Impunity

DOJ Closes Bribery Investigation of Border Czar Tom Homan Despite FBI Evidence

| Importance: 9/10

The Trump Justice Department officially closed an FBI investigation into border czar Tom Homan after FBI recordings captured him accepting $50,000 in cash in a restaurant takeout bag on September 20, 2024, from undercover agents posing as business executives. In the recordings, Homan agreed to help …

Tom Homan Emil Bove Kash Patel FBI Department of Justice corruption obstruction-of-justice institutional-capture doj-weaponization impunity
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SEC Drops Fraud Cases Against Trump Clemency Recipients, Abandoning Victims

| Importance: 9/10

The Securities and Exchange Commission under Trump-appointed chairman Paul Atkins abandoned civil enforcement cases seeking tens of millions in restitution from Devon Archer, Trevor Milton, and Carlos Watson—all convicted fraudsters pardoned or given clemency by Trump. The SEC filed joint …

Paul Atkins Devon Archer Trevor Milton Carlos Watson SEC +1 more corruption institutional-capture regulatory-capture impunity fraud +1 more
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Trump Issues Mass Pardons to 1,500 January 6 Defendants Including Violent Offenders

| Importance: 6/10

President Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 January 6 defendants on his first day in office, including violent offenders who assaulted police officers. Pardoned Proud Boys leaders like Enrique Tarrio returned to public activism, with Joe Biggs describing their CPAC reception as “we’re …

Donald Trump Enrique Tarrio Joe Biggs Proud Boys January 6 defendants january-6 presidential-pardons political-violence normalization proud-boys +2 more
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Judge Dismisses All Flint Criminal Charges on Technicality—Zero Accountability After Poisoning Thousands

| Importance: 10/10

Judges dismiss all remaining criminal charges against officials responsible for the Flint water crisis based on a procedural technicality, ensuring that no one is ever held criminally accountable for poisoning thousands of children. In October 2022, Judge Elizabeth Kelly throws out felony charges …

Elizabeth Kelly F. Kay Behm Rick Snyder Michigan Supreme Court flint-water-crisis accountability criminal-justice impunity environmental-racism
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Boeing Pays $2.5 Billion in Deferred Prosecution Deal, Zero Executives Charged for 346 Deaths

| Importance: 10/10

The Department of Justice charged Boeing with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with the 737 MAX evaluation and entered a deferred prosecution agreement requiring Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in penalties. Despite evidence that Boeing executives knowingly deceived the …

Department of Justice Boeing 346 crash victims Victims' families Criminal Division Fraud Section boeing deferred-prosecution corporate-crime impunity 737-max +2 more
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Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg Fired Over 737 MAX Disasters, Keeps $62 Million Despite 346 Deaths

| Importance: 9/10

Boeing’s Board of Directors fired CEO Dennis Muilenburg on December 23, 2019, over his handling of the 737 MAX crisis that killed 346 people in two crashes. Despite presiding over the deadliest corporate safety scandal in aviation history, Muilenburg departed with approximately $62 million in …

Dennis Muilenburg Boeing Board of Directors David Calhoun 346 crash victims Victims' families boeing executive-compensation impunity 737-max corporate-crime +1 more
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Michigan Drops All Criminal Charges in Flint Water Crisis, Promises New Investigation

| Importance: 9/10

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office dismisses every pending criminal case related to the Flint water crisis, dropping charges against eight people including former state health department director Nick Lyon, former Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells, and former Flint Emergency …

Dana Nessel Nick Lyon Eden Wells Darnell Earley flint-water-crisis accountability criminal-justice impunity
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Trump Nominates Gina Haspel as CIA Director Despite Role in Torture Program and Evidence Destruction

| Importance: 9/10

President Donald Trump announces his nomination of Gina Haspel to serve as CIA Director, making her the first woman nominated for the position despite her direct involvement in the CIA’s torture program and destruction of interrogation videotapes. Haspel ran the CIA’s “Cat’s …

Gina Haspel Donald Trump Mike Pompeo CIA John Kiriakou torture cia trump black-sites impunity +2 more
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Kellyanne Conway Commits 50+ Hatch Act Violations, No Consequences

| Importance: 7/10

White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway committed over 50 Hatch Act violations by repeatedly using her official position to influence elections, with the Office of Special Counsel finding she violated the law on dozens of occasions including advocating for Roy Moore and against Doug Jones in the …

Kellyanne Conway Donald Trump Office of Special Counsel White House Ivanka Trump +1 more hatch-act ethics-violation impunity rule-of-law corruption
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HSBC Pays $1.9B for Money Laundering, No Executives Jailed

| Importance: 8/10

HSBC paid $1.9 billion for laundering money for Mexican drug cartels and violating sanctions against Iran, Libya, Sudan, and Cuba, but no executives faced criminal charges despite overwhelming evidence of intentional wrongdoing. The bank laundered at least $881 million for the Sinaloa and Norte del …

HSBC Lanny Breuer Department of Justice Mexican Drug Cartels Eric Holder +1 more money-laundering too-big-to-jail drug-cartels financial-crime impunity
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Obama Releases CIA Torture Memos But Promises No Prosecutions for Torturers

| Importance: 9/10

President Barack Obama authorizes the Department of Justice to release four previously classified memos from the Office of Legal Counsel written between 2002 and 2005 that authorized CIA torture techniques including waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and confinement in coffin-sized …

Barack Obama Eric Holder CIA John Yoo Jay Bybee +2 more torture cia obama impunity war-crimes +2 more
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Obama Admin Prosecutes Zero Wall Street Executives Despite Crisis Fraud

| Importance: 8/10

Despite widespread evidence of fraud in the 2008 financial crisis, the Obama administration prosecuted zero major Wall Street executives, contrasting starkly with the Savings and Loan crisis when 1,706 bankers were sent to prison. Instead, the DOJ pursued civil settlements totaling tens of billions, …

Eric Holder Department of Justice Wall Street Banks Lanny Breuer Covington & Burling financial-crisis wall-street impunity revolving-door too-big-to-fail
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CIA Detainee Gul Rahman Froze to Death at Black Site - No One Prosecuted for Homicide

| Importance: 8/10

Gul Rahman, an Afghan detainee, dies of hypothermia at a CIA black site in Afghanistan known as the “Salt Pit” after being shackled half-naked to a concrete floor in a freezing cell overnight. Rahman’s death is ruled a homicide by the CIA’s medical examiner, yet no one is …

Gul Rahman CIA Afghanistan torture cia black-sites war-crimes homicide +2 more
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Purdue Pharma Pleads Guilty to Criminal Misbranding, $600M Fine, Zero Executives Jailed

| Importance: 10/10

On May 10, 2007, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to a felony charge of illegally misbranding OxyContin in an effort to mislead and defraud physicians and agreed to pay $600 million—representing approximately 90 percent of OxyContin profits during the offense period. The company admitted to misleading …

Purdue Pharma Michael Friedman Howard R. Udell Paul D. Goldenheim U.S. Department of Justice opioid-crisis corporate-crime accountability-failure deferred-prosecution regulatory-capture +1 more
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