The credibility and persuasive of some commentators was diminished during the first Trump administration as their seeming disdain for one person (whether warranted or not is besides the point) impacted much of their commentary.
Some sit in front of a computer screen from their home offices with action figures in the background and give themselves and their friends cute nicknames.
But the rest of us are apparently supposed to listen.
So it begins again with the second Trump administration.
This “commentator” wrote yesterday (and today) “Trump [was] inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. I can only say with complete certainty that the world of compliance will never be the same after today.”
WTH?
The “commentator” continued: “He may well be the first President to employ the FCPA as a weapon against companies from countries that are not only the US’s enemies and competitors but also our allies.”
So which is it?
Is Trump going to “employ the FCPA as a weapon against companies from countries” that are U.S. enemies, competitors, or allies? Those three terms capture a wide, wide range of countries.
In any event, did that happen during the first Trump administration?
There were FCPA enforcement actions against companies from the following countries: Chile, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Brazil, France, Canada, Israel, Japan, Germany, and South Korea.
Yes, there was an enforcement action against a company based in Russia, but this enforcement action concerned the same Uzbekistan telecommunication bribery scheme as several prior FCPA enforcement prosecuted prior to the first Trump administration.
Like in many years, many of the above enforcement actions originated from voluntary disclosure or foreign law enforcement investigations – hardly an individual sitting in the oval office.
What did happen during the first Trump administration was that FCPA enforcement was generally up compared to historical averages and in some categories set records. (See here).
The “commentator” next states: “This is nothing to say about how [Trump] will direct the Department of Justice to use the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) against our enemies, competitors, and allies.”
Here again, which is it?
The terms enemies, competitors, and allies capture a wide, wide range of countries.
In any event, FEPA passed Congress with bipartisan support and was championed for many years by the Helsinki Commission “a US government commission that promotes human rights, military security, and economic cooperation in 57 countries in Europe, Eurasia, and North America.”
Also recognize that Biden Administration DOJ officials vowed to “vigorously enforce” FEPA. (See here).
Speaking of FEPA, the law states that on an annual basis the DOJ “shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and post on the publicly available website of the DOJ a report” focusing on various FEPA enforcement issues.
Recently, I asked the DOJ to provide a copy of this report or direct where on their website the report can be found.
No response from the DOJ.
