Bondi Diminishes Justice Department White Collar Enforcement (2)

The Justice Department is scaling back enforcement of laws governing foreign lobbying transparency and bribes of foreign officials, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.

The Criminal Division’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit will prioritize investigations related to foreign bribery that facilitates the criminal operations of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, such as cases that involve bribery of foreign officials to “facilitate human smuggling and the trafficking of narcotics and firearms,” Bondi said in a Wednesday memo obtained by Bloomberg Law.

The FCPA prosecutors shall “shift focus away from investigations and cases that do not have such a connection,” she added.

Separately, Foreign Agents Registration Act enforcement “shall be limited to instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.” The Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, which houses the FARA unit, will “focus on civil enforcement, regulatory initiatives, and public guidance,” the memo said.

In tandem, the narrower emphases for FCPA and FARA teams signals a dramatic retreat from two growth areas of white collar enforcement over the past ten to 15 years.

For instance, the foreign lobbying policy comes after the department surged FARA enforcement starting under Special Counsel Robert Mueller, leading to prosecutions of prominent political figures in both parties. Bondi became familiar with the law’s requirements when she registered in recent years as a foreign agent while lobbying for the government of Qatar.

Also on Wednesday, Bondi disbanded the National Security Division’s corporate enforcement unit, a high-priority initiative of Biden-era Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and reassigned team members to their earlier posts.

It remains unclear whether NSD will back away entirely from its increasing focus on the intersection of corporate crime and threats from adversaries such as China and Iran. The two Monaco-appointed leaders of that project updated their LinkedIn profiles with new titles as counsels for NSD’s top official.

Bondi also directed the DOJ’s money laundering office to prioritize cartels and transnational crime.

As a result, the Justice Department is shutting down its kleptocracy initiative that’s recovered billions of dollars from corrupt overseas officials since 2010 and the KleptoCapture task force, which has led efforts to confiscate yachts, planes and real estate from rich Russians sanctioned over the war in Ukraine. The US has sent Russian assets confiscated as a result of the task force’s work to the benefit of Ukraine.

Employees assigned to the the task force, which has helped enforce sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures in response to the war, will return to their prior posts. “Resources currently devoted to those efforts shall be committed to the total elimination” of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, the memo said.

The wide ranging changes in the department’s white collar enforcement priorities were among a flurry of announcements as Bondi concluded her first day as the top US law enforcement official following her confirmation Tuesday night.

“Taken together these changes are an invitation to foreign actors to interfere in American affairs,” said Aaron Zelinsky, a former DOJ national security prosecutor. “Even worse, it’s an invitation to Americans to help them do it.”