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Cite as:  598 U. S. ____ (2023) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

any  event  Halkbank’s  charged  conduct  fell  within  the
FSIA’s exception for commercial activities. 

We granted certiorari.  598 U. S. ___ (2022). 

II 
Halkbank  first  contends  that  the  District  Court  lacks 

jurisdiction over this criminal prosecution.

Section 3231 of Title 18 provides:  “The district courts of 
the United States shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive 
of the courts of the States, of all offenses against the laws
of  the  United  States.”  Via  its  sweeping  language,  §3231
opens  federal  district  courts  to  the  full  range  of  federal
prosecutions for violations of federal criminal law.  By its
terms,  §3231  plainly  encompasses  Halkbank’s  alleged 
criminal  offenses,  which  were  “against  the  laws  of  the 
United States.” 

and 

states 

excludes 

Halkbank cannot and does not dispute that §3231’s text 
as  written  encompasses  the  offenses  charged  in  the
indictment.  Halkbank nonetheless argues that the statute 
implicitly 
their 
foreign 
instrumentalities.  In support of that argument, Halkbank 
identifies  certain  civil  and  bankruptcy  statutes  that 
expressly  refer  to  actions  against  foreign  states  and  their 
instrumentalities.  See  28  U. S. C.  §§1330(a),  1603(a)–(b);
11 U. S. C. §§101(27), 106(a); Act of Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 137,
§1, 18 Stat. 470, as amended, §3, 90 Stat. 2891.  Because 
§3231  refers  generically  to  “all”  federal  criminal  offenses
without  specifically  mentioning  foreign  states  or  their 
instrumentalities,  Halkbank  reasons  that  foreign  states
and their instrumentalities do not fall within §3231’s scope.
We  decline  to  graft  an  atextual  limitation  onto  §3231’s
broad jurisdictional grant over “all offenses” simply because 
several  unrelated  provisions  in  the  U. S.  Code  happen  to 
expressly  reference  foreign  states  and  instrumentalities. 
Those  scattered  references  in  distinct  contexts  do  not 
shrink the textual scope of §3231, which operates “without