A shift in Department of Justice priorities since Donald Trump's return to office has led to reduced enforcement of white-collar financial crimes, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported on New Year's Eve that significant changes at the DOJ have fundamentally altered white-collar crime enforcement operations.
Most notably, the Trump administration's focus on attracting foreign investment to support the struggling economy has prompted both the DOJ and SEC to scale back enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Only six FCPA cases have been filed this year compared to an annual average of 33 since 2015, with the Journal describing enforcement actions as having "fallen off a cliff."
The Journal reports, "The Justice Department, focused on White House priorities such as immigration enforcement and violent crime, has stepped back from the kinds of complicated investigations into foreign bribery, money laundering and public corruption that former department leaders often cited among their greatest successes."
President Trump himself has requested a six-month enforcement freeze, believing restrictions cripple U.S. companies operating internationally.
In response, Justice Department officials have closed nearly half of open foreign-bribery investigations and directed that future cases be connected to U.S. strategic interests, including transnational drug cartel operations.
Current and former Justice Department officials attribute the decline in white-collar enforcement partly to prosecutors and investigators being reassigned to other law enforcement priorities within the government.
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