Trump redefines fraud

Axios-  Bruised by years of civil suits, criminal charges and a historic felony fraud conviction, President Trump is using his second term to delegitimize the very concept of white-collar crime, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• Trump's belief that he was a victim of "lawfare" has tainted his view of the justice system. Paired with his crusade to crush the "Deep State" regulatory complex, Trump could enable a golden age of financial fraud, ethics watchdogs fear.

At an institutional level, Trump's administration has moved swiftly in its first 80 days to narrow the government's mandate for enforcing fraud.

• In early February, Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE team effectively shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the post-recession agency created to protect Americans from predatory financial practices.
• Trump then paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, claiming the 1977 anti-bribery statute had been "stretched beyond proper bounds" and was hurting U.S. companies' ability to compete overseas.
• In March, Trump fired two Democrats from the Federal Trade Commission, taking aim at one of the government's top watchdogs for corporate fraud, consumer deception and antitrust violations.

🧮 By the numbers: The administration has paused, dropped or withdrawn enforcement actions against at least 100 corporations accused of misconduct, according to the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen.

Zoom in: On an individual level, Trump has used his clemency powers and influence to rehabilitate disgraced businessmen and politicians — turning fraud convictions and indictments into badges of loyalty.

• Eric Adams: The Justice Department dropped its corruption charges against the New York City mayor, claiming the case would interfere with his ability to cooperate with Trump's deportation agenda.
• Trevor Milton: Trump issued a full pardon to the Nikola electric vehicle founder, who was convicted of defrauding investors and later donated $1.8 million to help Trump's campaign.
• Carlos Watson: Trump commuted the Ozy Media founder's nearly 10-year prison sentence, which he was set to begin after his conviction for deceiving investors about his company's financials.
• Bitmex: The three co-founders and a former employee of the crypto exchange were granted pardons after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
• Devon Archer and Jason Galanis: The two former Hunter Biden associates — who were convicted of defrauding a Native American tribe — received clemency after cooperating in GOP investigations into the former president's son.
• Rod Blagojevich: After commuting his sentence in 2020, Trump granted a full pardon to the former Illinois governor, who was convicted of trying to sell Barack Obama's former Senate seat...

 The bottom line: For Trump, the concept of "fraud" has become less a legal violation than a political label — one he applies freely to his enemies and erases for his allies.

• This past week, Trump ordered an investigation into former U.S. cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs for stating the 2020 election was secure. "He's the fraud," Trump declared. "He's a disgrace."  Keep reading.