A busy few weeks on the corruption front
US President Donald Trump showing a chart with planned US tariffs, April 2, 2025. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT
Happy Friday!
It’s been a busy couple weeks on the corruption front. So, for this issue, we’re focusing on our What We’re Reading, DC Update and National Roundup. We’re doing in-depth research into the topic of state-level transparency, which we’re planning to cover in the Feature of our next issue. We’re also in the process of developing an online portal for documenting and tracking local and state-level corruption in America. This will eventually be a public mapping and analysis tool hosted on our website, and will include a database of recent corruption cases that will allow all sorts of interesting research – including helping concerned citizens track corruption not just at the heights of national power, but in their home states. Finally, starting in mid-April, we’ll be migrating all of our publishing to our new Substack, so be sure to sign up below if you haven’t already so you can keep getting the Kleptocracy in America Report, the Dekleptocracy Report, and our other coverage and analysis, including guest authors.
WHAT WE’RE FOLLOWING
WHAT WE’RE READING
It’s hard to keep up with The Discourse these days. Still, a few pieces stood out to us as signposts that, amid the tariff chaos and Signalgate and institutional capitulations and DOGE cuts and mukhabarat kidnappings and El Salvadoran prison photoshoots and plans to anschluss our friendly neighbors and efforts to strongarm our allies into surrender to foreign tyrants, the US opposition is starting to glom onto one salient fact: That corruption is both the central organizing principle and the soft underbelly of the current administration.
First, in the pages of Foreign Policy’s new issue (titled, appropriately “Billionaire Rule”), Georgetown University Professor Jodi Vittori takes a look at what’s happening and asks the question on everyone’s minds: Is America a Kleptocracy now? Unsurprisingly, it’s a topic we’ve explored, and we heartily recommend Vittori’s piece, whose TL;DR is “not quite yet, but rapidly getting there”. Giving an overview of different types of corruption, and a comparative tour of different models of kleptocracy around the world, she concludes that while the US may not be a full-blown kleptocracy yet, there are signs that “a uniquely American form [of kleptocracy] is already emerging.” The descent of a wealthy, democratic great power into kleptocracy would be uncharted territory, but she suggests that lessons for the opposition may be drawn from civil resistance movements abroad. We couldn’t agree more.
The article was followed up, last week, by a streamed discussion between FP’s Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal and Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, on exactly that topic. Murphy – widely regarded as one of the most effective communicators in the “fight” faction of the Senate Dems – asserted that the US under Trump was becoming a “hybrid oligarchy-kleptocracy”, an awkward formulation but certainly in the right ballpark. Responding to Agrawal’s assertion that corruption has always been a part of the US system, Murphy agreed that corruption has indeed always been a problem, but there is “no throughline” from the status quo ante to what Trump is now imposing. He compared the leap in corruption to the difference between a 12-oz soda to a 50-oz bucket, and insisted the Trump administration’s incipient kleptocracy should not be seen as a natural evolution of the legalized bipartisan self-dealing of yesteryear.
Murphy also emphasized two critical strategic imperatives: first, that the Democrats and their allies need to campaign against Trump’s corruption – and on solutions to fix it – and second, that massive civil resistance will likely be necessary to counter the kleptocratic takeover, calling on “hundreds of thousands” of people to get out in the streets. Compared to other elected officials, Murphy has shown an unusually clear-eyed understanding of the nature of the threat facing American democracy, displayed in a recent BlueSky thread on the extortionate logic behind the tariffs. While one can quibble with the specifics of his strategic prescriptions for the Democratic platform, he is a voice to listen to.
Speaking of strategy, Jonathan Last’s recent piece in The Bulwark, entitled “How to Think (And Act) Like a Dissident Movement”, should be required reading for anyone who cares about preserving American democracy and pulling the constitutional order out of its current nose-dive. While brief, it succinctly lays out the bones of a strategy for the coming months based on an approach modeled on the dissident movements of other authoritarian countries, rather than the sort of politics whose relevance ended on November 5, 2024. He highlights the need for leadership (currently: AOC, as she leads rallies across the country), solidarity, and a reformist message that goes beyond a mere defense of the pre-Trump status quo. Importantly, he includes an eight-point “roadmap”, point five of which is to “elevate the corruption” of the emergent regime as a core plank of the campaign.
DC THROUGHLINE
Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and Signalgate – the cringey discussion of a military operation, as it was happening, in violation of about a dozen different rules, by National Security Council principals, on the Signal messaging app, with a journalist who was accidentally added to the chat dutifully recording the whole thing – were unquestionably the main stories out of the administration in the past two weeks. But there has been plenty happening on the corruption front since our last issue. Signalgate-adjacent, there was the news that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – in between giving us such timeless catchphrases as “we are currently clean on OPSEC” and pursuing his main defense policy priority of proving that Pete Hegseth can totally hang with special operations forces (could’ve passed Selection, just didn’t feel like trying out, bro) while showing off his boot tats – seems to have also found time to hire his little brother as a Department of Homeland Security liaison to the Pentagon. There is no indication that any laws were violated. But as a lawyer quoted by DefenseNews put it, it doesn’t “pass the smell test.” Heggseth’s wife has also reportedly attended high-level meetings with him.
Elon Musk figures prominently in the highlight reel of ethically questionable decisions, including handing out $1 million payments to two Wisconsin voters in his failed attempts to influence a state supreme court race and abandoning a planned Pentagon brief on defense contracting opportunities – er, war plans against China – after the news leaked. Also, it’s noteworthy that a co-founder of electronic payment system PayPal and crypto superfan was handing out giant checks like the old Publishers Clearing House prize patrol…
Trump himself was the chief player. Most prominently, there were the shakedowns of Columbia University and law firm Paul, Weiss. In both cases the institutions agreed to do the president’s bidding in return for having federal funding restored. The Atlantic’s take that it could spell the end of middle-class college education, as we have known it since WWII, is particularly worrying. Then there was Trump’s drumbeat of pardons of convicted white-collar criminals, such as Trevor Milton, the founder of EV maker Nikola, who was convicted of fraud and notably made a $1.8 million donation to Trump’s reelection campaign. Finally, there was the White House’s unprecedented, abrupt firing of two Justice Department line prosecutors, in California and Tennessee, respectively. The California prosecutor, Adam Schleifer, was prosecuting the former CEO of Fatburger and Johnny Rockets, Andrew Wiederhorn, for allegedly hiding taxable income. This prompted lobbying from Wiederhorn on the Justice Department to drop the case. While this might have gone under the radar for many observers, it highlights our central concern – the relationship between local corruption and centralized power, and demonstrates how a top-to-bottom kleptocratic structure can emerge.
As a postscript, there was a minor but telling development that perhaps more properly belongs in our foreign policy-focused sister newsletter, the Dekleptocracy Report, but dammit, we’re noting it here: the UK, France, and Switzerland have formed a combined task force for tackling international bribery and corruption. The reason it’s relevant to the DC Throughline is that, as JD Supra points out, it’s hard not to see this as a rebuke to Trump’s decision to suspend enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It’s also an opportunity for Europeans to show how their own anti-corruption legislation, like France’s Sapin II, might be used against wayward American businesses.
NATIONAL ROUNDUP
It was a busy couple weeks for local corruption in America. From New England to the Deep South to the West Coast and everywhere in between, here are some of the cases that stood out.
MASSACHUSETTS
Everett mayor faces corruption accusations: Carlo DeMaria, the Democratic Mayor of the North Shore city of Everett, scored a rare court victory against a newspaper that manufactured phony corruption allegations – but has found himself facing real ones after the State Inspector General found that he colluded with his finance officer and budget director to pay himself bonuses, and may have violated state ethics laws. No criminal charges have been filed.
CONNECTICUT
Dem finance officer, lawmaker face federal charges: Former state deputy budget director Kosta Diamantis and former state legislator Christopher Ziogas were indicted in late February over an alleged effort to pressure state employees to end an audit targeting Ziogas’s fiancee. Diamantis is already facing federal corruption charges related to the alleged extortion of construction contractors to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.
NEW JERSEY
Expediter pleads guilty to bribery charges: Lamont Baxter, a Newark expediter, pleaded guilty in late March to federal charges of bribery and fraud for his role in facilitating bribes to city officials on behalf of contractors between 2017 and 2022.
NEW YORK
Former fire chief sentenced: Former FDNY fire chief Brian Cordasco was sentenced to 20 months in prison, along with fines and forfeiture, after being convicted on federal charges last fall for his part in an alleged scheme to solicit bribes in exchange for fast-tracking inspections. Another FDNY official, Anthony Saccavino, pleaded guilty in January and will be sentenced in May.
Adams in the clear, aide still facing charges: Speaking of fire inspections, ahem, while the case against New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) was dropped (with prejudice, in a small win), leaving him clear to gear up for the Democratic primary and promote Kash Patel’s children’s book, a former top advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, is not so lucky. Federal charges against her are set to proceed for her alleged role in a separate bribery scheme.
Indictment of Bronx GOP Election Board official may be just the tip of the iceberg: The alleged bribes-for-temp-jobs scheme that resulted in the indictment of an NYC GOP Election Board employee last August (who is expected to plead guilty this month) were part of a larger pay-to-play scheme that required participants to make regular payments and collect signatures to get Republican candidates on the ballot in the Bronx, according to recent NYT reporting.
PENNSYLVANIA
Contractor indicted for alleged $300k Amtrak bribery scheme: Indiana-based masonry contractor Mark Snedden was indicted at the end of March on federal charges for, among other things, allegedly paying over $300,000 in bribes to an Amtrak project manager. The latter was overseeing a nearly $60 million contract Snedden held for restoring a landmark Philadelphia train station – leading to over $50 million in additional payments to Snedden’s company.
DC
Indicted former councilmember running once again: Trayon White, who was expelled from the DC City Council earlier this year after being indicted on federal bribery charges, has announced that he’ll nonetheless be running for his old seat this summer.
VIRGINIA
Bribes-for-badges sheriff sentenced: Former Culpeper County Republican Sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced on March 21 to ten years behind bars for an alleged $75,000 scheme in which he sold deputy’s badges in exchange for cash, after being convicted on federal charges late last year.
GEORGIA
With FCPA enforcement suspended, judge delays trial in Honduran police uniform bribery case: The trial for three men facing FCPA charges of paying bribes to Honduran officials to facilitate a police-uniforms contract, including Carl Zaglin, the owner of a Georgia uniform manufacturer, has been delayed until August.
TENNESSEE
Nothing to see here, concludes state probe of police department accused of covering for sex predator: A state investigation of the Johnson City Police Department released in late March found no evidence of corruption. This runs contrary to the (more convincing) reporting published days earlier by the New Yorker suggesting that a now-convicted, historically prolific local sex predator, Sean Williams, had been bribing them for protection for years. The city of just over 73,000 recently settled a class-action lawsuit with victims for $28 million.
LOUISIANA
Mail carrier charged with accepting bribes to facilitate drug shipments: A postal worker was indicted earlier in March for his alleged role in a scheme to move drug-filled parcels, according to a DoJ press release last week.
MISSISSIPPI
In echo of antebellum South, a GOP “goon squad” sheriff used convict labor on his mother’s chicken farm, NYT reports: GOP Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey, whose department has faced federal investigation for a “goon squad” of officers that allegedly tortured detainees, leading to several convictions, has used prison inmates and taxpayer-purchased equipment to work on his mother’s chicken farm. This is according to recent NYT reporting. The paper, which previously reported that Bailey had illegally used grand jury subpoenas to spy on his married girlfriend in 2014, also found that he allegedly had sheriff’s deputies on the clock working as overseers at the farm.
TEXAS
Border Patrol officer sentenced for allegedly taking bribes from traffickers: A CBP officer, Omar Moreno, was sentenced at the end of March to four years in prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes to allow human smugglers to move undocumented immigrants past his post. The scheme was uncovered by an FBI sting.
OHIO
Legislature repeals coal subsidies from corrupt FirstEnergy bill: Legislators from both parties voted in late March to repeal coal subsidies that were part of HB 6, the bill at the center of the largest corruption scandal in state history. It brought down the former GOP Speaker of the House after the FirstEnergy utility allegedly paid approximately $61 million in bribes to get it passed. Now-Senator, then-Lt. Gov. Republican Jon Husted was closely involved in the passage of the bill, but has not been charged with any crime.
Former Cleveland city councilman sentenced in bribery case: Former Cleveland official and mayoral candidate Basheer Jones was sentenced this week to 28 months in prison for an alleged scheme that involved pushing local nonprofits to hire his romantic partner as a consultant. Cleveland’s elections are officially nonpartisan.
ILLINOIS
Madigan wants new trial, Feds want him to forfeit millions, “ComEd four” set for sentencing: Prosecutors want former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan (D), who was convicted on ten corruption-related charges last month and set to be sentenced in June, to forfeit over $3 million in alleged ill-gotten gains, according to recent reporting. Madigan’s defense lawyers have filed a motion for a new trial, alleging the judge that presided over his conviction made a series of errors. Meanwhile, four defendants in the related ComEd case, who were convicted for bribery and FCPA violations in 2023 for trying to influence Madigan, are set to be sentenced in July. This is the latest development in a drawn-out sentencing process, which has been buffeted by legal tailwinds stemming from the Supreme Court’s decision in Snyder v. United States and, more recently, Trump’s suspension of the FCPA.
CALIFORNIA
Employment Development Department employee sentenced in alleged fraud and bribery scheme: Regina Brice, a former employee of the California EDD, was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison in late March, after pleading guilty in November to abusing her office by taking bribes to lodge fraudulent unemployment insurance claims during the COVID era.
Former Anaheim mayor gets two months in prison for alleged corruption in stadium sale: Harry Sidhu, the GOP mayor who led Anaheim from 2018 to 2022, was sentenced in late March after pleading guilty in 2023 to federal charges. These resulted from an investigation of a failed stadium deal intended to keep the Angels baseball team in the city. Sidhu admitted to sharing confidential information about the city’s bidding process with a developer, deleting emails, concealing information from federal agents, and falsely claiming Arizona residence to avoid sales tax on a helicopter purchase.