The Trump administration could not have gotten off to a better start for people accused of violating foreign lobbying and bribery laws.
In the days after President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi issued directives limiting the enforcement of those laws, lawyers for people accused of such violations — including Trump allies — have scrambled to capitalize on the moment.
Some have requested that the Justice Department drop pending charges, or have suggested they are planning to make such requests. Others are expected to use the directives to seek clemency from Mr. Trump or leniency in dealings with prosecutors, according to people familiar with the reactions to the changes ordered by the new administration.
The administration portrayed the moves as part of a broader shift in focus toward immigration, drugs and terrorism, and away from white-collar crimes that it says are selectively enforced. The orders echoed complaints by Mr. Trump and his team that they had been politically targeted by the Justice Department during his first administration under the guise of clamping down on foreign influence.
The effects of the new administration’s moves are expected to be wide reaching, rippling through Washington’s lobbying industry, foreign capitals, U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country and highly paid white-collar law firms.
Taken together, the moves send “a clear signal that the United States is just wide open to foreign meddling, and even if you get caught red-handed there is a chance that you can get off the hook,” said Ben Freeman, who tracks foreign influence for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
