Trump's worst deal
By Adam Davidson 12:40 P.M.
This week, The New Yorker published “Donald Trump’s Worst Deal,” an investigation into a hotel-development deal that the Trump Organization made with notorious Azerbaijani oligarchs tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard ...
... the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act .. prohibits American companies from benefitting, even unknowingly, from a foreign business partner’s corruption. Unlike almost all other federal crimes, F.C.P.A. cases can be prosecuted only with the consent of what is called “Main Justice,” meaning the Justice Department’s headquarters, in D.C. Normally, district-level U.S. Attorneys have enormous discretion over the cases they prosecute. But, with the F.C.P.A., they need permission from headquarters. This is done in deference to the possible diplomatic implications of an F.C.P.A. violation. By definition, every F.C.P.A. case involves a foreign government official, and investigating these cases often requires F.B.I. agents to fly to foreign countries, including allies of the U.S., and dig into political officials. F.C.P.A. enforcement is concentrated at Main Justice so that it can keep the State Department in the loop.
The Azerbaijan deal might also be looked at for possible violations of Iran sanctions, which would also be investigated by the Department of Justice, along with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control. Questions about money laundering could be investigated by a number of different authorities: federal U.S. Attorneys, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, the New York Attorney General, or the New York State Department of Financial Services. Since this was a global deal, involving partners in the U.K., Azerbaijan, and elsewhere, one could imagine prosecutors in those countries also looking into it.
... Trump becoming President transformed this from a challenging, obscure case into a crucial one that requires a special prosecutor or other type of independent investigator ...
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/your-questions-about-donald-trumps-worst-deal-answered
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