Politics
Will Trump’s Justice Department rescue Messi’s Argentina?
Reports of an aggressive FBI investigation underway in Florida into alleged corruption involving Argentina’s national soccer body are prompting confusion about the Trump administration’s stance toward using U.S. courts and law enforcement to pursue corruption extending beyond U.S. borders.
Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper reported Wednesday that U.S. prosecutors questioned a key businessperson by Zoom earlier this month as Argentina continued its strong run in the World Cup, powered by indomitable veteran Lionel Messi. The Miami Herald also confirmed aspects of the probe, which reportedly focuses on TourProdEnter LLC, a Florida-based company that handled promotional deals for the Argentine Football Association.
The association and people linked to TourProdEnter have denied wrongdoing. No charges have been filed. The Argentine Football Association did not respond for a request to comment.
The moves by the FBI, along with the reported involvement of at least three Justice Department prosecutors, are notable because after President Donald Trump returned to office last year, he paused for several months all enforcement of a U.S. law that makes it a crime to bribe foreign officials overseas, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Trump previously called it a “horrible law.” Incoming Justice Department officials said previous administrations had used the statute to bring criminal cases over alleged corruption that had little connection to the U.S.
Among the cases to face such criticism are a series of prosecutions that began more than a decade ago under former President Barack Obama’s administration into corruption in international soccer. A dozen people were ultimately convicted in the probe, which was led by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, and toppled FIFA’s leadership.
Appeals in some of the cases have dragged out. In May, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, Joseph Nocella, appeared personally in court to explain to a judge why the Justice Department wanted to drop the case against a former Fox television executive whose conviction for paying bribes for soccer broadcast rights was initially thrown out but later reinstated by an appeals court.
Nocella said the administration had higher priorities, such as counterterrorism, national security, drug and human trafficking and violent gangs, the Associated Press reported.
It’s unclear whether the ongoing U.S. probe into Argentina’s soccer operations is proceeding because a significant part of the activities under investigation took place in the U.S. or some other wrongdoing has been uncovered that makes the case more attractive under current Justice Department policy.
The FBI declined to comment on the case.