The Wolf Guarding the Henhouse

Trump is using his second term to delegitimize the very concept of fraud and white-collar crime. Probably because he is a criminal and serial fraudster.

Trump has a bizarre view of the justice system, and ethics watchdogs fear Trump could enable a golden age of financial fraud. His administration has moved to narrow the government’s definition of fraud, and refusal to prevent fraud. The administration has paused, dropped or withdrawn enforcement actions against at least 100 corporations accused of misconduct, according to the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen.

In February, Trump allowed Elon Musk to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency created to protect Americans from predatory financial practices.

Trump then paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, claiming the 1977 anti-bribery statute had been “stretched beyond proper bounds” and was hurting U.S. companies’ ability to compete overseas.

In March, Trump fired two members from the Federal Trade Commission who are the government’s top watchdogs for corporate fraud, consumer deception and antitrust violations.

Trump has used his clemency powers and influence to turn fraud convictions and indictments into badges of loyalty.

Eric Adams: The Justice Department dropped its corruption charges against the New York City mayor, claiming the case would interfere with his ability to cooperate with Trump’s deportation agenda.

Trevor Milton: Trump issued a full pardon to the Nikola electric vehicle founder, who was convicted of defrauding investors and later donated $1.8 million to help Trump’s campaign.

Carlos Watson: Trump commuted the Ozy Media founder’s nearly 10-year prison sentence, which he was set to begin after his conviction for deceiving investors about his company’s financials.

Bitmex: The three co-founders and a former employee of the crypto exchange were granted pardons after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Devon Archer and Jason Galanis: The two former Hunter Biden associates — who were convicted of defrauding a Native American tribe — received clemency after cooperating in GOP investigations into the former president’s son.

Rod Blagojevich: After commuting his sentence in 2020, Trump granted a full pardon to the former Illinois governor, who was convicted of trying to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.

Trump even ordered an investigation into his own U.S. cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs for stating the 2020 election was secure.