By Sara Kropf When a regular person does something wrong, the Department of Justice has no qualms about bringing criminal charges against him. When the Department of Justice does something wrong, well, it asks for a second chance. A few years ago, I wrote about...
By Sara Kropf The Department of Justice repeatedly issues guidance to beg coerce encourage companies to self-report wrongdoing and, in effect, sell out their executives as the wrongdoers. As part of this “cooperation,” companies will conduct an internal investigation,...
By Sara Kropf UPDATE 4.1.2023 (not an April Fool's joke): The media has reported that Donald Trump will be formally arrested in New York on April 4, 2023. For folks who watch lots of crime procedural dramas, you may be disappointed to learn that most people accused of...
By Sara Kropf DOJ’s new corporate cooperation policy includes a provision that places in-house counsel in an awkward—and potentially unethical—position. This new policy formalizes Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s policy announcement last year. The new policy...
By Sara Kropf Recently, the Department of Justice asked a federal court to hold former President Donald Trump in contempt for failing to comply fully with a grand jury subpoena demanding that he return all classified documents he took when he left office. The...
By Sara Kropf When I represent an individual client, a joint defense agreement with my client's employer can be extremely helpful. The company can share information and documents to help me advise my client about agreeing to a voluntary interview or prepare for grand...
By Sara Kropf One thing you quickly learn as defense counsel is that the government has considerably more power than you do. In pre-indictment discussions, if I push back too hard on the government, the prosecutor could decide to add more charges to the indictment or...
By Sara Kropf For the government to win at trial, it must convince all 12 jurors to vote guilty. For the defendant to win at trial, he must convince all 12 jurors to vote for acquittal. If there is an acquittal, then the case is over, and the government cannot try...
By Sara Kropf If the Department of Justice has accused someone of a crime, it's no surprise that he can’t say, “aw, ya got me,” and walk away from the accusation. Au contraire. DOJ will prosecute that person to the fullest extent of the law and the whole process will...
By Sara Kropf I don’t like Steve Bannon. His political views are distasteful, to say the least. There have been credible allegations that he defrauded people. He was the architect of several awful Trump’s policy decisions like withdrawing from the Paris Climate...