But the question then right now, it's a balancing a framework of do you have you done a substantial investigation enough? Do you feel comfortable making that report or that disclosure? Or do you feel like you have to do more? And if you're uncomfortable as an organization, you know, are you effectively penalized for waiting too long to confirm misconduct before disclosing? I mean, where's the balancing act?

Yeah.

And I think the answer is companies could be right, depending on the circumstances.

But I think it's not so much penalize as much as it's it's more so that companies may not be eligible for the relief that they would ultimately be seeking.

or all that DOJ might be willing to give under this new policy if they wait too long to disclose, especially if after companies assess the situation, they determine that they are in a good position to disclose, but a lot of time has passed.

And I think it's important to note that the one specific timeline the DOJ does give in the CMP is in regards to the whistleblower context, in regards to whistleblowers.

And the CEP sets forth that when a whistleblower or where a whistleblower makes both an internal report to the company and also a submission to the DOJ, so the DOJ is aware of the whistleblower's report, The company can still qualify for a declination provided it also self-reports to the DOJ as soon as reasonably practical, but no later than 120 days after receiving the whistleblower's internal report.

And as we kind of get here at the end, I just want to take away for our listeners, for the general counsels or chief legal officers that are listening to this podcast, what is a concrete step they should take to make sure their organization is prepared under the CEP? And Elaine and Melissa, I offer it to either of you.