Washington, D.C. (February 21, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary; Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Rep. Lucy McBath, Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance; and Rep. Summer Lee, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, sent a letter to Attorney General Pamela Bondi requesting information on the Trump Administration’s rapid fire efforts to give free rein to corruption by endorsing bribery, quid-pro-quos, and related crimes and undermining the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) commitment to good government and the rule of law.
“We write regarding a series of recent actions by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that have significantly restricted the federal government’s ability to deter, investigate, and prosecute corruption in the United States and abroad. Over the past weeks, the Trump DOJ has removed and reassigned highly respected leadership in DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, halted DOJ enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and disbanded several DOJ anti-kleptocracy initiatives, which targeted and seized ill-gotten assets of corrupt foreign actors in several countries, including Russia and China. Just last week, eight veteran career prosecutors resigned in protest rather than follow illegal orders from DOJ leadership to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Far from rooting out corruption and fraud in our government, as President Trump likes to claim, the Trump administration and DOJ’s actions constitute an unprecedented assault on the laws, government agencies and people fighting corruption,” wrote the Ranking Members.
In their letter, the Ranking Members cite multiple instances in which President Trump has proactively cleared the path for corruption and crime:
Attempted Purge of Inspectors General and Watchdog Agency Heads
During his first week in office, President Trump illegally fired 17 federal agency inspectors generals (IGs).
Last week, President Trump likewise attempted to fire the IG for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in apparent retaliation for the IG’s report criticizing Trump’s efforts to gut the agency.
Each of these alleged firings was patently illegal, given the President’s failure to notify Congress 30 days before the attempted removals or provide “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for the removals, as required by law.
Favorable Treatment of Certain Public Officials in DOJ Matters
The Administration has declined to hold accountable several high-ranking current and former public officials under investigation for, charged with, or convicted of corruption.
Last week, DOJ shockingly directed prosecutors to drop its corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who had been charged with bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, in exchange for Adams’ cooperation with the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant agenda. The Trump-appointed Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Acting Chief of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, the Acting Head of DOJ’s Criminal Division, and several other DOJ career prosecutors resigned in protest.
DOJ last month moved to withdraw felony charges against former Representative Jeffrey Fortenberry of Nebraska, who was previously convicted in 2022 and charged again with lying to the FBI during an investigation concerning illegal foreign campaign donations.
Earlier this month, DOJ prosecutors filed a motion to withdraw from a campaign finance investigation into Trump ally, Representative Andy Ogles.
President Trump last week issued a pardon for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was removed from office and convicted in 2011 on 17 criminal charges arising from a corrupt scheme to sell an appointment to a vacant Senate seat.
Weakening Anti-Corruption Enforcement
DOJ has taken several actions that have institutionally weakened its ability to pursue both domestic and foreign corruption.
In January, the Trump Administration abruptly removed and reassigned several highly experienced DOJ staffers, including the chief of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, a nonpartisan career official who had served in that role since the first Trump Administration.
On February 10, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing Attorney General Bondi to cease any new investigations or enforcement actions under the bipartisan Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)—DOJ’s principal tool against bribery of foreign officials.
The President’s Executive Order followed a memo announcing that three DOJ anti-kleptocracy initiatives that have been critical to the agency’s targeting and seizure of assets of corrupt foreign actors in several countries, including Russia and China, would be disbanded.
On February 5, Attorney General Bondi disbanded the DOJ National Security Division’s Corporate Enforcement Unit, which helped hold to account bad corporate actors who helped Russia, China, Iran, North Korea evade U.S. and international sanctions.
To determine the severity of the impact of these actions on DOJ’s ability to investigate, prosecute, and deter domestic and foreign corruption, the Ranking Members request that DOJ produce documents and information no later than March 7, 2025.
Click
here to read the letter.
