US Advances Cognizant Bribery Trial Despite Trump Directive (2)

The Justice Department has determined President Donald Trump’s pause on foreign bribery enforcement won’t prevent prosecutors from proceeding to trial in a longstanding overseas corruption case against two former technology executives.

Prosecutors informed a federal judge in New Jersey on Friday that after reviewing how Trump’s Feb. 10 executive order impacts the charges against the former Cognizant Technology president and chief legal officer, “the Government intends to proceed to trial on March 3.”

The decision follows an attempt by defense attorneys from Jones Day and Paul Weiss to convince DOJ’s acting No. 2 official, Emil Bove, to dismiss the case, Bloomberg Law reported Feb. 13.

Later Friday, the defendants’ lawyers objected to DOJ’s plan to move forward. They argued to Judge Michael E. Farbiarz that he “lacks necessary information” about how Attorney General Pam Bondi is implementing Trump’s order.

Their letter, signed by Jones Day partner James Loonam, said prosecutors have yet to explain any updated guidelines from Bondi on continuing foreign corruption enforcement, in accordance with the executive order’s requirements.

The publicly traded company’s former executives were charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 2019 over allegations they approved a $2 million bribe in connection with the construction of an office park in India.

The decision that Trump’s directive still permits the trial to continue may have ramifications for DOJ’s ongoing review of numerous other existing FCPA investigations that defense attorneys have been trying to get dropped in light of the order.

The Cognizant trial, which stems from alleged misconduct in 2014, will provide a rare opportunity for prosecutors to make good on pledges during both the Biden and prior Trump administrations that they’ll hold high-level individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing.

But Trump’s order, which halted all new enforcement and mandated attorney general review of current and past actions under the 1977 statute, appeared initially to put that case and many others in jeopardy.

“U.S. companies are harmed by FCPA over enforcement because they are prohibited from engaging in practices common among international competitors, creating an uneven playing field,” a White House fact sheet announcing the action said.

The case is: United States v. Coburn, D.N.J., No. 2:19-cr-00120, letter, 2/21/25