As the Trump administration signals its intention to crack down on certain crimes, it’s also signaling a major ambivalence toward others, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Criminal prosecutions of white-collar offenses have been declining for decades under both Republican and Democratic presidents. Amid sweeping policy and personnel changes at the Justice Department, that downward trend seems poised to accelerate under President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The new policies, along with the departure of senior career officials, signal a new – and possibly more relaxed – approach to public corruption, tax evasion, and other white-collar crimes. While incoming presidents are entitled to set new DOJ priorities, these appear more sweeping than usual. They also appear to be shifting resources away from types of investigations that have troubled Trump and his allies in the past. How these changes will play out over the coming years is uncertain, but a softened stance can invite foul play, experts say. The most serious white-collar crime cases are complex and “dependent on proactively policing,” says Henry Pontell, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Irvine. “When investigation is impossible due to both a lack of resources and political will, they are simply relegated to the status of ‘nonissues.’”
Bondi’s first day in office played out much like the first days of the president who appointed her. On Feb. 5, the new attorney general issued over a dozen memos outlining new directives and priorities for the Justice Department. Bondi announced “shifting resources” in the agency’s national security division from foreign interference investigations to cross-border crimes. She will disband a task force set up in 2017 to police foreign-run political influence campaigns. Investigations of Americans lobbying on behalf of foreign governments would also be limited to conduct resembling “traditional espionage.” Enforcement of a law regulating domestic lobbyists for foreign governments would now be limited to conduct “similar to more traditional espionage.” Prosecutors in the disbanded Foreign Influence Task Force should now focus on “the total elimination” of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, Bondi wrote. A separate unit, previously tasked with investigating U.S. companies that bribe foreign officials, must now prioritize investigations of cartels, she wrote. Some of these laws have only been lightly enforced. That may not change. What is clear, however, is that the Justice Department is signaling a more relaxed approach to certain white-collar crimes. The new directives “invite more foreign interference in American affairs,” says Aaron Zelinsky, a former federal prosecutor specializing in fraud, public corruption, and national security cases. “Administrations are entitled to set enforcement priorities,” he adds. These changes are “different [from] figuring out where to allocate manpower. They’re changes in nature rather than changes in kind.”
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