Pam Bondi: Is Trump's minister turning the USA into a paradise for corruption?

t-online Pam Bondi: Is Trump's minister turning the USA into a paradise for corruption? Bastian Brauns • 7 hours • 4 minutes reading time America's new justice policy Trump's invitation to Russia US President Donald Trump and his new Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Oval Office: Radical reorientation of crime fighting Trump's new Attorney General is radically revamping crime fighting - with potentially far-reaching consequences for the fight against corruption and foreign influence. Bastian Brauns reports from Washington As soon as the American Senate confirmed Pam Bondi as Trump's new Attorney General and Attorney General this week, the 59-year-old took action. She informed all her employees by email and shortly afterwards also the public about a complete reorientation of crime fighting. The memorandum she signed was headed "To completely eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations." But there is more to Pam Bondi's instructions than the title initially suggests. In five pages, she explains how drastically she and the Trump administration are obviously shifting their priorities. Pam Bondi at her hearing as the future Attorney General in the US Senate: first controversial measures. Cartels are to be fought more intensively. But the new regulations mean that the fight against corruption, money laundering and foreign influence is to be significantly scaled back. The problem: Pam Bondi is abolishing the American so-called anti-kleptocracy programs, which is likely to play into the hands of authoritarian regimes and white-collar criminals in particular. The USA is therefore deliberately weakening the fight against illegal financial flows. The Attorney General does not explicitly provide a reason for this approach. Memorandum for employees: Crime fighting is being radically restructured. The core of the order is a reorientation of the so-called Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). According to this, investigations by the Department of Justice will in future only relate to bribery if it facilitates cartel activities. Any bribery cases not related to cartels will simply no longer be pursued. The ministry is also planning to disband the so-called Task Force KleptoCapture, a unit that is supposed to enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs, the anti-kleptocracy departments and the "Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative". The funds and personnel will now only be used to combat cartels. The "Foreign Influence Task Force" is also to be disbanded. The consequences of the plan are likely to be serious: 1. Weakening of the fight against corruption abroad As the "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" (FCPA) will only be applied in relation to cartels, it will now be much more difficult to prosecute companies and individuals for bribing foreign officials. This could result in more corruption in global business relationships. Classic corruption cases beyond cartels - such as bribes for contract awards - will henceforth be ignored by the US Department of Justice. 2. Facilitating foreign influence in the USA The dissolution of the Foreign Influence Task Force makes it more difficult to enforce the so-called Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Only cases with an espionage-like nature are to be prosecuted from now on. This weakening could make it easier for foreign governments, companies and individuals to influence US politicians, elections and institutions without the US investigative authorities noticing. The previous regulation led to high-profile criminal proceedings, such as against Trump's lobbyist and former campaign manager Paul Manafort. He was convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2019 and is said to have played a key role in the scandal surrounding Russian influence on the 2016 US elections. 3. Promoting kleptocracy and money laundering The abolition of the Kleptocracy Initiative and the KleptoCapture Task Force can also have far-reaching consequences. From now on, it will be much easier for corrupt foreign elites to protect illegally acquired assets in the USA from official access. One example: billions of dollars have been confiscated from Russian oligarchs in this way and used to support Ukraine. A study by the Royal United Services Institute from last year shows how important the fight against kleptocracy is, especially in the fight against Russia's war of aggression. 4. Possible national security risks If the Justice Department withdraws from the area of ​​corporate crime, cases relating to countries such as China, Iran or Russia could be less well controlled. If the enforcement of sanctions and export controls is weakened, it will probably be more difficult for the USA to exert economic pressure on geopolitical opponents in the future. Trump's new means of exerting pressure on enemies and friends is the threat of high punitive tariffs. 5. Advantages for cartels in particular The new Justice Minister has declared that she wants to take more action against cartels and organized crime. But at the same time, by massively weakening the fight against corruption and the prosecution of foreign influence, the cartels in particular could benefit from this. Cartels in particular often need corrupt officials and financial networks for their activities. It remains to be seen whether it will still be possible in the future to prove that their often well-concealed connections have a cartel connection. It is possible that these will now remain undiscovered because without a cartel connection, no investigation will be carried out at all. Criticism from experts The changes announced by the Justice Department sparked fierce criticism, for example from the non-governmental organization "Transparency International." They warned in particular that the abolition of the kleptocracy departments could endanger the national security and economic interests of the USA. Simply because illegal financial flows and concealed assets could now circulate more uncontrolled - which could play into the hands of America's opponents. With a view to Trump's own agenda, which he has always propagated, the organization appeals: "For these reasons, we urgently call on the Attorney General to reconsider these decisions and reintroduce both initiatives, possibly with a stronger focus on 'America First'." The Russian news agency Tass published a report on the decisions in Washington on the same day. It was headlined: "US Attorney General disbands task force to search for Russian business assets." The news is therefore likely to have been received positively in Moscow.