Koch Industries, the funding powerhouse behind many conservative causes, and President Barack Obama's administration are continuing to push for criminal reform, The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reports. Both sides have agreed that a proposed change to white-collar prosecutions should be jettisoned if it will imperil sentencing reform in Congress.
The change would require prosecutors to prove that defendants "'knew or had reason to believe the conduct was unlawful'" in cases like corporate pollution or food tainting.
But the change to the mens rea standard is not in the Senate version of the sentencing-reform bill, and Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden said having mens rea reform would not impede the Koch brothers supporting the package.
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