By Sandra Farrenti-Kohn
Yesterday I put up a post that provided information disputing Trump’s claim that his reason for withholding funds from Ukraine was because he was concerned about “corruption.”
There is another point I need to make that probably solidifies how false Trump’s claim was.
In 1977, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This legislation is defined as follows:
“The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is a United States law passed in 1977 that prohibits U.S. firms and individuals from paying bribes to foreign officials in furtherance of a business deal. The FCPA places no minimum amount for a punishment of a bribery payment.”
Good so far, well yes except - In 2017, Donald Trump (now 45) approached his then Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, about this law. According to Tillerson, Trump wanted the law lifted so that US citizens COULD offer bribes to foreign citizens.
The following is an excerpt from the book, “A Very Stable Genius”
“The most jarring is a scene from spring 2017, when Trump and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tussled over the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. That law, according to the Justice Department, makes it “unlawful for certain classes of persons and entities to make payments to foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business.”
Trump, the Post reports, bristled at that restriction.
“It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas,” Trump reportedly told Tillerson. “We’re going to change that.” Per the authors, the president expressed frustration “ostensibly because [the law] restricted his industry buddies or his own company’s executives from paying off foreign governments in faraway lands.”
So there you have it. The “Leader” is a liar and has no shame about that. The question then becomes are you going to follow the leader without question or are you going to stand up for democracy and decency?