The Trump administration has dropped, withdrawn, or halted enforcement actions against over 100 corporations in its first year, establishing a systematic pattern of protection for companies that donated to Trump’s inauguration. Regulatory enforcement against financial services fell 37% in the …
Trump AdministrationDepartment of JusticeSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)Federal Trade Commission (FTC)corporate-impunityregulatory-captureenforcement-collapsecorruptionpay-to-play
On September 1, 2021, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain approved a bankruptcy settlement granting the Sackler family “global peace” from civil liability for the opioid epidemic, despite vigorous opposition from the Department of Justice and nine state attorneys general. The ruling …
Robert DrainSackler FamilyPurdue PharmaU.S. Department of JusticeState Attorneys Generalopioid-crisisbankruptcy-abusejudicial-failureaccountability-failurecorporate-impunity
Trump-appointed Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney effectively shuts down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s investigation into the Equifax data breach that exposed 147 million Americans to identity theft. After former Director Richard Cordray authorized a full-scale investigation in …
Mick MulvaneyConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)EquifaxDonald TrumpRichard Cordraycorruptionregulatory-capturecfpbtrump-administrationcorporate-impunity+2 more
In March 2012, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, a founding member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), signed into law the nation’s first modern ag-gag statute, the Agricultural Production Facility Fraud law (Iowa Code Section 717A.3A), criminalizing whistleblower documentation of …
Iowa LegislatureGovernor Terry BranstadAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Agriculture Industrycorporate-impunitywhistleblower-suppressionalec-legislationregulatory-capturefirst-amendment
Xe Services (formerly Blackwater) was acquired by a group of private investors and renamed Academi, with Erik Prince exiting the company he founded. The acquisition and rebranding represented the second major corporate transformation designed to distance the entity from Blackwater’s documented …
Erik PrinceXe ServicesAcademiJohn AshcroftJack Quinn+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityconflicts-of-interestreputation-launderingaccountability-crisis
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), established in 2010 and led by Phil Angelides, released its final report concluding the 2008 financial crisis was caused by a “systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics” on the part of corporate executives. The commission was …
The United States Senate passed the Franken Amendment by a 68-30 vote on October 6, 2009, prohibiting defense contractors receiving more than $1 million in Department of Defense funds from requiring employees to resolve sexual assault, battery, or harassment claims through mandatory arbitration. The …
Al FrankenJamie Leigh JonesKBRHalliburtonSenate+1 moreaccountability-crisiscorporate-impunitysexual-assaultmandatory-arbitrationprivate-military+1 more
Blackwater Worldwide officially changed its name to Xe Services LLC in a strategic rebranding effort to distance the company from its toxic reputation following the 2007 Nisour Square massacre, congressional investigations documenting 195 shooting incidents in Iraq, and widespread accusations of war …
Erik PrinceBlackwaterXe Servicesprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisisreputation-launderingwar-crimes
On September 9, 2008, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller filed a criminal complaint against Agriprocessors Inc. and five company officials for 9,311 child labor law violations that occurred from September 9, 2007, through May 12, 2008, at the company’s Postville meatpacking plant. The magnitude …
Agriprocessors Inc.Abraham Aaron RubashkinSholom RubashkinIowa Attorney General Tom MillerIowa Department of Laborlabor-exploitationchild-laborcorporate-impunityregulatory-failureworkplace-safety
On May 12, 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deployed 900 federal agents to execute the largest worksite enforcement raid in U.S. history at the Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, arresting 389 employees—nearly 20% of the town’s total …
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)Department of Homeland SecurityAgriprocessors Inc.Sholom RubashkinU.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Iowalabor-exploitationimmigration-enforcementselective-prosecutioncorporate-impunityinstitutional-capture
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret from Pittsburgh, was electrocuted in a shower at Radwaniyah Palace Complex near Baghdad on January 2, 2008, when an improperly grounded water pump installed by KBR short-circuited and sent electrical current through the shower water. Pentagon …
Ryan MasethKBRHalliburtonDepartment of DefenseDefense Contract Management Agency+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisiswar-crimescorporate-negligence
Erik Prince testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for nearly four hours, defending Blackwater’s operations in Iraq despite overwhelming evidence of excessive force and lack of accountability. The hearing came weeks after the September 16, 2007 Nisour Square …
Erik PrinceBlackwaterHouse Oversight CommitteeHenry Waxmanprivate-militaryiraq-waraccountability-crisiscongressional-oversightcorporate-impunity
Halliburton announced the completion of its spin-off of KBR on April 5, 2007, separating the subsidiary that had generated most of its Iraq War controversies after 44 years of corporate integration. The separation followed KBR’s initial public offering on November 16, 2006, which raised $470 …
Halliburton announced on March 12, 2007, that it was relocating its corporate headquarters and CEO David Lesar from Houston, Texas, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, citing business opportunities in the Middle East where 38% of its $13 billion in oil field services revenue originated and 16,000 …
On July 28, 2005, KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones, then 22 years old and working her fourth day on the job in Baghdad, alleged she was drugged and gang-raped by KBR coworkers at Camp Hope in the Green Zone. Army doctors examined Jones and found evidence of sexual assault “both vaginally and …
Jamie Leigh JonesKBRHalliburtonTed PoeState Department+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisissexual-assaultmandatory-arbitration+1 more
In February 2000, Halliburton’s offshore subsidiary Halliburton Products and Services opened an office in Tehran, Iran, while Dick Cheney remained CEO of the parent company, completing a systematic sanctions evasion structure that generated approximately $40 million annually in oil field …
Dick CheneyHalliburtonHalliburton Products and ServicesBill Clintonsanctions-evasionconflicts-of-interestregulatory-arbitragecorporate-impunityforeign-influence
The Truman Committee reveals that Curtiss-Wright’s Lockland, Ohio plant supplied defective aircraft engines to the Army Air Force through falsified tests, forged inspection reports, and collusion with military inspectors. Despite holding more defense contracts than any company except General …
Curtiss-Wright CorporationTruman CommitteeHarry S. TrumanArmy Air Forcewar-profiteeringdefense-industrycorporate-impunitycongressional-oversightinspector-general-failure
The Justice Department indicts Anaconda Wire and Cable Company and five employees for conspiracy to defraud the United States by supplying defective wire and cable for combat use. Lend-Lease shipments to the Soviet Union were 50% defective, prompting an official Soviet protest. Despite pleading …
Anaconda Wire and Cable CompanyDepartment of JusticeTruman CommitteeFrancis Biddlewar-profiteeringdefense-industrycorporate-impunityinstitutional-capture
On January 21, 1895, the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (156 U.S. 1) by a vote of 8-1, effectively gutting the Sherman Antitrust Act just five years after its passage. The case arose when the American Sugar Refining Company (the “Sugar Trust”) acquired four …