WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has obtained an audio
recording in which a lawyer for a major U.S. drugmaker offers payment to an
opposition expert in a lawsuit involving the company’s Mexico branch.

It’s an unusual glimpse of the bare-knuckle tactics of the
global marketplace, at a time when the Justice Department is cracking down on
overseas misconduct by U.S.
companies.

On the recording, a Mexican lawyer for a subsidiary of
Baxter International offers to pay an opposing expert in a business lawsuit to
leave the country on a key court date and undermine the other side’s case.

Baxter says the offer did not constitute bribery under
Mexican law, but the lawyer had no authority to make it. The Illinois-based
company says it has cut ties with the lawyer.