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Corporate Offenders Swamp Trump: Corporations Meeting with Trump Have Paid Penalties Totaling Nearly $90 Billion Since 2010

Donald Trump often seems most at home at-home meeting with titans of industry. But a Public Citizen analysis finds that the executives rubbing elbows with the president represent corporations that are far from upstanding corporate citizens.

More than 100 of the executives that have met with President Trump since he was elected – 122 – come from companies that paid a fine or penalty since 2010, a Public Citizen analysis of data from Good Jobs First’s Corporate Research Project finds.

Including also fines associated with Goldman Sachs and ExxonMobil – effectively represented inside the administration by former executives Gary Cohn and Rex Tillerson – these companies have paid a grand total of nearly $90 billion to resolve regulatory and legal violations imposed by the Department of Justice and federal regulatory enforcement agencies.

Public Citizen’s analysis is based on the Violation Tracker database, which is produced by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First.

Table 1: Top Corporate Offenders Whose Executives Met with Trump Between Election Day and May 30, 2017

CORPORATION
EXECUTIVE MEETING WITH TRUMPPENALTIES SINCE 2010
JPMorgan ChaseJamie Dimon, chairman and CEO$28,675,456,874
VolkswagenDavid Geanacopoulos, senior executive vice president for public affairs and public policy$19,225,193,500
Citigroup Inc.Michael Corbat, CEO$15,518,046,942
Goldman SachsGary Cohn, former COO, director of the National Economic Council under Trump$9,311,300,000
HSBCPatrick Burke, president and CEO of U.S. subsidiary$4,066,684,500

Penalty source: Violation Tracker via Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First.

In a previous report, Public Citizen tallied meetings between President Trump and corporate executives during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency. This report supplements the earlier report’s corporate executive meeting data with Politico’s Unauthorized White House visitor log, the most comprehensive resource available for tracking with whom the president is meeting.

The bulk of the penalties, or nearly $86 billion, were paid by 15 huge corporations. The largest amount paid in total penalties was paid by megabank JPMorgan Chase, which paid more than $28 billion since 2010, largely to resolve Justice Department lawsuits connected with abusive actions related to the 2008 financial crisis. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who is a member of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, has emerged as a regular defender of Trump and Trump’s policies.

Among the big banks, only Bank of America, whose executives have not met with Trump, has been penalized more.

Citigroup, which was required to pay more than $15 billion, and Goldman Sachs, which was required to pay more than $9 billion, both largely to settle allegations of violations committed in the run-up to the financial crisis, also are among the top five corporate offenders whose executives have met with Trump. Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat co-chaired Trump’s “CEO Town Hall”; Gary Cohn, a Goldman Sachs executive, left the corporation to join Trump’s cabinet as director of the National Economic Council.

Other large penalties were levied against Volkswagen and HSBC. Volkswagen was required by the Environmental Protection Agency to pay more than $19 billion in penalties connected with its conspiracy to use illegal “defeat devices” that enabled its diesel-fueled vehicles to cheat required fuel efficiency tests. Volkswagen pleaded guilty to three criminal felony counts for its illegal scheme. Volkswagen executive David Geanacopoulos was among the auto industry leaders with whom Trump met during a March visit to Detroit, Mich.

HSBC paid more than $4 billion to settle allegations for numerous violations, a sizeable portion of which was a fine for the international bank’s failure to prevent money-laundering activities tied to drug traffickers and international terrorist groups. HSBC admitted to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations in exchange for a deferred prosecution agreement. Patrick Burke, president and CEO of HSBC Bank USA, attended Trump’s CEO Town Hall.

In light of President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ frequent tough talk on crime, it is important to note that, in practice, the Trump-Sessions era of federal law enforcement demonstrates zero tolerance for undocumented immigrants and low-level offenders while at the same time a high degree of lenience when it comes to corporate offenders, as a recent settlement with Citigroup and an expected settlement with Wal-Mart over allegations of bribing officials in Mexico show.

Also noteworthy are the administration’s efforts to weaken enforcement agencies such as the EPA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whose job is to prevent corporations from harming the public and punish corporate violators.

Table 2: Alphabetical List of Corporate Offenders Whose Executives Have Met with Trump Between Election Day and May 30, 2017

CORPORATIONEXECUTIVE WHO MET WITH TRUMPTITLEPENALTIES SINCE 2010
3MInge ThulinChairman/President$3,932,948
AccentureJulie SweetCEO of North America$63,675,000
AECOMDaniel TishmanVice Chairman$18,520,342
AetnaMark BertoliniChairman/CEO$1,858,432
AK SteelRoger NewportCEO$6,766,105
Alaska AirlinesBrad TildenPresident/CEO$4,437,829
AlcoaRoy HarveyCEO$385,267,149
Alphabet/GoogleLarry PageCEO$541,500,000
AmazonJeff BezosCEO$637,259
American Axle and ManufacturingDavid DauchCEO$491,327
AmgenRobert BradCEO$786,905,400
Anthem, Inc.Joe SwedishChairman/President/CEO$523,102
Apache Stainless EquipmentEd ParadowskiPresident$2,506,500
Apollo Global ManagementJosh HarrisCo-Founder$91,807,554
AppleTim CookCEO$32,500,000
ArcelorMittalJohn BrettCEO$5,672,180
Archer Daniels MidlandJuan LucianoChairman/CEO$64,995,134
ArconicKlaus KleinfeldChairman/CEO$569,722
AT&TRandall StephensonCEO$352,921,285
Atlas AirWilliam FlynnPresident/CEO$17,590,000
AutoZoneBill RhodesChairman/President/CEO$536,622
Bayer AGWerner BaumannCEO$11,297,539
BB&TJohn Allison IVFormer CEO$83,079,976
Best BuyHubert JolyCEO$3,936,295
BlackRockLarry FinkChairman/CEO$13,925,350
BlackstoneStephen A. SchwarzmanChairman/CEO/Co-Founder$108,217,263
BMW GroupHarald KrugerCEO$4,620,900
BNY MellonGerald HassellChairman/CEO$741,520,000
BoeingDennis MuilenburgCEO$58,406,212
Campbell Soup CompanyDenise MorrisonPresident/CEO$226,300
Carlyle GroupDavid RubinsteinCo-CEO/Founder/Director$8,194,413
Caterpillar Inc.Doug OberhelmanChairman/Former CEO$3,014,549
CelgeneRobert HuginExecutive Chairman$8,680
Century AluminumMike BlessCEO$607,475
Cerberus Capital ManagementStephen FeinbergCo-founder/CEO$26,644,771
Charter CommunicationsThomas RutledgeCEO$3,907,874
Cigna CorporationDavid CordaniPresident/CEO$225,000
CiscoChuck RobbinsCEO$48,005,000
Citigroup Inc.Michael CorbatCEO$15,518,046,942
CorningWendell WeeksChairman/CEO$72,720,858
Dana Inc.James KamsickasPresident/CEO$373,172
Delaware North Companies, Inc.Jerry JacobsCo-CEO$5,100
Dell TechnologiesMichael DellFounder/Chairman/CEO$264,338,826
DeloitteCatherine EngelbertCEO$12,740,959
Delta AirlinesEd BastianCEO$43,126,418
Dow ChemicalAndrew LiverisChairman/President/CEO$9,442,665
Eli LillyDave RicksCEO$29,835,685
Emerson ElectricDavid FarrChairman/CEO$94,422
Evraz North AmericaConrad WinkleCEO$572,929
ExxonMobilRex TillersonFormer Executive, Cabinet Member$81,635,851
EYMark WeinbergerChairman/CEO$148,170,000
FacebookSheryl SandbergCOO$5,600
FedexFred SmithChairman/President/CEO$9,020,344
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NVSergio MarchionneCEO$178,897,126
Ford Motor CompanyAlan MulallyFormer CEO$17,461,950
Gap Inc.Art PeckCEO$23,000
General DynamicsPhebe NovakonicChairwoman/CEO$4,243,927
General ElectricJack WelchFormer Chairman/CEO$163,780,501
General MotorsMary BarraChairman/CEO$936,595,922
Goldman SachsGary CohnFormer Executive, Cabinet Member$9,311,300,000
Griffon CorporationRon KramerCEO$140,820
Guggenheim Partners, LLCAlan SchwartzExecutive Chairman$20,000,000
Harley-DavidsonMike LevatichCEO$27,000,000
Harris CorporationBill BrownChairman/President/CEO$212,922
HearstSteven SwartzPresident/CEO$7,800
Hewlett-PackardCarly FiornaFormer CEO$104,505,942
Honda North AmericaRick SchostekEVP$94,606,971
HSBC Bank USAPatrick BurkePresident/CEO$4,066,684,500
HumanaBruce BroussardCEO$5,040,780
Huntington Ingalls IndustriesMike PettersPresident/CEO$352,694
Hyundai Motor CompanyJerry FlanneryInterim President and CEO$221,094,000
IBMGinni RomettyChairman/President/CEO$10,081,214
IntelBrian KrzanichCEO$894,000
International PaperMark SuttonChairman/CEO$5,935,681
J.C. PennyMarvin EllisonChairman/CEO$427,875
JetBlue Airways CorporationRobin HayesPresident/CEO$987,950
Johnson & JohnsonAlex GorskyCEO$2,480,753,043
JPMorgan ChaseJamie DimonChairman/CEO$28,675,456,874
Kaiser Foundation Health PlanBernard TysonChairman/CEO$1,101,125
Kia MotorsMichael SpragueCOO and EVP$160,509,180
Koch IndustriesDavid KochExecutive Vice President$4,266,610
Las Vegas SandsSheldon AdelsonCEO$15,960,000
Lockheed MartinMarillyn HewsonChairwoman/President$56,715,738
MasterCardAjay BangaPresident/CEO$13,000,000
Mercedes-Benz USADietmar ExlerCEO$5,526
MerckKenneth FrazierChairman/CEO$957,716,045
Mitsubishi International/Mitsubishi CorporationJason StevensPresident/CEO$205,703,936
MonsantoHugh GrantCEO$85,401,000
Murray Energy CorporationRobert MurrayCEO$18,535,159
Nissan Motor CompanyJose MunozChief Performance Officer$52,640
Novartis AGJoe JimenezCEO$938,925,285
NucorJohn FerriolaChairman/President/CEO$573,984
Oracle CorporationSafra CatzCo-CEO$254,020,500
Oxbow Carbon LLCBill KochFounder/CEO$758,495
PayPalPeter ThielCo-Founder$32,658,300
PepsiCoIndra NooyiChairman/CEO$3,725,029
SalesforceMarc BenioffFounder/Chairman/CEO$11,009
SchaefflerKlaus RosenfeldCEO$45,825
Schnitzer Steel IndustriesTamara LundgrenCEO$552,263
Siemens AG, MunichJoe KaeserCEO$581,009
SKANSKARichard KennedyPresident/CEO$155,426
Southwest AirlinesGary KellyChairman/CEO$7,296,027
SSABChuck SchmittPresident$132,504
TargetBrian CornellChairman/CEO$3,407,921
TeslaElon MuskCEO$126,170
Timken SteelTim TimkenCEO$688,612
Toll BrothersBruce TollCo-founder$748,000
Toyota North AmericaJames LentzCEO$1,288,101,323
Tractor Supply CompanyGreg SandfortPresident/CEO$2,287,786
TransAltaDawn FarrellPresident/CEO$36,000
TransCanadaRuss GirlingPresident/CEO$183,100
United AirlinesOscar MuñozPresident/CEO$17,427,928
United Parcel ServiceMyron GrayPresident, US Operations$27,424,573
United TechnologiesGreg HayesChairman/President/CEO$66,485,621
UnitedHealth GroupSteve HemsleyCEO$5,025,000
US SteelMario LonghiCEO$8,809,032
VolkswagenDavid GeanacopoulosSenior EVP for Public Affairs and Public Pollicy$19,225,193,500
VolvoLex KressemakersCEO$79,900,844
Wal-MartDoug McMillonPresident/CEO$105,429,728
Walgreens Boots AllianceStefano PessinaCEO$94,485,742
WhirlpoolJeff FettigChairman/CEO$93,905,968
Wynn ResortsSteve WynnChairman/CEO$52,036
TOTAL$89,794,188,249