Bribe, Swindle Or Steal

We’re reposting the conversation with Marcus Stern, who broke the story about the bribery scheme that landed Congressman Randall “Duke” Cunningham in jail for seven years. Cunningham also pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion.

Michael Johnston joins the podcast to discuss his new book, with co-author Scott Fritzen: The Conundrum of Corruption. Michael is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Colgate University and has written extensively on the underlying causes of corruption and how best to tackle it. In this podcast, he urges a new approach to the problem.

Nicola Bonucci and Nat Edmonds, in Paul Hastings’ Paris and Washington offices respectively, discuss the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and the Working Group and its recent Phase 4 review of the United States and wrap up with some recommendations for multinational corporations.

Tom Best, a partner in Paul Hastings’ Washington office, joins the podcast to review sanctions policy under the Trump Administration and then makes some predictions about what we should expect from President Biden in 2021.

Robert Cribb of the Toronto Star discusses the emails and documents turned over to the media in furtherance of a family feud that spans continents and exposes financial schemes that are both complex and well-documented.

Rupert Younger of Oxford’s Center for Corporate Reputation and Alexandra discuss some novel bribery schemes at Berkeley’s 2019 “Fraudfest”. (The sound quality reflects the conference setting.)

Jennifer Taub, author, legal scholar, professor and advocate, joins the podcast to talk about her latest book: Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime. Jennifer focuses, in particular, on how much more gently we treat corporate financial crime than we do very petty financial crime, in spite of the fact that the former costs taxpayers far more money.

Robert Clark, Manager of Legal Research at TRACE, discusses the TRACE Matrix, a data driven tool that assesses the likelihood—by country—of a company being asked to pay a bribe. This podcast is technical and may be of particular interest to academics and those in civil society seeking new ways to measure risk.

New York Times reporter Ian Urbina discusses his excellent but grim series about crime and impunity on the high seas.

Sarah Chayes joins the podcast to talk about her latest book: On Corruption in America and What is at Stake. She takes us from the myth of King Midas through to the present in a lively history of corruption and then leaves listeners with a detailed call to action.

Bradley Hope discusses his excellent book about the rise of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and key milestones like the “Ritz Carlton Prison”, the kidnapping of Prime Minister Hariri of Lebanon and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. He also discusses some of MBS’s modernization efforts and what the Kingdom might look like if he hadn’t risen to a position of power.

James Wright of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) discusses the FinCEN files. He describes the coalition of investigative reporters who dug into the leaked documents and what they found as they reviewed over 2000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS) spanning more than five years.

Harvard law professor Matthew Stephenson provides some context for understanding this new EO and then lists the three primary threats it poses for corruption. A more detailed discussion can be found on his Global Anticorruption Blog (GAB).

In our last podcast before the US election, Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody describe with passion their work with the International Rescue Committee. They tell us what America as a haven means to them and mourn the news that 545 children separated from their parents on the US southern border cannot be restored to their parents. They conclude with a fervent appeal to Americans to turn out to vote in this election.

Today’s podcast is an edited version of a recent George Washington University Law School webinar reviewing the Trump Administration’s impact on anti-corruption efforts and forecasting the likely impact of either a second Trump or a Biden Administration in January.

Alex Crutcher with the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit discusses the sale of “golden passports” to wealthy criminals and high risk individuals. The team pursued the story in the wake of a major data leak and their reporting has resulted in the cancellation of the program and several high level resignations in the Cypriot government.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, reporter and anti-corruption activist, was murdered near her home in Malta by a car bomb on 16 October 2017. Today, we’re reposting our conversation with her lawyer to mark the third anniversary of her death. It’s a timely reminder of the risks that investigative reporters take all over the world to provide us with insight into high-level corruption and the violence the powerful brazenly employ to shield themselves.

Dan Alexander, author and senior editor at Forbes, discusses his book about Trump’s business deals with foreign entities, including one very strange deal with the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar.

Randall Eliason talks about extortion, conspiracy, cover-up crimes and plea bargains – topics covered in his excellent new 24-lecture course available through Great Courses. He also takes us through some examples from recent headlines.

David Shimer discusses his fascinating and timely new book, which includes a sweeping review of covert interference with elections by both Russia and the US over the last century. He discusses what we know about Russian interference in the 2016 election and what we need to know about their much greater capacity to interfere this November.