1 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: We left off last time with each side accusing the 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: other of bribing Ecuadorian judge Alberto Ghera, and we're going 3 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: to get back to the end of that story today, 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: I promise. But first we need to talk about another judge, 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: the American Lewis A Caplan, Senior District court judge in 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: the Southern District of New York. Caplan approved Chevron's various 7 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: subpoenas prior to the RICO being filed. He oversaw the 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: rico trial itself, and he's the judge behind Stephen Donziger's 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: current troubles too. He's the guy who charged Donziger with 10 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: first civil and then criminal contempt. Prior to his appointment 11 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: to the bench, Caplan was a lawyer. He worked at 12 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: Paul Weiss ex On Mobiles, law firm of choice, defending 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: tobacco companies in the seventies and eighties. As a judge, 14 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: he has a reputation for ruling in favor of corporations. 15 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: Kaplan ruled on behalf of R. J. Reynolds in a 16 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: cigarette smuggling case in two thousand and two, and he 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: ruled in defense of the accounting firm KPMG when the 18 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: government went after them for creating tax shelters for the wealthy. 19 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: According to Stephen Donziger's attorney, Lauren Reagan, Caplan has been 20 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: a friend to Chevron throughout the company's decade long pursuit 21 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: of her client. 22 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 2: Ecuador's Supreme Court validated the judgment and said, yep, they 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 2: always used nine billion dollars. And Chevron basically gave him 24 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 2: the finger and said, you know, pulled all their assets 25 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 2: out of Ecuador. I was like, oh, no one here 26 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 2: for you to take. And so then, you know, the 27 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 2: way the legal system works is you can go to 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 2: other countries where assets exist and ask that country to 29 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 2: assist in collecting the debt. And so don Zigger and 30 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 2: the legal team, you know, started going to European countries 31 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 2: and Canada and other places to begin collecting on the judge. 32 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 2: And at that time, Chevron started going around to various 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 2: states in the US asking the US court to put 34 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 2: a stop basically. 35 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 3: To those proceedings. 36 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 2: And most states in the US shoot him away and 37 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,679 Speaker 2: said that's that's not real. But when they got to 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 2: Judge Kaplan's court in the Southern District of New York, 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 2: you know, he's a former tobacco lobbyist, and so Chevron 40 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 2: realized they had a friend in that courtroom on this 41 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 2: like minor proceeding. And then while they were in that 42 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 2: minor proceeding, it was Kaplin that said, you know, this 43 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 2: sounds like a RICO case. 44 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: Kaplan has denied this. He says Chevron already made its 45 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: intention to file a RICO claim known before he made 46 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: these comments. Donziger and the Logo Ugriel plaintiffs have accused 47 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: Kaplan of bias against them on other fronts too. Here's 48 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: Donald Moncayo. You might remember him from earlier episodes. He's 49 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: the guy who used to lead people on tours of 50 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: the toxic pits in the Amazon. Moncayo came to New 51 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: York to testify in the Rico case. 52 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 4: Yes, Paramil, who is corpor mas l. 53 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: He says for me, Caplin was a corporate judge, the 54 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: most racist judge I've ever seen. We've heard stuff like 55 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: this from quite a few Ecuadorians and their lawyers. They've 56 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: told us that Caplin didn't really understand Spanish, that he 57 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: didn't grasp Ecuadorian law or the differences between Ecuadorian law 58 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: and US law, and that he was just generally dismissive 59 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: of the Ecuadorians. We're going to dig into whether and 60 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: how that played out in the Rigo trial right after 61 00:03:52,600 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: this quick break. Zoe Littlepage, who represented Donziger in the 62 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: Rico trial, said the court's preferential treatment of Chevron was 63 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: obvious from the jump. 64 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 5: Judge Caplin likes to run a very tight ship, as 65 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 5: many federal judges do, and he was not amused by activism, 66 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:38,119 Speaker 5: and he certainly was not amused by Stephen's attempt to 67 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 5: be both an activist and a lawyer. In fact, he 68 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 5: appeared to be sort of insulted by lawyers who went 69 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 5: beyond just being an advocate and actually being an activist. So, remember, 70 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 5: all of the underlying facts of the case was Stephen 71 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 5: and many activists groups attempts to get the word out 72 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 5: about what was happening in the Amazon, and. 73 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 3: So for a lawyer to sort of cross those lines 74 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 3: and attend protests. 75 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 5: And be a part of an activism movement appeared to 76 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 5: upset and anger Judge Caplan. 77 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: Little Page says even the logistics of the courtroom favored Chevron. 78 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 5: Judge Caplan gave Chevron half of the room, so they 79 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 5: had five or six rows of benches. Then he gave 80 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 5: the media every other seat except for one row, which 81 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 5: seats about six or seven people, so that was all 82 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 5: we were allowed to bring in on our triality was 83 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 5: six or seven people because they couldn't sit. He also 84 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 5: gave Chevron a jury room for all their extra lawyers 85 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 5: who couldn't fit in their five or six rows, and 86 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 5: all their legal assistants and all their boxes. And in 87 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 5: that courtroom we had several human rights nonprofit law firms 88 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 5: had provided us with lawyers to help with briefing and 89 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 5: with getting the case ready at night, so we had 90 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 5: four or five volunteer lawyers. 91 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 3: Who were working for us. 92 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 5: So in the mornings we would be lined up in 93 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 5: this very long line. We had to get there very early, 94 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 5: and it was in October November, so it was cold, 95 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 5: so we would be all bundled up. We would be 96 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 5: in this long line to get through security to get 97 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 5: into the courthouse, and we'd have our blow ups and 98 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 5: our boxes with us and our briefcases, and then you 99 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 5: would see a row of five black Lincoln suburbans arrive 100 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 5: with tinted windows, and out of it would come the 101 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 5: senior management of Chevron, their head of litigation, their entire 102 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 5: legal team, and they were ushered in through a separate 103 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 5: entrance as VIPs, so they didn't have to stand in 104 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 5: the line with all the rest of us. 105 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 3: They would get out. 106 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 5: And go straight into the courtroom, So we would have 107 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 5: been in line for forty five minutes when they would 108 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 5: arrive and go straight through. 109 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: Julio Gomez is the attorney for the Ecuadorians named as 110 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: defendants in the Rico case. He says he also saw 111 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: examples of this, particularly with respect to how stacked the 112 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: case was in favor of Chevron, simply by virtue of 113 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: Chevron having the budget to put what Gomez, Little Page, 114 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: and Donziger all described as a quote unquote army of 115 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: lawyers on this case. 116 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 4: For example, one of the things we wanted to do 117 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 4: in our case is to have live testimony. In any 118 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 4: usual case, you have a witness get on the stand 119 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 4: and they give what's they direct examination. Their attorney questions them, 120 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 4: what happened to you, what did you see, what did 121 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 4: you observe, et cetera, and then the other side cross 122 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 4: examines you live. That's the way most trials are conducted 123 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 4: in the United States. In New York, in this particular, trial. 124 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 4: New York has this practice where, well, you know, that 125 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 4: can take too long. So what we'll do is we'll 126 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 4: have the witness submit a written testimony, and then the 127 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 4: other side just gets up and cross examines them based 128 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 4: on that written testimony that they submitted. Think about what 129 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 4: happens in a case where you are a small team 130 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 4: up against Chevron. Chevron has thirty witnesses, and a day 131 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 4: before trial or two days before trial, you are handed 132 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 4: thirty written testimonies with you know, ten to fifty exhibits each. 133 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 4: Now you, as the cross examining attorney, has to read 134 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 4: all twenty or thirty of these written testimonies in a 135 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 4: short period of time, process all all of those exhibits, 136 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 4: prepare all of your cross examination questions, and come into 137 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 4: court and start doing one after the other after the other. 138 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 3: That's crazy. 139 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's just impossible. I would have much preferred having 140 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 4: them testify live, because not only do they have to 141 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 4: tell their story properly, and some witnesses, no matter how 142 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 4: well you prepare them, are going to screw up when 143 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 4: they give their testimony in court. 144 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 3: That would have benefited us. 145 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 4: But more importantly, we would have heard the testimony in 146 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 4: real time and had time to react to it slowly, 147 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 4: as opposed to being bombarded with all of the testimony 148 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 4: at once and then being required to prepare to go 149 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 4: in and cross examine and everybody in the next week. 150 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: Guma says he actually asked Caplan to space out the testimony, 151 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: have live testimony and live cross examinations, but to no avail. 152 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 4: We made repeated appeals to Kaplan that take into account 153 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 4: our life act of resources to develop procedures for the 154 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 4: trial that could counteract the prejudice that these procedures would 155 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 4: cause on the plaintiffs, on Steven Donziger, and on the 156 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 4: Ecuadorian plaintiffs. And I don't remember any instance when the 157 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 4: court made those kinds of accommodations to us. Judge says, no, 158 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 4: we do this all the time in New York. There's 159 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 4: nothing unusual about doing this the way, and we're going 160 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 4: to do it this way in this case. 161 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: The mismatch of resources is something that came up a 162 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: lot when we started digging into the Rico case. A 163 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: couple episodes back, filmmaker Joe Berlinger said something about how 164 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: we have a justice system where deep pockets prevail. Gomez 165 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: said something very similar about the Rico trial. 166 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 4: What would it take to mount the challenge to that 167 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 4: another oil company. The people don't understand the incredible, incredible 168 00:10:53,880 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 4: inequity in our legal system to finances. Know, if you 169 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 4: have the money, you can right the most incredibly prepared, 170 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 4: beautifully articulated briefs. You can hire the best investigators. You 171 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 4: can look under every stone, you can hire the best 172 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 4: experts with the best credentials. I mean, you can, whether 173 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 4: whether you're on the right or on the side of wrong, 174 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 4: you can create an incredible presentation with resources. If you don't, 175 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 4: everything is less than satisfactory. That's why you know. That's 176 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 4: why you know. When what are the proper matchups? It's 177 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 4: it's Microsoft only only. Can only go up against Google, 178 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 4: Apple can only go up against Samsung, Chevron can only 179 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 4: go up against Exon Mobile, and vice versa. Because that's 180 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 4: the only way to do it right. To meet every expert, 181 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,359 Speaker 4: to meet every motion, you need exactly the same resources. 182 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 4: And unfortunately our judicial system does not take that into account. 183 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: That mismatch started to come into play more and more 184 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: as the case wore on. It showed up in a 185 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: lot of different ways, like the number and length of 186 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: motions that Chevron filed. 187 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,319 Speaker 4: You know, you could work on this case twenty four 188 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 4: hours a day, not sleep, not eat, not spend time 189 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 4: with your family, not spend time working on other cases 190 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 4: to earn a living, and you wouldn't have enough time 191 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 4: to do everything that a thousand attorneys on the other 192 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 4: side were doing or piling on you to do, because 193 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 4: Chevron would file every type of motion they could at 194 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 4: every single instance they did it. That was just it 195 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 4: was insane. 196 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,079 Speaker 1: On top of what was happening in court, Chevron had 197 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: attorneys working the case out of the courts too. 198 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 4: Chevron plays dirty by putting pressure on pieces of the 199 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 4: strategy that would benefit them. So, for example, they went 200 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 4: after the Ecuadorians had hired an environmental engineering firm to 201 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 4: do the analysis in Ecuador, and Chevron was making arguments 202 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 4: that those analyzes were not only unreliable, they were being 203 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 4: ghosts written by this firm for the other experts in Ecuador. 204 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 4: One of the things that Chevron did was to put 205 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 4: you know, that's an environmental engineering firm. It's a business 206 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 4: like any other business. The Ecuador and plaintiffs are not 207 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 4: their only client. They have other clients that they do 208 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 4: work for and that's how they earn their living, and 209 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 4: that's how they pay their rent, and that's how they 210 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 4: pay their employees. Well, Chevron would contact those other clients 211 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 4: and try to persuade them to stop using the environmental 212 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 4: engineering firm. They would defame the firm to those other clients, 213 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 4: so that if you continued to work on the case, 214 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 4: or if you did not do Chevron's bidding, and by 215 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 4: doing Chevron's bidding, I mean switch sides. 216 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: Gumez is talking about Stratus, the environmental engineering firm that 217 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: worked on the Cabrera Report. Now, remember the Cabrera Report 218 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: is something we've about quite a bit. It's this report 219 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: that the Damage's assessment was initially based on in Ecuador. 220 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: Mastro says Donziger and the Ecuadorians were far too involved 221 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: in what was supposed to be an independent report and 222 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: that Stratus should not have been writing any part of it. 223 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: Donziger says it was all perfectly legal within Ecuadorian law. 224 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: In either case, Chevron went after Stratus hard. They told 225 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: the company's clients and anyone else who would listen that 226 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: Stratus was part of an international conspiracy to defraud Chevron. 227 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: In one case, Chevron even sent a letter to the 228 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: Portland Harbor in Oregon, which had hired Stratus for a project. 229 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: They wrote, quote, because of the extensive evidence of corrupt 230 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: activity on the part of Stratus in furtherance of the 231 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: claims in Ecuador, Chevron believes that it would be in 232 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: the best interest of all the parties involved at the 233 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: Portland Harbor site for the trustees to sever ties with Stratus. 234 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: Multiple letters were sent to the Portland Council too. Vron 235 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: posted an article and video on its website accusing Stratus 236 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: of fraud too. At one point, Stratus even countersuits Chevron 237 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: for libel and slander. That complaint reads quote. Filing suit 238 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: against Stratus was not enough for Chevron. Now it has 239 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: embarked on an extra judicial campaign of malicious defamation and 240 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: deliberate interference with Stratus's business to tortiously destroy Stratus and 241 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: the livelihood of its employees, and to prevent Stratus from 242 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: being able to successfully defend itself a trial against Chevron's allegations. 243 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: We asked Randy Mastro, the attorney heading up the Rico 244 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: case for Chevron, about this. 245 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 6: When you are the victim of a fraud. 246 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 7: And as an extortion scheme, as Chevron believed it was. 247 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 6: It took. 248 00:15:54,840 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 7: Tenacity and conviction and perseverance and principle to stand up 249 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 7: to the fraud, so that Chevron asserted every form that 250 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 7: would listen that this is what we believe happened here 251 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 7: and it was wrong. 252 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 6: And then for Chevron to prove it. 253 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 7: I mean, I I. 254 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 6: Think that Chevron not only had every right to do that, 255 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 6: I think. 256 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 7: It's it speaks volumes about you know, Chevron on behalf 257 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 7: of its shareholders and stakeholders. 258 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 6: I'm doing the right thing and not being m hm. 259 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 7: Pressured or or holding back in the face of what 260 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 7: I believed to be a fraud and mix extortion scheme 261 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 7: than not paying tribute to anyone involved in that fraud 262 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 7: or extortion scheme. 263 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: Two years after his original deposition, Stratus VP Douglas Beltman 264 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: recanted his testimony. In that recantation, Beltman notes that he 265 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: and colleague and Macet wrote the Cabrera Report with no 266 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: interaction with Cabrera. He also notes repeatedly that they were 267 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: never directed to try to separate Petro Ecuador's responsibilities from Texico's, 268 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: which became Chevron's, and that they were instructed by Donziger 269 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: to use a contamination standard that would increase the cost 270 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 1: of remediation. The focus is specifically on Damage's claims and 271 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: whether there was evidence to back them up, and Beltman 272 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: never does say anything like there was no contamination. It's 273 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: more about who's responsible financially for the contamination, not whether 274 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 1: or not it exists, or even whether or not Texico 275 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: had a hand in it. 276 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,960 Speaker 4: They convinced that firm or forced that firm, in my opinion, 277 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,239 Speaker 4: to switch sides and turn against the Ecuadorian plaintifs who 278 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 4: were their clients. 279 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: Gomez and little Page made this argument in court as well, 280 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,360 Speaker 1: but Kaplan wasn't having it. We asked Donziger about Beltman's 281 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: recantation too, because he looms large in it as the 282 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: person directing Beltman's work. 283 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 8: Douglas Beltman. That just makes me weep and hurt. Doug 284 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 8: was one of our scientific experts, a wonderful man of 285 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 8: high integrity and intelligence and skill. And Chevron just I 286 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 8: think they just destroyed his life. I mean, they named 287 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:57,239 Speaker 8: his company as a defendant in the Rico case. They 288 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 8: got a law firm, and they countersued chevn N for 289 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:07,439 Speaker 8: defamation and tortious interference with their business and in the 290 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 8: end of the day to settle the case as between 291 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 8: the consultancy, which was called Stratus, Beltman and another scientist 292 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:20,439 Speaker 8: there named Anne Mace, and Chevron, Stratus came to an 293 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 8: agreement that required Beltman and Mace to put in affidavits 294 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 8: that contained a ton of false information. Telling LYE Beltman 295 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 8: never came to testify. And the sad part is, I 296 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 8: think when Doug wrote that affidavit, you know, with all 297 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 8: this distorted or false information, I think he thought that 298 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 8: would be the end of his problem. But what ended 299 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 8: up happening is right after he submitted it, his partners 300 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 8: fired him anyway, and he hasn't been heard from since. 301 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 8: So I don't know what happened to him, and I'm scared. Honestly, 302 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 8: He's another one of Chevron's victims, and you know, I 303 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 8: worry about him. I think about him a lot. Actually, 304 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 8: I have no idea where he is. 305 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: My co reporter on this season, Karen Savage found Doug Beltman. 306 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: He's retired now and can't talk publicly about the case 307 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 1: because he signed various agreements with Chevron that prohibit it. 308 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: He said he wished he could talk to us, but 309 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: he couldn't, and he sounded pretty scared to attract any 310 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: attention from Chevron. Julio Gomez, the lawyer for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs, 311 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: said he also heard from lawyers at some of the 312 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: firms working on the case that Chevron was calling their 313 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: other clients applying pressure to Joe Cohne, a prominent lawyer 314 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: who had helped to fund the Lago Augdio litigation, was 315 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: another partner who testified against Donziger. 316 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 9: Okay, so one of the things that I saw is 317 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 9: a guy named Joseph Cohne, Yeah, testified against you, said 318 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 9: you obtained millions of dollars in litigation funding and didn't 319 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 9: keep him in the loop basically and misrepresented what was 320 00:20:59,560 --> 00:20:59,919 Speaker 9: going on. 321 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 3: Tell us more about that. 322 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 8: Joe Cone is a prominent lawyer in Philly. His law 323 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 8: firm funded most of the case. They funded my work 324 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 8: on the case. For the most part, we worked well together. 325 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 8: He's a good, solid lawyer. When Chevron started to make 326 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 8: these allegations that the Cabrera report was done wrongly or fraudulently, 327 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 8: and then they filed the Rico case, Joe got extremely nervous. 328 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 8: I think he was petrified that the Rico litigation would 329 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 8: name him as a defendant and he would be you know, 330 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 8: that time, they were suing us for sixty billion dollars, 331 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 8: largest potential liability in US history, And I think he 332 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 8: thought his life was going to be destroyed and he 333 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 8: was going to be bankrupted, and his firm was going 334 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 8: to be closed down by a liability that might come 335 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:58,680 Speaker 8: out of this fake Rico case. So I think out 336 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 8: of that fear, Joe started to cooperate with Chevron. I mean, 337 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 8: it's really no different in my mind than what a 338 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 8: lot of people did to get out from under the 339 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 8: pressure that Chevron and Judge Kapel were putting on them. 340 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 8: Other law firms who are working with US did this 341 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 8: as well, but many others stayed in there. I mean, 342 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 8: I don't want people to think that people just abandoned 343 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 8: the case, but there were certain individuals, Joe Cone among them, 344 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 8: who basically abandoned their duties to the case and to 345 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 8: the people of Ecuador into their own integrity in my view, 346 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 8: to get Chevron off their back. 347 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: The people who could have easily abandoned Donziger and didn't 348 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:45,399 Speaker 1: were the Ecuadorians. The US courts really had no jurisdiction 349 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: over them. That's true in general, but in this case 350 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: in particular. Keep in mind that Chevron had argued itself 351 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: about a decade ago that the New York courts had 352 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: no jurisdiction over what had happened in Ecuador. Here's their attorney, 353 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: who you'll Gomez again. 354 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:06,160 Speaker 4: Looking back to take the position that this case cannot 355 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 4: return to New York at all, and that the defend 356 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 4: that the Ecuadorian plaintiffs should simply default entirely and not 357 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 4: do absolutely anything and completely protest the return of this 358 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 4: case to New York. If I had it to do 359 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 4: over again, that's probably the card that I would play. 360 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 4: It would have been better for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs to 361 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 4: be able to say in other countries, as a matter 362 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 4: of principle, we should not have been required to present 363 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,119 Speaker 4: any evidence in New York after New York had already 364 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 4: told us to go home, and to bring us back 365 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 4: to do anything is completely illegitimate and completely wrong, and 366 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 4: we will not. 367 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 3: Participate in it. 368 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 4: I think if I had it to do over, I 369 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 4: would advise my client to do that, to completely protest 370 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 4: the trial. And and that's it. And unfortunately Stephen didn't 371 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,399 Speaker 4: have that option because Stephen lives in New York and 372 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 4: he's subject to the jurisdiction of the court and he 373 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 4: has to defend the case. But my clients did have 374 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 4: that option, and that was not a card we chose 375 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 4: to play. 376 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,119 Speaker 1: According to Donziger's lawyer in the Rico case, the Little Page, 377 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: Judge Kaplan focused on two key issues in the case, 378 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: the Cabrera report and the allegation that the judgment itself 379 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: had been ghostwritten. 380 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 5: It was very clear Judge Kaplin was really focused on 381 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 5: the bribery, and so a lot of a lot of 382 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,919 Speaker 5: the stuff that had happened in the underlying case, and 383 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 5: a lot of the disquiet that the tribesmen had about 384 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 5: the way Chevron had handled the case and some of 385 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 5: the sort of dirty tricks Chevron had played in Ecuador 386 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 5: with the underlying case was not allowed into evidence. We 387 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 5: were not allowed to explore any of those prior issues. 388 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 5: And Judge Caplin's ruling was it was just wasn't relevant. 389 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 5: He was really focused on some very specific incidents and 390 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 5: that's all he wanted to talk about, and he would 391 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 5: not allow any evidence of anything else. The other thing 392 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,960 Speaker 5: that Judge Kaplan was really sort of focused on, was 393 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,639 Speaker 5: had the plaintiff's team cross the line with that court 394 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:27,439 Speaker 5: expert and been sort of too interfering, helped him actually 395 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 5: create his report, helped him put together the exhibits to 396 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 5: his report, none of which is prohibited under Ecuador law. 397 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: We've covered the Cabrera report at length, but the bribery 398 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,479 Speaker 1: little pages referring to there brings us back to the 399 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: Gerra story. We heard last time from Chevron's attorney Randy 400 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: Mastro that Ghera had been part of the conspiracy with 401 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,439 Speaker 1: Donziger and the Ecuadorians and then flipped on the Lago 402 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: Agrio plaintiffs testifying against them. Here's Mastro again. 403 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 7: There were actually multiple witnesses in Ecuador and in the 404 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 7: United States who'd been working with the plaintiffs team who 405 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 7: flipped during the case. I'm a former federal prosecutor and 406 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,919 Speaker 7: I don't use that term lightly. They were part of 407 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 7: the conspiracy, or they refused to be a part of 408 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:24,959 Speaker 7: the conspiracy, and they later gave testimony against Donziger and 409 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,959 Speaker 7: his allies about the conspiracy that they were perpetrating. 410 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 6: Alpert Toquera wasn't. 411 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 7: The only one, and he gave very powerful testimony at 412 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,199 Speaker 7: the trial, and he ended its testimony by saying, I 413 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,360 Speaker 7: know I did bad things. In words or substance, he said, 414 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 7: I know I did bad things. I regret that I 415 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 7: did bad things, but I'm telling the truth today. 416 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: But Gara's testimony changed in a couple of instances, and 417 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,159 Speaker 1: the story took some wild turns. We asked Little Page 418 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 1: to walk us through it. 419 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 5: Well, it was shocking, you know, we knew coming in 420 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 5: that Chevron had gone and recruited and paid cash in 421 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 5: a Duffel bag to a judge who had been essentially 422 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 5: disbarred in Ecuador for corruption and fraud. And you know, 423 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,960 Speaker 5: as an American lawyer, I just assumed that that sort 424 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 5: of what sounded like a story like a movie plot 425 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,159 Speaker 5: would completely laughed out of an American courtroom. That we 426 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,680 Speaker 5: would have a key witness in a trial be someone 427 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 5: that Chevron had paid close to a million dollars too 428 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 5: in either money or compensation or you know, they bought 429 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 5: him a house, they gave him a job, they bought 430 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 5: him cars, they paid his flights for him and his 431 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 5: family to move out of Ecuador, they paid for the 432 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 5: immigration lawyer to bring him here. They you know, and 433 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,640 Speaker 5: it all started with Chevron showing up to a sketchy 434 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 5: meeting with this former disbarred judge with a duffel bag 435 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:14,880 Speaker 5: full of cash, and the idea that what this judge 436 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 5: would say would hold any weight in an American courtroom 437 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 5: was laughable. When I got first got involved, I mean, 438 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 5: I thought, okay, this is a joke, right, I mean, 439 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 5: we are not allowed to play to pay fact witnesses. 440 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,359 Speaker 5: That's the rules. You cannot pay a fact witness just 441 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 5: for this reason, because we're not supposed to influence the 442 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 5: facts of a case. And yet Chevron had paid a 443 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 5: fact witness and not just paid him fifteen thousand dollars 444 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 5: in a duffel bag the first time they met, but 445 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 5: then paid him another ten thousand, and then would. 446 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 3: Give him bonuses of cash. If he came forward with 447 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 3: more and more. 448 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 5: Supposed facts that he had just remembered, he would get 449 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 5: a bull everything he had just remembered. 450 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 3: So that was an incredible concept. 451 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: Gumez was also blown away by this. 452 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 4: Given what Gara was allowed to testify about, and given 453 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 4: the fact that the court chose to believe some aspects 454 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 4: of his testimony and disregard other aspects of his testimony. 455 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 4: I don't know that another witness would have made the 456 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 4: difference if the court's willing to cherry pick testimony like that, 457 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 4: and you know, the court had reasons to do it, 458 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 4: and the court has every prerogative to do it. Judges 459 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 4: do that all the time. What Judge Kaplin did about 460 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 4: deciding to believe some of Gara, some of what Garat 461 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 4: said and what some of what Gara did not happens 462 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 4: all the time in court. I particularly don't think it 463 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 4: should have happened here, given you know that he was 464 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 4: getting paid twelve thousand dollars a month. But you know 465 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 4: that's my opinion. 466 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: Little Page says it was clear from investigations of Gara 467 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: and his leader testimony that he was regularly adding more 468 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: supposed evidence to his story to get more money out 469 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: of Chevron. Transcripts of his testimony back this up. 470 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:16,959 Speaker 5: The first time he met with Chevron, Judge Ghara had, 471 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,719 Speaker 5: first of all, with every conversation with Chevron, it was 472 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 5: always about how much money Gara could get, always, so 473 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 5: every conversation, and they were recording these conversations, we were 474 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 5: actually able to see them. You could see in his 475 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 5: conversations that he was every single time. It was how 476 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 5: much am I going to get? But just listen to 477 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 5: the evolution of the story. I mean the first time 478 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 5: he met, the first time he sort of concocted this 479 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 5: story of bribery. 480 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,440 Speaker 3: He said very specific facts. 481 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 5: He said he met Judge Sembrano at the Keito airport, 482 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 5: because Judge Ghara lived in Quito, not in the Frontira, 483 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 5: not where the actual case was happening. So he said 484 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 5: Sombrano had been at the Keto airport. He went to 485 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:06,440 Speaker 5: the Quito airport. Judge Sombrano handed him the draft verdict 486 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 5: on a flash drive, and his understanding was this flash 487 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 5: drive was coming from the plaintiffs lawyers, from Stephen Donzinger 488 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 5: and the other Ecuadorian lawyers. He took that flash drive 489 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 5: home to his house in Quito, where he put it 490 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 5: into his home computer. He never spoke to Judge Sombrano 491 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 5: at all that whole weekend, and he retyped the verdict 492 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 5: so it would sound like an Ecuadorian judge had written it. 493 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 5: He put it back on the jump drive. He went 494 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 5: back to the airport and he handed it to Judge Sombranno. Okay, 495 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 5: so a very specific recollection well, Chevron then said, great, 496 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 5: we'll pay you to come and buy your ten year 497 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 5: old computer from your house, and we will find the 498 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 5: draft verdict on there because you worked on it and 499 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:57,840 Speaker 5: you saved it back to this jump drive and it's 500 00:31:57,840 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 5: going to be there and that's going to be our proof. 501 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 3: And of course he sold off his. 502 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,719 Speaker 5: Multi year old computer to them and they put a 503 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 5: forensic team on it, and there was absolutely no evidence 504 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 5: of the verdict being on Judge Gara's home computer none. 505 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,520 Speaker 5: So then they bought from him every jump drive he 506 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 5: could find, every jump drive in his house, and they 507 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 5: found no evidence of the verdict. 508 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 3: So when they came back to him and said, you know, look, 509 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 3: this is kind of disappointing. 510 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 5: We don't have any support for what you've been telling us, 511 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 5: he said, oh no, now I remember, ah, I went 512 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 5: by bus all the way to Lago Agrim. I actually, 513 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 5: now remember I got on a bus and I drove 514 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 5: hour after hour after hour all the way to Lago Agriam. 515 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 5: When I got there, I went to Judge Sombrano's apartment 516 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 5: and I stayed with. 517 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 3: Him over the weekend. 518 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 5: Now, the first story said he never sold so Brono 519 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 5: over the weekend here now he's staying at Judge Sombrano's house. 520 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 5: He worked on it on a laptop that Judge Sombrano 521 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 5: gave him that he believed belonged to one of the 522 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 5: Ecuadorian plain his lawyers, and that's why he couldn't produce it. 523 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 3: Because it wasn't his, it belonged to someone else. He 524 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 3: didn't put it on a jump drive. He worked on 525 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 3: it on the computer. He left it on the computer. 526 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 5: He had dinner together with Judge Sombrano in the evenings, 527 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 5: and that's how. 528 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 3: The verdict came about. 529 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 5: Well, I mean, those stories are so completely different that 530 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 5: that witness under any rule of law would have zero credibility, 531 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 5: I mean just zero credibility. And even more amazing, there 532 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:40,920 Speaker 5: had been an article in the Quito newspaper about a 533 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 5: judge being busted for having a plaintive's lawyer give him 534 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 5: a proposed verdict on a jump drive that he then 535 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 5: put into his computer, changed a couple of the words 536 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 5: and printed it anditied it. 537 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 3: As his own. And the jump drive had been found. 538 00:33:57,760 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 5: So here we have a man that we know right 539 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 5: in the news about verdicts on jump drives came to 540 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 5: Chevron with a story about working on this verdict on 541 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 5: a jump drive that Judge Sombrano gave him at the 542 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 5: airport in Quito, and when he could support none of that, 543 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 5: he made up a whole new story about traveling by 544 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:20,440 Speaker 5: bus across the country into the Frontierra to Lago Agria 545 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 5: to live at Judge Sombrano's house while he typed up 546 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,760 Speaker 5: this verdict on a different computer. 547 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 3: Completely. So it was so comical. 548 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,319 Speaker 5: I mean, when I first got into the case, Rick 549 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,080 Speaker 5: Friedman had asked me if I would handle Judge Ghira, 550 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,360 Speaker 5: the cross examination of Judge Gehra and that sort of 551 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,360 Speaker 5: whole timeline. And when I started reading it and I saw, 552 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 5: you know, Chevron was recording their conversations with Judge Gira, 553 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,759 Speaker 5: and he would say things like how much gold do 554 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 5: you have for me? 555 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 3: The best story brings the best gold. 556 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 5: Just incredible things on these tapes, and I thought, okay, 557 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 5: this is a right. I mean, no American court would 558 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,520 Speaker 5: allow this person to even come testify. I mean, they 559 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,760 Speaker 5: are the epitome of perjuring witness. And then the amount 560 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:12,880 Speaker 5: of money that had been paid to this fact witness 561 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 5: was so absurd, and yet none of that counted. 562 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: It's true. Ultimately none of it counted. Judge Kaplan ruled 563 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:34,600 Speaker 1: against Donzenger and the Ecuadorians throughout the case and eventually 564 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: did find them guilty of fraud. His ruling barred them 565 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 1: from collecting the Ecuadorian judgment in the US. That verdict 566 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 1: came down in twenty fourteen. But that wasn't the end 567 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: of this story either. Next time on Drilled. 568 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 10: And Gerta and Carmen gave kind of like a warning 569 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,680 Speaker 10: about what they had gone through. You know that it's 570 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,719 Speaker 10: like to come to pass once again now that this 571 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 10: RICO precedent has been set, And indeed that's what happened. 572 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:14,359 Speaker 10: Energy Chancer Partners put that case against Greenpeace, against stand 573 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,560 Speaker 10: dot Earth, against several water protectors, and we can see 574 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 10: so many many cases in which RICO law has morphed 575 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 10: from its original intention of targeting the mafia and white 576 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 10: collar criminals to silencing protests to chin to quel particular 577 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:31,640 Speaker 10: forms of political organizing. 578 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,759 Speaker 1: Drilled is an original production of the Critical Frequency podcast Network. 579 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: The show was created, reported, and written by me Amy Westervelt. 580 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:47,360 Speaker 1: My co reporter this season is Karen Savage. Our editor 581 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: is Julia Ritchie. The show's editorial consultant is Rika Murphy. 582 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:58,280 Speaker 1: Mixing and mastering by Mark Bush, original score by b Beeman, 583 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,800 Speaker 1: fact checking by Dan Yan. Our artwork for this season 584 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: was done by the super talented Matt Fleming. Special thanks 585 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: to Trevor Gowan and Emily Gertz. If you are a 586 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 1: Patreon subscriber, thank you. Your money is helping to make 587 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: this season, and as a special thank you to Patreon members, 588 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:25,040 Speaker 1: we're providing a variety of benefits, including bonus content and 589 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:29,000 Speaker 1: early access to episodes in this season. If that sounds 590 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,320 Speaker 1: appealing to you, or you just want to support our work, 591 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 1: go over to patreon dot com, slash drilled and sign up. 592 00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:38,799 Speaker 1: We also have some merch associated with that. You can 593 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: find stories, documents, and photos related to this season on 594 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:46,359 Speaker 1: our website at drillednews dot com. That's it for this time, 595 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:48,800 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.