Chevron on offensive in Ecuador suit

[Judi Lynn]

Chevron on offensive in Ecuador suit
Published: Sept. 7, 2010 at 3:36 PM

LAGO AGRIO, Ecuador, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. oil giant Chevron is waging a legal campaign to undermine opposing attorneys in a $27 billion lawsuit over polluted oil wells in Ecuador, documents show.

In the case now 17 years old, Chevron has increased its efforts to discredit the plaintiffs' legal team, most recently by having a U.S. federal judge subpoena the plaintiffs' lead attorney, Steven Donziger, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Among its counter-punches in the case, Chevron subpoenaed edited-out footage from a documentary film about the firm's wells in Ecuador and once attempted, unsuccessfully, to hire a journalist to show that the plaintiff's investigations manipulated a cancer study.

The oil giant is now trying to depose Donziger, who Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson said, "appears to be the one coordinating the fraud."

More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4531271

[Judi Lynn]

1. Chevron Now Trying to Buy Journalists. Seems Big Oil is Getting Desperate.

Chevron Now Trying to Buy Journalists. Seems Big Oil is Getting Desperate.
Published by Nick Magel, August 17th, 2010

~snip~
We’ve seen an illustrious chain of embarrassing Chevron snafus. There was the well-documented collusion with a known felon and former employee conspiring to bait an Ecuadorean judge. Then there was the instance in which Chevron did not like the media they were receiving on a national level. Following a scathing 60 Minutes piece exposing Chevron’s double speak and ill-crafted lies, Chevron conjured up the idea to produce their own “news reporting” for their YouTube audience. In this news report Chevron hired a retired CNN reporter to “report” their side of the story and pass it off as “journalism.” An event that nearly had the New York Times at the edge of their seat with laughter.

Now Chevron has gone from YouTube news to flat out bribes. That Chevron tried to manipulate the media is not news. I can’t blame them really. If I were Chevron I’d also be fearful the media will continue to non-objectively cover my responsibility to clean up my pollution in the Ecuadorean Amazon. Facts are a pesky thing when the media continues to report them.

Now Chevron, having used up any credibility as a genuine actor (outside of a few bloggers) in the $27 billion lawsuit, must now outsource their deceptions. They’ve enlisted the private investigation firm Kroll to do their dirty work. What was Kroll’s latest task for Chevron? Buying up a journalist to act as spy in Ecuador.

In a well-publicized case, Kroll has been outed for offering to pay a journalist $20,000 to go to Ecuador undercover to “report” on Chevron’s behalf. To the reporter Mary Cuddehe’s credit she did not accept Chevron/Kroll’s offer, and instead reported on the shady dealings of Chevron in Ecuador.

More:
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2010/08/17/chevron-now-trying-to-buy-journalists-seems-big-oil-is-getting-desperate/