US - sometimes you have to hope for the future
Unfortunately, the Trump administration continues to move against the US legacy of being a world-wide leader in the fight against corruption. NBC News laid it out in stark terms: “In four months, the Trump administration has dismantled key parts of that law enforcement infrastructure, creating what experts say is the ripest environment for corruption by public officials and business executives in a generation.”
Sometimes legal experts are not needed to describe a situation. In this instance, in the four months that the Trump administration has been in power, they have fired significant numbers of prosecutors who have worked on corruption cases, as well as taking apart departments at the US Department of Justice and the US FBI who are prosecuting corruption cases, dropping ongoing prosecutions as well as opening investigations in a very partisan manner. At the same time President Trump is pardoning blatant corruption convictions, as well as making many personal financial moves which in other administrations would be considered questionably corrupt and the message all these actions send is clear. Corruption isn’t important, the public, who pays taxes and expect government to use their money appropriately, are not important, white-collar criminals can go free, and friends of President Trump have not need to worry.
What can be done? This is not a simple question, as there continues to be a willingness by the present federal enforcement authorities to avoid bringing forward corruption cases, except for fraud (this is what they are saying). The US public, through their legislators, should track what the true changes are and should not be distracted by actions which are not permanent. Government departments can be rebuilt, and cases can be reopened. But, as has happened in other countries, laws can change and this makes it difficult to rebuild, but at this time, in the US, it is more administrative than regulatory and legislative. As noted, regulatory and legislative changes are more difficult to reverse and so making certain that this does not occur is absolutely necessary and vigilance by civil society, and legislators is key. Even though it looks very depressing at present, the changes are still reversible, and we should continue to rely on the probity and decency of the remaining enforcement personnel to do the right thing, and defend the US constitution and the people who are governed by it.
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