That’s amazing. A TPM Reader points out that just yesterday Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave a speech at a big conference on … guess what? … enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act – the one President Trump, Michael Cohen, Felix Sater and the President’s criminal brood might have a problem with. It was the American Conference Institute’s 35th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Long and august title. This was just yesterday over in Maryland. Here’s the text of Rosenstein’s speech.
Here’s a noteworthy quote …
The rule of law is not simply about words written on paper. The culture of a society and the character of the people who enforce the law determine whether the rule of law endures.
One of the ways that we uphold the rule of law is to fight bribery and corruption. Until a few decades ago, paying bribes was viewed as a necessary part of doing business abroad. Some American companies were unapologetic about corrupt payments.
In 1976, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee revealed that hundreds of U.S. companies had bribed foreign officials, with payments that totaled hundreds of millions of dollars. The Committee concluded that there was a need for anti-bribery legislation. It reasoned that “[c]orporate bribery is bad business” and “fundamentally destructive” in a free market society. That was the basis for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Unsurprisingly, President Trump, a career criminal, is a longtime and outspoken opponent of the FCPA.
