A Double Standard? Part II

A government official has over $7,000 of expenses paid for by an organization hoping to establish a personal connection with the official and seeking access to the official to educate him on a multibillion dollar program favored by the organization.

The same organization spends over $20,000 for baggage-handling tips, alcohol, snacks, refreshments, and other "trip supplies" for another government official.

Sounds like the organization has some FCPA issues, right?

Wrong.

Why?

Because the government officials involved are not “foreign officials,” but rather U.S. government officials and the organization is the U.S. military. (See here for the recent story from the Wall Street Journal).

According to the article, members of Congress are not required to be disclose such expenses and the information is from military expense records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

While not a perfect parallel to an FCPA enforcement action, the above, as well as "A Double Standard Part I" (see here) raise the question of whether there is a double standard.

Will a U.S. company's interaction with a "foreign official" be subject to more scrutiny and different standards than its interaction with a U.S. official?

Do we reflexively label a "foreign official" who receives "things of value" from an organization with a business interest as corrupt, yet when a U.S. official similarly receives "things of value" from an organization with a business interest we merely say "well, no one said our system is perfect"?

Is there any difference between the bottles of wine given to the Thai "foreign officials" in the UTStarcom, Inc. matter (see here para. 23 of the complaint) and the bottles of wine and alcohol given to the U.S. officials by an organization with a business interest pending before the U.S. officials? Is there any difference between the sightseeing trips provided to the Chinese "foreign officials" in the UTStarcom matter and the corporate funded sightseeing trip by the U.S. official discussed in Part I?

One is a crime and the other is ... well what is it, just the way things get done?

As always, your comments are welcome.