Deputy AG Monaco Asked to Recuse from DOJ Boeing Decision
The deputy attorney general consulted for Boeing before becoming the number-two at Justice. Now she’s involved in a possible “sweetheart deal” for the embattled company.
BY DAVID DAYEN JULY 3, 2024
As the Justice Department faces a July 7 deadline to decide whether to file criminal charges against Boeing for breaking the terms of its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement over the 737 MAX crashes, all indications are that federal prosecutors will offer Boeing a plea deal.
Lower-level prosecutors recommended the filing of criminal charges, according to Reuters, and Bloomberg reported that DOJ would attempt to squeeze a guilty plea out of the company. But lower-level prosecutors can be overruled by the higher-ups. An even if Boeing agrees to a guilty plea, that could presumably be folded into the deal as an admission of wrongdoing. The consequences for that admission would not carry what would commonly be considered criminal penalties; certainly it would not impact the liberties of any Boeing executive.
According to multiple reports of a phone call Sunday afternoon with families who lost loved ones in one of the MAX crashes, Boeing would be fined $244 million, required to invest in further safety measures, hold a meeting with victims’ families, and receive oversight from an independent monitor for three years. Boeing would get to handpick the monitor, and technically speaking it already has oversight in the form of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), whose inspectors are positioned throughout Boeing factories.
https://prospect.org/justice/2024-07-03-lisa-monaco-department-justice-boeing-recusal/
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