Once the leader in the global fight against corruption and illicit finance, over the past decade the United States has become a preferred destination for oligarchs and kleptocrats to hide their ill-gotten gains. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has halted enforcement of key U.S. anti-corruption laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021, which Congress passed to shed light on anonymous shell companies used by autocrats and drug kingpins. Fully enforcing our laws is necessary to tackle international money laundering, foreign bribery, and other corrupt practices that fuel instability, prop up dictators, and disadvantage American businesses that play by the rules.
Call on Congress to provide robust funding for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and support rigorous enforcement of anti-corruption and transparency laws as a national security priority.
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The Trump administration moved quickly to dismantle anti-corruption programs and enforcement capacity across government, repositioning the U.S. from global leader to laggard in combatting transnational corruption and kleptocracy. Decisions to disband the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, Kleptocapture Taskforce, and Public Integrity Section are undermining efforts to hold corrupt actors accountable but and recover proceeds for American taxpayers and those living under the yoke of oppression. The suspension of fundamental parts of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Corporate Transparency Act is upending decades of progress in rooting out foreign bribery and money laundering, despite broad bipartisan recognition that these laws protect U.S. businesses and national security.
Meanwhile, the selective and politicized application of human rights sanctions along with the elimination of U.S. assistance programs that support accountability, transparency, and the rule-of-law are eroding partnerships, diminishing U.S. credibility, and emboldening oligarchs and dictators. The costs of these actions are not theoretical or abstract. Illicit finance is the lifeblood of transnational criminal organizations, including those engaged in fentanyl and human trafficking; terrorist networks; and corrupt foreign officials perpetrating human rights abuses and extracting ransom from American businesses.
