Some Signals Appear Trump Administration Will Enforce White-Collar Crime

The first months of the Trump administration have undeniably brought change to the white collar enforcement space.
On Feb. 10, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to pause all existing cases brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
That declaration followed an announcement by Bondi herself, directing the FCPA unit of Criminal Division at the Department of Justice to prioritize prosecuting foreign bribery that facilitates the operations of cartels and other violent transnational groups.
Since then, the administration has signaled a withdrawal.
Also on Feb. 5, Emil Bove — then acting deputy attorney general — asked a court to dismiss the bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
In April, Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, asked a court to dismiss another long-running bribery case against executives at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.
Judges granted both those requests, dismissing the cases.
This change in climate has not gone unnoticed by defense counsel.
The Wall Street Journal reports that lawyers for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani are asking the DOJ to drop charges against Adani in his alleged foreign bribery case. Adani has called the charges “baseless.”
Meanwhile, lawyers for crypto-prediction market Polymarket are asking investigators to drop a probe, per the Journal.
Observers agree it’s too early to predict what’s next. But there are some signals.

FCPA Expansion?

While FCPA enforcement has been paused, that doesn’t mean it’s over.
“I do think it’s just a pause,” said Rich Donoghue, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, former acting deputy attorney general and former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Citing language in the executive order, Donoghue says he does expect to see a resumption and perhaps even an expansion of enforcement in the cartel and transnational criminal space.
Donoghue noted that Bondi’s memo suspended Justice Manual requirements that the Criminal Division authorize investigations, stating that matters relating to cartel-associated foreign bribery no longer needed to be greenlighted.
“Many of the FCPA cases over the years have involved non-U.S. companies,” he said. “Once [prosecutors] survey the landscape, they’ll realize that the FCPA fits well into the current administration’s view.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Extortion Practices Act still exists.
“To the extent it can be applied,” Donoghue said, “It would allow the administration to prosecute foreign officials who are extorting U.S. companies. That’s another reason why the FCPA, as a whole, will continue in some form or fashion.”

Enforcement Might Differ, But the Law Is Still There

Pallas partner Josh Naftalis estimates it will take six months to a year for a clearer picture to begin to crystallize.
"It's not that white collar enforcement won't happen; that's not the case,” he said. “DOJ is prioritizing certain areas and it is dedicating less resources to it."
"The law is still the law,” he added. “You still have to comply with the FCPA, the sanctions laws, the securities laws — it's still illegal to violate them. What is different is that there likely will be less of those investigations and charges, and the government may be more receptive to giving an audience to the defense bar to hear them out."
Another white collar defense attorney who asked that their name not be used said one tricky bit at this stage was gaming out self-reporting for corporate clients.
“There's a lot of questions about the benefit of self-reporting in this regime, if it's worth doing,” he said. "If I had a client ready to self-report, I'd be a lot more reluctant to rush it in right now."
Donoghue said he’s been having similar conversations, but that he thought this was a favorable environment for self-reporting.
“The government’s always trying to encourage companies to self-report,” he said. “Particularly for clients who have some history, now I think you're in a better position to go in and argue to the government that your corporate client should not be held responsible for the actions of a few employees.”
“This is an opportunity for them to go to the government, lay their cards on the table,” Donoghue said. “Because that carries a great amount of weight with subsequent administrations."

Slow Down

Peter Skinner, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner and Co-Head the firm's Government Investigations & White Collar practice group, says it’s too early for trends.
"The DOJ has announced that significant resources are now being focused on transnational criminal organizations,” he noted. “Is that good news for U.S. corporations? Or do they actually have risks in some of these areas?"
With prosecutors trying to determine whether their existing cases can be recast within newly stated priorities, Skinner said he’s recommending caution.
"Generally speaking, I'm advising my clients to slow down to see how things develop, to the extent it's possible,” he said.
Donoghue also advised taking a breath.
“I do think, having been through this a number of times now, there’s some period of transition where people are curious and anxious,” he said. “It’s only around the six-month mark where you can size up where it’s going in the next couple years.”
Everyone agrees that prosecution of more classic “bread and butter” fraud will continue, but that is unlikely to generate the revenue of giant corporate clients.
Bruce Maffeo, senior counsel at Cozen O’Connor, said he wouldn’t want to be in charge of hiring right now.
“The big question with the FCPA, which a lot of large firms count on to make their nut, because their clients are usually large corporations: will they still pay for a conga line of associates and partners and paralegals?”