Statement: DOJ’s Renewed Focus on Individual Accountability, Agreement Enforcements Are A Welcome Change
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced new actions that the U.S. Department of Justice is taking to combat corporate crime. Rick Claypool, research director for Public Citizen’s president’s office, issued the following statement:
“Under Trump, corporate crime enforcement plunged to a quarter-century low. The Biden Department of Justice recognizing that leniency has failed to deter corporate repeat offenders is an excellent sign. Holding corporations to the agreements they make with the Justice Department – and forcing those that breach agreements to face prosecution, as the agreements corporations sign say they will – absolutely is a step in the right direction. But even better would be if prosecutors stopped using corporate deferred and nonprosecution agreements in all but the most exceptional circumstances.”