New York Times Buries Admission of Self Interest in Chevron Story
The New York Times reported on Jan. 2 that Chevron has been using outtakes from the film "Crude," an anti-Chevron film in its legal battles. The Times called it "a cautionary tale for lawyers who invite in documentary filmmakers to tell the story of their legal fights."
The footage was allowed in court after a New York federal judge ruled in May 2010 that Joe Berlinger, the filmmaker, had to turn over more than 500 hours of outtakes, according to the Times.
While this Times story was not as biased against Chevron as past articles about the $27 billion Ecuadorian lawsuit have been, but the paper was not upfront about its opposition to the use of the film footage.
John Schwartz and Dave Itzkoff wrote the latest Times piece, but waited until the 24th paragraph to admit the Times' position in the case. That paragraph read:
"Floyd Abrams, an expert in First Amendment law who wrote a brief fighting the demand for the outtakes by Chevron on behalf of journalism organizations, including The New York Times, said that regardless of how revealing the clips were, the court's broad order was mistaken."
How revealing were those clips? The Times said, "In one outtake, when a dinner companion asks Mr. Donziger [the lawyer against Chevron] if the judge will be killed if he rules against his side, Mr. Donziger says, 'He thinks he will be, which is just as good.' In another, he talks about evidence of toxic contamination that is all 'smoke and mirrors.'"
Mainstream media outlets, including the Times, have taken up the arguments against Chevron in the past. On Oct. 9, 2009, the Times examined the decade-and-a-half-long legal battle between the left-wing environmental group (supposedly representing the people of Ecuador) and Chevron over pollution allegedly left behind by Texaco (which Chevron acquired).
That day the Times took liberty with a photo of "murky" polluted water, a photo's caption could have led readers to think Chevron was responsible for the mess. But according to Carter Wood of ShopFloor.org, a blog of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Times was misleading the public. The photo was of an oil pit created by Petroecuador, not Chevron (or Texaco).
Earlier in 2009, the Times also bostered the case for Ecuador, ignoring poor water infrastructure in Ecuador and the fact that one "expert" they quoted was paid $200,000 for his report on pollution in Ecuador by Amazon Defense Coalition, the same environmental activist organization that has sued Chevron.
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The "antipodal" angle to this Chevron story is "Eric Holder."
Submitted by Gary Hall on Tue, 01/04/2011 - 1:21pm.
The "antipodal" angle to this Chevron story is "Eric Holder."
The lack of attention, 2 years back, from the national MSM when Eric Holder was nominated by the Obama Administration to be the next Attorney General.
You see.. as an attorney At Covington & Burling, Holder had represented many high-profile clients, Including Chiquita.
This should have caused in a "banana revolution" amongst the left against Eric Holder.
Holder helped Chiquita secure a slap-on-the-wrist plea deal to charges that it had paid off the terrorists." (Andrew Longstreth, "Making History With Obama," The American Lawyer, 6/5/08)
In 2007, Ohio-Based Chiquita Brands International Admitted To Paying $1.7 Million To "Right-Wing Death Squads That Have Killed Thousands." "Colombia's attorney general said Tuesday that his office would try to seek the extradition of eight executives from Chiquita Brands International, the Ohio banana company that last week admitted to paying $1.7 million to right-wing death squads that have killed thousands in this country's long civil conflict." (Juan Forero, "Colombia May Seek Chiquita Extraditions," The Washington Post, 3/21/07)
Chiquita Reached An Agreement With The Justice Department When The Company Plead Guilty To Doing Business With The Paramilitary Group And Paid A $25 Million Fine. "In deal with the Justice Department, Chiquita last week agreed to plead guilty to doing business with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia... In agreeing to pay a $25 million fine, the company characterized the payments as extortion that helped protect banana workers in the northwest Uraba region near the border with Panama." (Juan Forero, "Colombia May Seek Chiquita Extraditions," The Washington Post, 3/21/07)
The Paramilitary Organization Had Been Declared An "International Terrorist Group" By The State Department In 2001. "Chiquita admitted making payments to the paramilitaries from 1997 to 2004, which Iguaran said violated Colombian law. On Sept. 10, 2001, the State Department declared the AUC, as the paramilitary coalition is known, an international terrorist group, making it a violation of U.S. law for a U.S. company to conduct business with the organization." (Juan Forero, "Colombia May Seek Chiquita Extraditions," The Washington Post, 3/21/07)
Chiquita's Case Was The "First Time A Major U.S. Company Was Charged With Having Financial Dealings With Terrorists." "In March of this year, Chiquita pled guilty to engaging in transactions with a terrorist group and agreed to pay $25 million in fines, the first time a major U.S. company was charged with having financial dealings with terrorists." (Laurie P. Cohen, "Chiquita Under The Gun," The Wall Street Journal, 8/2/07)
While the WaPost did cover this story quite well during 2007, the name Eric Holder never appeared. The story magically disappeared from the public's view as the 2008 presidential contest drew closer. And, by Senate confirmation time, in early 2009, the liberal MSM was in love with anything Obama, including Eric Holder, whose - and his unfathomable (certainly w/ the left) defense of corporate America and right wing criminal activity and murder in a foreign country was white washed from American view.
In a normal world, if Eric Holder simply had a "R" after his name, the left and the MSM would only have seen him as they see Dick Cheney. Imagine the MSM running stories about Halliburton and suspected questionable military contracts without mentioning the name of Cheney.
In fact, even the Huffington Post allowed this to run in Nov., 2008:
Lawyer for Chiquita in Colombia Death Squad Case May be Next U.S. Attorney General
Predictably, HuffPost readers laid low on that one - very few comments.
The MSM has no limits to their own hypocrisy.
(;~/ gary