This isn’t Reddit. Do better. The article referencing this and Airbus is rather sensationalized and cuts off half the quote. This was said in reference to Airb

This isn’t Reddit. Do better. The article referencing this and Airbus is rather sensationalized and cuts off half the quote. This was said in reference to Airbus bribing foreign officials to buy from them. The full quote reads: "When we have caught you at it, we haven’t said a word to the U.S. companies in the competition. Instead we go to the government you’re bribing and tell its officials that we don’t take kindly to such corruption. They often respond by giving the most meritorious bid (sometimes American, sometimes not) all or part of the contract. This upsets you, and sometimes creates recriminations between your bribers and your bribees, and this occasionally becomes a public scandal…"[5] [5] R. James Woolsey, "Why We Spy on our Allies," Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2000. The source unfortunately is locked behind a paywall so admittedly I don’t have the full context either.