like to change the business culture in these foreign markets because if they award contracts in an economically rational way, sophisticated American companies will win more often than not. And we can change the culture with this law circumscribing the behavior of companies that would also do business in the US, and encourage European and other allies to do the same. Being the big fish, if we reverse course, everyone else will have to reverse as well or risk being left behind.

But then, maybe we're not the big fish. Maybe China is the big fish and we're forced to play by their rules or get left behind.

 

@JuanValdez That Professor is wrong.

Businesses do not like operating in places where bribery is necessary. If success is determined by who can pay the biggest bribe, that’s a recipe for instability and inefficiency, not long-term success. Even China recognized this and cracked down on bribery among local officials to attract foreign investment.

The US, on the other hand, has (had?) thrived precisely because of its relatively stable legal and economic system, where businesses can compete based on innovation, efficiency, and market demand rather than corrupt backroom deals. Countries with rampant bribery tend to have weaker economic growth, as corruption discourages fair competition and creates unpredictable business environments.

 

Does this make it legal for Trump to have millions poured into his crypto business, or funneled to his campaign or offshore banks for foreign policy? Can he bribe foreign leaders legally for US policy and quid pro quo for his or his appointed billionaires' business interests? Can he bribe foreign leaders to make property US soul, to use for his real estate ventures? Can he legally bribe foreign leaders to ethnically clean out that land for his personal business interests, or for oil, minerals, or other necessities going straight into the hands of his billionaire buddies?

 

Dear Lord I forgot about how the President and first Lady of the United States started two pump and dump meme coin scams.

If there is one thing that is the embodiment of America as we know it collapsing is the President of the United States creating a pump and dump meme coin.

To any human with a room temp IQ or above, you could see how America was about to be cooked just from that one thing.

It's so scary because the President doing a pump and dump scam so brazenly out in the open without losing support is like surreal. It's such an obvious thing you can point to that we have a grifter president.

The even scarier thing is the crypto bros KNOW THIS. They know he created a scam coin. And they still support him. They have no dignity.

 

The swamp grows