Walmart Bribery Scandal: Congress To Investigate Retailer's Lobbying Against Anti-Bribery Law

Two congressmen investigating the Walmart bribery scandal announced on Wednesday that they will also begin probing Walmart's lobbying against the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the federal law that the retail giant allegedly broke by bribing Mexican officials to fuel its rapid-fire growth in that country.

Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) sent letters to Thomas Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Gregg Steinhafel, chairman of the board of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (and CEO of Target). Both trade groups worked with Walmart in lobbying to weaken the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, The Huffington Post and the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

At that same time, Walmart was busily violating the act by bribing Mexican officials, the New York Times alleged in a story published Saturday.

"We are concerned about the role that Wal-Mart officials may have played in the efforts to modify the FCPA," Waxman and Cummings wrote in their letter to Steinhafel. "It would appear to be a conflict of interest for Wal-Mart officials to advise on ways to weaken the FCPA at a time when the leadership of the company was apparently aware of corporate conduct that may have violated the law."

One such official is Thomas Hyde, a former Walmart executive vice president who served on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform from 2003 to 2010, according to the Washington Post. During that time, the institute pushed to amend the anti-bribery law by exempting companies like Walmart that run internal compliance programs. Hyde was also one of the executives who supervised and ultimately helped silence Walmart's internal investigation in order to keep news of the alleged bribery from leaking, according to the New York Times.

David Tovar, vice president for corporate communications at Walmart, told HuffPost, "Walmart has never lobbied on FCPA. Simply because Walmart is a member of an organization does not mean we agree with every position they take."

To help their investigation, Reps. Cummings and Waxman are requesting lists of "members and senior officials who have worked on issues related to the FCPA and have been or currently are affiliated with Wal-Mart or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates over the past ten years" at both the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Chamber of Commerce. They are also requesting copies of all the officials' internal and external communications relating to the law.

Comments

[deutsch29]

09:22 PM on 04/26/2012

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[RONALD MCKENZIE]

03:16 PM on 04/26/2012

Plutocracy at work.

[nothingchanges]

11:30 AM on 04/26/2012

Interesting given that I haven't seen anything about an investigation into the big banks and wall street investment firms, and their efforts to eliminate regulations that apply to THEM.

The following data is for 2012 http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/mems.php?party=A&cycle=2010

Securities/Invest $19,946,921 Third highest sector in Congressional "donations" 58% going to Republican legislators

Commercial Banks ..$7,896,423 Thirteenth highest sector in Congressional "donations" 67% going to Republican legislators.

Retail Sales $4,949,804 Twenty Sixth highest sector in Congressional "donations". 62% going to Republican legislators.

I guess the real problem is, Walmart didn't pay enough to influence congress?

[authorized-user]

09:25 AM on 04/26/2012

Looks like the dems are attacking a GOP honey pot. Lets see who surfaces to defend Wal Mart .

[Kalifornicated]

01:30 AM on 04/26/2012

Walmart is the death star.

[ClaudiaL]

01:22 AM on 04/26/2012

Republicans are always complaining about big government to keep everyone distracted while big corporations are shredding our democracy.

[breakingpoint]

12:12 AM on 04/26/2012

a bovine in the state of California tested positive for mad cow disease.

"ag gag" laws could keep journalists from exposing the conditions that cause mad cow

[breakingpoint]

12:10 AM on 04/26/2012

they'll get a slap on the wrist and to pay off the fine they'll raise prices

have to French or Russian revolutionize the family

[mokena]

11:41 PM on 04/25/2012

I see no difference between a mexican official and a super pac. And why aren't they investigating the fraudulent bond ratings that led to the 2008 collapse? Evidently Wal-mart didn't pay off enough American politicians

[Blackwing]

11:37 PM on 04/25/2012

Walmart executives deserve to be arrested for their role in sending American jobs to Communist China.

[MobahoJoe]

11:11 PM on 04/25/2012

You see Supreme Corrupt Corrupt the court of the US. This is what happens when you let corporations (oh I mean people) have unrestricted spending in politics.

[joefoss]

11:09 PM on 04/25/2012

What really has top Wal-Mart execs frightened isn't the investigation of their illegal activities in Mexico--after all, that's a "foreign" country and, whatever U.S. law says, bribery of local officials and other sleazy acts are viewed differently when they take place overseas.

No, what Wal-Mart management is most concerned about is that the probe of their
Mexican shenanigans might, perhaps inadvertently, expose the same kinds of activities here at home. Given Wal-Mart's "scorched earth" policy in ruthlessly pursuing market expansion,
it's hard to believe that they didn't employ similar illegal tactics in fighting opposition to building new stores in locations in the U.S.--the state of Vermont and New York City
are two contentious battlegrounds that come to mind.

We'll see.

[Christian Cullen]

12:03 AM on 04/26/2012

Uhh, Mexico isn't 'overseas', it's down the street.

[playadelsol]

07:24 PM on 04/28/2012

Soon or later, the sin will find you out...the "Wal-Mart Boys Club" haven't learned that yet? I hope the investigation will be as agressive as Wal-Mart was agressive when they expanded in Mexico.These bribery actions would never been approved by Sam Walton which was and still is a Patriot, Family man, and a great Business man. I could be wrong on this but, I don't recall Sam Walton Driving a Mercedes Benz of a BMW. When you are great and confident, driving a pick up truck will do just fine....

[realitytrumpsbull]

11:07 PM on 04/25/2012

Ah, the Business Wars of the early 21st century...how will they be remembered?

[Tim The Enchanter]

11:04 PM on 04/25/2012

Bribing officials in other countries is a federal government monopoly.

[djMikulec]

10:49 PM on 04/25/2012

Remember: Buy junk at Wal-Mart and you're helping to fund the Chinese Communist Party.