Chevron Fights Junk Science and Corrupt Lawyers

This is the most incredible story I have come across in memory. It reads like a movie script in part because it has been made into a movie. It's a bit like Silkwood but with a crazy twist. The cast of characters naturally include a big oil company, an environmental scientist, and a lawyer. The twist, and I wish I could save this part for last, is the scientist, her company, and the lawyer, who is an old law school pal of Barack Obama's find themselves as defendants in a RICO case filed by the big oil company. The big oil company is Chevron that acquired Texaco in 2003. Texaco had drilled in Ecuador from 1964 to 1990 when it was taken over by the Ecuadorian government. At that time Texaco agreed to a clean up payment of $40 million. You know people have to be pretty sure of themselves when they allow a documentary film crew to witness their conspiracy but that is exactly what the defendants did. When Chevron got wind of the film, appropriately entitled Crude it sued and won access to the out takes as part of the discovery process. From a press release by Chevron:

Chevron's RICO claim addresses pervasive misconduct relating to the named defendants' efforts to extort money from Chevron using the pendency of a lawsuit in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, directed and funded by American trial lawyers and their allies. Chevron's suit alleges that the named defendants, and certain non-party co-conspirators, have used the Ecuador lawsuit to threaten Chevron, mislead U.S. government officials, and harass and intimidate Chevron employees, all in order to extort a financial settlement from the company. Among those named in Chevron's complaint are New York City-based plaintiffs' lawyer Steven Donziger; his Ecuadorian colleagues Pablo Fajardo and Luis Yanza; their front organizations, the Amazon Defense Front and Selva Viva; and Stratus Consulting, a Boulder, Colo.-based consulting firm retained by the plaintiffs' lawyers to secretly prepare a damages report that was then presented as having been written by an allegedly independent, court-appointed expert.

"The Lago Agrio plaintiffs' lawyers' aim has been to extort a multi-billion dollar payment from Chevron through fabricated evidence and a campaign to incite public outrage. Chevron has no intention of giving these plaintiffs' lawyers the payday they seek. Rather, we intend to see the RICO defendants held accountable for their misconduct," stated R. Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and general counsel.

Recent U.S. court proceedings initiated by Chevron have produced overwhelming evidence of fraud, collusion, corruption, and other misconduct on the part of those pressing the Lago Agrio plaintiffs' case. In the Western District of North Carolina, for instance, the federal court found that "what has blatantly occurred in this matter would in fact be considered fraud by any court." The District Court in the District of New Jersey held that the conduct of the plaintiffs' lawyers in the furtherance of the Lago Agrio lawsuit could not constitute "anything but a fraud on the judicial proceeding."

Appearing in this video are Dr. Ann Maest is a managing scientist at Straus Consulting. She was recently reappointed to the National Academy of Sciences. Maest is in high demand as an expert for those looking to stop oil and mineral exploration. Straus Consulting is a long-term contractor with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is currently investigating the Deepwater Horizon mishap. The lawyer, Steven Donziger, had hoped to become a billionaire from this single lawsuit now he probably won't be able to probate a pauper's will.

"“Because at the end of the day, this is all for the court just a bunch of smoke and mirrors and bullshit. It really is. We have enough, to get money..."

Lest you think Dr. Maest is not a party to the conspiracy listen to the esteemed scientist in this video.

The idea that the public will know that Donziger uses pressure, intimidation, and humiliation on the trial judge should make the ethics committee at the ABA winch. Chevron has been able to show from the outtakes and records obtained is that Maest and her firm drafted substantial portions of the report of the independent and supposedly impartial expert, Richard Cabrera, who they allege Donziger was instrumental in getting appointed to do the court ordered study of the alleged environmental damage.

The plaintiffs eventually asked for $113 billion in damages. They were awarded $8.6 billion. A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of the Ecuadorian court judgment against Chevron. That injunction was upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. As Chevron has no assets in Ecuador, Ecuador, Maest, and Donziger are probably out of luck. Truly out of luck when they have to dig into dig into their own pockets to defend themselves against the RICO suit. This is probably what we should expect when unprincipled lawyers, disingenuous and ideologically driven scientists and a banana republic conspire.