If you represent U.S. businesses and want to scale back an anti-corruption law, what do you do? Hire the nationâs former top law enforcement official.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has recruited former Attorney General Michael Mukasey to press its case for reining in an American law that bans bribery overseas â and for softening the Obama administrationâs aggressive enforcement of it. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it a crime for U.S. companies to pay bribes or offer any âthing of valueâ to a foreign official to advance the corporationâs interest.
Many advocates for business say enforcement of that law has been too strict, injuring Americaâs ability to win in a global economy. They also cite lengthy investigations and hefty legal fees over transactions that wouldnât qualify as traditional bribes, such as giving money to non-government officials, buying dinner for business contacts or even paying for their taxi rides.
Enter Mukasey, a former federal judge whom President George W. Bush brought in to clean up a scandal-tarnished Justice Department in 2007. After leaving the Justice Department, Mukasey returned to New York, joined the firm of Debevoise & Plimpton and began taking on corporate clients, including the Chamber and News Corp.