Democratic lawmakers accuse Trump of letting white-collar criminals ‘off the hook’

Senator Elizabeth Warren and fellow Democrats have accused Donald Trump of letting white collar criminals “off the hook” by diverting crucial resources to his sweeping immigration crackdown.

In a letter to federal watchdogs, the Democrats demand an investigation into the US president for shifting more than 25,000 personnel away from investigating fraud, tax evasion and money laundering in favour of his immigration enforcement agenda.

“The Trump Administration is letting white-collar criminals off the hook for all kinds of wrongdoing,” Warren, from Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Instead of protecting American families from fraud and predatory behavior, the Administration is diverting resources to pursue its inhumane immigration agenda.

“Nobody is above the law, and the Trump Administration needs to stop treating white collar criminals with kid gloves.”

In the letter to inspectors general of the justice department, state department, homeland security, the postal service and the treasury’s tax division, the Democrats allege that the administration is “diverting critical federal law enforcement personnel and resources” away from corporate crime and into what they describe as Trump’s “civil immigration dragnet”.

The letter – signed by Democrats including Warren, senator Richard Blumenthal and representatives Dan Goldman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Madeleine Dean – demands a formal evaluation of the extent of the transfers and their impact on US financial crime enforcement.

It cites a “deep concern” that entire investigative units have been “gutted” as agents are sent to bolster Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

According to the Democrats, more than 25,000 federal agents across multiple departments have been reassigned since January 2025, including specialists in financial fraud, sanctions enforcement, money laundering and cybercrime.

The authors warn that the shift has already stalled complex investigations and risks emboldening corporate criminals who believe the federal government has in effect “stood down”.

The most dramatic allegation concerns the FBI, where the letter claims nearly a quarter of agents nationwide, and up to 40% in major field offices, have been diverted to support ICE enforcement. Staff who once pursued public corruption cases, cyber-enabled fraud and organised financial crime are now reportedly guarding detention facilities and performing immigration checks.

Other agencies appear similarly affected. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), long regarded as one of the government’s most effective financial crime units, is said to have reassigned 1,700 criminal-investigation staff, compared with just 250 last summer.

Diplomatic Security Service agents normally tasked with cross-border fraud and international corruption cases have likewise been detailed to ICE, while Homeland Security Investigations – historically the home of complex global fraud cases – has, according to one estimate, shifted 90% of its workforce to removal operations.

Even the US Postal Inspection Service, better known for policing mail fraud, has reportedly loaned officers to track down immigration targets.

The letter paints the shift as part of a broader pattern under Trump’s second administration, accusing the White House of a “failure to enforce the law against corporate criminals” and lambasting a string of controversial presidential pardons. Citing congressional analyses, the authors say Trump’s clemency decisions have erased an estimated $1.3bn in fines and restitution owed to taxpayers and victims.

They warn that the combined effect has left ordinary Americans “more vulnerable to fraud schemes, market manipulation, predatory financial practices, and corruption”.

The Democrats cite reports of corruption and financial-fraud cases being delayed or abandoned as investigators are pulled off long-running inquiries. One justice department investigation into a financial services firm has allegedly stalled because key staff were moved to immigration work, while the FBI’s white-collar unit in Houston was reportedly “decimated” in 2025.

They also highlight a dramatic shrinking of the justice department’s public integrity section, responsible for prosecuting corruption among elected officials. The unit has allegedly fallen from 36 lawyers to just two, with staff reassigned to a new “sanctuary cities enforcement” team, where some have complained of having so little to do that they “completed jigsaw puzzles” to pass the time.

The letter asks watchdogs across the federal government to disclose how many personnel have been reassigned since January 2025, how many white-collar cases have been opened, closed or suspended during the period, and how many investigations have been derailed due to staffing shortages.

The Democrats also request details of any whistleblower complaints relating to the transfers and ask what safeguards, if any, remain to ensure statutory duties on financial and corruption cases are still being met.

They conclude with a stark warning that the “safety of American families and the integrity of our financial system” depend on restoring the government’s ability to investigate corporate wrongdoing.

Blumenthal, a senator for Connecticut, said: “The Trump Administration’s diversion of critical resources and personnel away from white-collar crime undermines our country’s ability to combat fraud schemes, market manipulation, and corruption –seriously threatening the security of American families and leaving them vulnerable to predatory practices.

“These staff and resource diversions exemplify this Administration’s reckless decision-making in service of Trump’s brutal, ruthless immigration enforcement agenda. I call on the Inspectors General to fulfill their duty as nonpartisan watchdogs and illuminate this Administration’s abuse of power.”

Goldman, a congressman from New York, added: “Trump is letting white collar criminals run rampant without consequences so he can shift law enforcement to violently attack immigrants – the overwhelming majority of whom have no criminal record.

“Having 25,000 fewer law enforcement personnel investigating and prosecuting white collar crime enables fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and other crimes that hurt the American people. Federal Inspectors General must conduct a thorough investigation of the impact of these diversions.”