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Trump wants to bribe foreign businesses, governments and entities [1]

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Date: 2025-02-11

It's all about the Benjamins. Trump has hated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 for decades. He thought not being able to bribe foreign entities left the US on an uneven playing field. Other businessmen and entities in other countries can do it, so why not us?

I already covered the whole history of the Act in a diary I did called Trump's Corruption Timeline back last November.

I include in there the irony of United Brands, aka Chiquita, actions which created the term Banana Republic. Read that diary for background on this one.

I was stunned when I read the title of this executive order:

Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement To Further American Economic And National Security.

​​​​​Trump is already corrupt. He now wants to be corrupt legally. It's so he and his billionaire buddies are able to make deals that currently would be illegal by using bribes. That's literally what it boils down to.

Trump takes on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 from its inception.

"(FCPA) has been systematically, and to a steadily increasing degree, stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of United States."

Trump means it's been used properly to keep him from bribing governments to allow him to build his hotels and golf courses.

"Current FCPA enforcement impedes the United States foreign policy objectives and therefore implicates the President's Article II authority over foreign affairs."

"Implicates" is the wrong word. He means "impedes." Apparently the people who write these orders for him aren't all that smart either. "Implicates" means he's guilty of the crime already of breaking the FCPA before he neuters it with this "pause." In this case, he knows that he can't just summarily say the law doesn't exist any more. Saying it's a pause allows him plausible deniability for illegal actions.

Then he names the prime areas on which he wants to use bribery.

"American national security depends in substantial part on United States and its companies gaining strategic business advantages whether in critical minerals, deep-water ports, or other key infrastructure or assets."

Deep-water ports, starting with those surrounding the Panama Canal.

"FCPA enforcement... for routine business practices in other nations not only wastes limited prosecutorial resources that could be dedicated to preserving American freedoms, but actively harms American economic competitiveness and, therefore, national security."

What twisted pretzel logic he is using. Prosecuting people and businesses for illegal bribery takes up resources. Anything can be done in the name of national security.

What he says next is exactly what he's done to the Civil Rights division of the Justice Department and the enforcing of rules and regulations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Turn them off.

"...cease initiations of any new FCPA investigations or enforcement actions, unless the Attorney General determines that an individual exception should be made."

In other words, it's the Wild Wild West of bribery unless the Attorney General wants to target a business who likes to use DEI.

"... review in detail existing FCPA investigations or enforcement actions and take appropriate action with respect to such matters to restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives."

Trump needs to bribe those diplomats in foreign countries to make sure he gets great real estate deals for his hotels. Other businesses can apply, too. Of course, it also stops any current cases, or possibilities of being prosecuted, stopped dead in their tracks.

"...issue updated guidelines or policies, as appropriate, to adequately promote the President's Article II authority to conduct foreign affairs and prioritize American interests, American economic competitiveness with respect to other nations, and efficient use of federal law enforcement resources."

The President himself wants bribery authority to make deals with foreign countries, diplomats, and officials, as well as other businesses, to get the best deal possible.

To use federal resources, the Department of Justice, to prosecute FCPA cases, costs money. So we shouldn't do any law enforcement at all.

Then he wants to make bribery convictions legal, retroactively.

"... the Attorney General shall determine whether additional actions, including remedial measures with respect to inappropriate past FCPA investigations and enforcement actions, are warranted and shall take any such appropriate actions, or if Presidential action is required, recommend such actions to the President."

Pardon anybody accused and convicted of violating the FCPA. It's not even in fine print. It's declared right out in the open.

"Severability. If any provision of this order, or application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby."

It's supposedly just a pause in enforcement. But the retroactive provisions will take place before anything in the pause could be struck down. Give all that money back to businesses that violated the Act, or cancel mandated supervision by the SEC. Trump wouldn't even have to issue pardons or commutations, unless it was an individual. Bob Menendez might ask for one.

As an example, Goldman Sachs was prosecuted for bribes in Malaysia and UAE in 2020, and had to pay a billion dollars in fines. Trump would likely give them back their billion dollars so he can get loans from them, seeing as how Deutsche Bank might be a little afraid to launder money for him now. Government can't afford those Politico subscriptions, but a billion dollars given back to a company that can easily afford it, would fit right in with his train of thought.

Here's a list of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions that hasn't been wiped out with the purge of government websites and information pages. You'll be surprised at how many there are.

Donald Trump loves every trick in the book, doing business, to be legal. The Foreign Corruption Practices Act has been a target of his as long as he's been in business.

He wants to use bribery both as the President of the United States, and for personal gain.

The most corrupt President in history wants to be even more so. Figures.

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