Top Democrats from four House committees have sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, expressing concerns about the Justice Department's new policies on corruption investigations. The letter questions whether these policies will impact ongoing corruption probes involving public officials in the United States and abroad.
The Democrats, including Rep. Gerald Connolly, Rep. Summer Lee, Rep. Jamie Raskin, and Rep. Lucy McBath, criticized the Trump administration and DOJ for what they described as an unprecedented assault on efforts to combat corruption. They highlighted the Justice Department's pause on corporate foreign bribery investigations, reduced enforcement of foreign agent registration laws, and decreased focus on prosecuting Russian oligarchs.
The letter also raised issues regarding the potential elimination of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section and cited instances where criminal cases against public officials were dropped or pardons were granted, including the case of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The Democrats accused the Trump administration of engaging in actions that shielded allies from criminal exposure and described certain firings and case dismissals as 'patently illegal.' They requested detailed information on the decision-making process behind dropping specific cases and called for transparency on which corruption cases will be pursued moving forward.
Specifically, the letter seeks all communications related to the dropped cases, clarification on the prosecution of US businesses bribing foreign officials, and data on cases involving assets linked to individuals from Russia and China handled by the department's Task Force KleptoCapture.
