story about Tobacco money and links to b*s* administration.

Interesting story about Tobacco money and links to b*s* administration. Check it out!


Government Witness in Tobacco Case Says Justice Department Lawyers Asked Him to Weaken Testimony



Political Interference at the Department of Justice

Two weeks ago, the Justice Department made an unexpected and stunning reversal in the tobacco litigation, cutting its request for relief for cessation activities from $130 billion to $10 billion. A day after the Department's reversal was disclosed, the media reported that the Department had also pressured two of its expert witnesses - Dr. Michael Eriksen and Matt Myers - to change their testimony.<7> Professor Bazerman's account corroborates these previous allegations. It also directly contradicts the Justice Department's explanation for its recent changes in legal strategy.

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In his op-ed, Mr. McCallum argued that the Justice Department has "proven time and again a strong commitment to holding the tobacco industry accountable for past fraud and abuse."<10> But the remedies Professor Bazerman recommended - and that Mr. McCallum sought to weaken - were those that tobacco executives may have feared most. Of all the remedies sought by the Department, only Professor Bazerman's remedies directly threatened the jobs of the executives currently running the major tobacco companies.

The tobacco industry is a major supporter of the Republican Party, contributing over $2.7 million in the last 2-year election cycle, with much of this money directly paid by senior executives at defendant corporations.<11> It is exactly these same executives who were covered by Professor Bazerman's testimony and who would be affected by his recommendations. And it is exactly these same executives who benefited most directly from the attempt to undermine Professor Bazerman's testimony.

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We are concerned that the Justice Department under the Bush Administration may be orchestrating a surrender reminiscent of the ITT case. The Justice Department's position attributing its strategy to the ruling of the appeals court is not credible. According to recent news reports, recent reversals in position were opposed by the expert attorneys who have led the litigation for the past five years and were contradicted by a brief filed by the Department itself just five weeks earlier.<12> Now we have learned that a major witness whose testimony was not affected by that ruling was pressured to change his testimony.



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Sincerely,


Henry A. Waxman / Martin T. Meehan

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0620-25.htm

but in Bush boss's world... what's another $120 billion to the taxpayers?

Outrage fatigue.

The outrage is also how little the media talks about the scandals and how hard we have to work to get them to pay attention to anything that really matters!