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The Trump administration’s decision to create a new Justice Department fraud division with a Senate-confirmed assistant attorney general has the right instinct and the right execution. Targeting fraud as a national priority is overdue. The structure of this new office will add clarity and independence to a section of crimes that often gets overlooked. According to reports, the administration plans to install a new fraud
chief with “nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” operated
directly out of the White House. That is not a small detail. It will
help the Justice Department, which already has a criminal division Fraud
Section that prosecutes complex financial and health care fraud,
corporate crime, and foreign corruption. It also has civil fraud units
and long-standing enforcement programs that have delivered convictions,
corporate penalties, and major recoveries for taxpayers. Yet this will
be more broad-based, overseeing
"multi-district and multi-agency fraud investigations; provide advice,
assistance, and direction to the United States Attorneys’ Offices on
fraud-related issues; and work closely with Federal agencies and
Department components to identify, disrupt, and dismantle organized and
sophisticated fraud schemes across jurisdictions."
When veteran officials call the new setup duplicative and question whether the designers “really know how DOJ works,” they are just being territorial. The goal is to punish fraud and deter would-be cheaters. The first step is to strengthen the institutions that already do the work, yet provide help to an overworked DOJ that can use all the help it can get. SEE ALSO: DOJ Surges Additional U.S. Attorneys to Minnesota As They Wade Through Deluge of Fraud Trump to California, Newsom: You're 'More Corrupt Than Minnesota,' and We're Coming for You There is nothing wrong with a president (and vice president) setting enforcement priorities. Fraud attacks the heart of a market economy. It punishes honest competitors, steals from taxpayers, and undermines faith in both government programs and private enterprise. A constitutional republic like ours should want tougher fraud enforcement that is focused, consistent, and insulated from partisan swings. The small risk here is that “run out of the White House” becomes a standing invitation to treat fraud policy as a messaging tool. A fraud division perceived as an arm of political strategy will be easier for defense lawyers to challenge and easier for future administrations to weaponize. Yet the Justice Department needs a division that can take on complex financial cases, health care scams, and public corruption with credibility and staying power. This is the best way to do this: empowering and helping the existing criminal Fraud Section with resources, data tools, and clear marching orders to prioritize major cases that affect ordinary Americans, not just headline-grabbing corporate names. Plus, it can help tighten coordination between criminal and civil fraud units, including the use of whistleblower information and data analytics that have already proven effective in health care and procurement fraud. The most important thing is the open, transparent reporting on convictions, penalties, and restitution so taxpayers can see whether enforcement is serious or symbolic. The administration wants a Senate-confirmed leader for fraud. It will place that official squarely inside the existing Justice Department chain of command and give that office the authority to knit together the scattered fraud efforts under one accountable structure. That is how you put a conservative stamp on law enforcement: by making government more coherent, not more chaotic. Fraud enforcement should be about restoring trust, defending honest work, and protecting taxpayers. The administration is right to say fraud deserves a higher profile. Now it needs to prove it can fight fraud without turning justice into just another campaign slogan. |
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