1 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: When I know. This is Pablo Fajardo. He's the guy who, 2 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: along with Luisianza, won the Goldman Prize back in two 3 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: thousand and eight for his work fighting Texaco and then 4 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: Chevron in Ecuador. Remember, Chevron took an ad out about 5 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: how he and Luis were frauds. Fajardo was actually the 6 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: lead attorney on the case against Chevron in Ecuador, but 7 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: because Chevron targeted Donziger in its press push, he shows 8 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: up less and less in stories about the case from 9 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: twenty ten onward. But he's still working on it today. 10 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: We're going to get into more of that as the 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: season goes on. But first a quick recap because we're 12 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: halfway through this season and it's a very complicated story. Okay, 13 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: So to recap. From the late nineteen sixties to nineteen ninety, 14 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: Texico drilled for oil in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The company 15 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: helped to start the oil industry there. A large group 16 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: of both indigenous and non indigenous residents say Texico left 17 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: a big mess and they should clean it up. An 18 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: Ecuadorian lawyer named Cristobald Bonifas first filed a suit against 19 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: Texico in New York in nineteen ninety three. When Chevron 20 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: bought Texico in two thousand and one, it inherited this case, 21 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: which was still going on. Like Texico before it, Chevron 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: lobbied for the case to be tried in Ecuador. In 23 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: two thousand and three, the New York courts agreed and 24 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: the case was refiled, this time against Chevron in Ecuador. 25 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: At this point, Bonifas kind of fades into the background. 26 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: Donziger and Fijardos start to get a lot more involved, 27 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: and they start to bring worldwide attention to the case. 28 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: But still it drags on for years and years and years. 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: When we left off last time, it was two thousand 30 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: and nine. The plaintiffs were on a bit of a 31 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: winning streak and Chevron was gearing up for a fight, 32 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: or really another round in this fight. I didn't call 33 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: this season Laluja munggla for nothing. In episode four, we 34 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: dug into the details of one particular tactic, filing a 35 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: complaint before an international arbitration tribunal that happened in September 36 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: two thousand and nine. Weeks before that complaint was filed, 37 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: Chevron released on YouTube a batch of videos taken with 38 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: hidden spy cameras like those pen cameras that you see 39 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: in novelty shops or advertised in skymall, teeny tiny cameras 40 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:46,079 Speaker 1: hidden inside normal looking pens. Chevron claimed the videos showed 41 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: that the judge in the Ecuador case was being bribed. 42 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: It all had a very national Enquirer caught on tape 43 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: judge accepting bribes sort of vibe to it. In most 44 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: of the tapes. An Ecuadorian man named Diego Borgia and 45 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: an American named Wayne Hansen. We're meeting with the guy 46 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: who was the judge in the case at that time, 47 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: Judge Juan Nuniez. Here's a tidbit from one of these videos, 48 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: and just to note the audio quality is terrible because 49 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: you know pen. 50 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 2: Cameras Spener who is maximum Santa fifty three. 51 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: So to set up these meetings with Judge Nuniez, Borgia 52 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: and Hansen had claimed to be environmental remediation experts who 53 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: were tracking the case because there might be work in 54 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: it for them. Eventually, when these videos came out, Judge 55 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: Nunia said, yeah, I met with these guys. I explained 56 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,119 Speaker 1: the case to them and how Ecuadorian law works. None 57 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: of that's illegal. That all tracks with the tapes that 58 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: he's in. He insisted he'd done nothing wrong, but still 59 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: in September, right around the time Chevron was filing its 60 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: arbitration claim, Nuniaz recused himself from the case because of 61 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: this whole scandal that set the trial back months, because 62 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: a new judge had to come on board, familiarize himself 63 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: with the case and read through thousands and thousands of 64 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: pages of documents and filings and transcripts, all of that. 65 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: A couple weeks after all of this was in the news, 66 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: the Associated Press published a story that poked a lot 67 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: of holes in these videos, especially the credibility of the 68 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: American Wayne Hansen. As the story unfolded over the next 69 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: few months, it just kept getting weirder. It sounds more 70 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: like a Cohen Brothers movie than a law case. And 71 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 1: that was the tip of the iceberg, that wild ride. 72 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: Right after this quick break, I want to tell you 73 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: about one of my favorite climate podcasts, Mothers of Invention. 74 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: Their tagline is a man made problem with a feminist solution, 75 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: so good, and Mothers of Invention is a climate justice 76 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: podcast like you've never heard before, joined former Irish president 77 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: Mary Robinson, comedian Maeve Higgins and series producer the Molly 78 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: Kadi Kara as they celebrate black, brown and Indigenous leaders 79 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: all over the world fighting from the front lines. Of course, 80 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: one of my personal favorites is their recent episode with 81 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: Mary Annie's Hegler, my co host on Hot Take and 82 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: my favorite person to listen to on climate justice. But 83 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: really I listen to every episode. They're all great find 84 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: mothers of invention wherever you listen to podcasts. Quaene Hansen 85 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: does a great job of playing the bumbling, confused American 86 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: in these videos. Here he is asking how much longer 87 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: the trial might go on? 88 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 2: And we have much for the forty five more days 89 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 2: than the trial was over. 90 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: Again, Hanson claimed to be a remediation expert who was 91 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: hoping to get in on some of the work on 92 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: that front once Chevron was found guilty, But in October 93 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: two thousand and nine, the Associated Press reported that Hanson 94 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: was in fact in ex con with no verifiable experience 95 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: in remediation work. That story read quote. Hanson, in two 96 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: brief interviews, told AP he had water treatment projects in 97 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: Mexico and Ecuador, but when a reporter questioned those claims, 98 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: he hung up Chevron claimed to have no association with Hanson, 99 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: but the company did offer to pay for any security 100 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: and legal fees that resulted from his role in these videos. 101 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: But remember there was someone else in those tapes too, 102 00:06:55,720 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: Diego Borgia. And Borgia was a different story. Initially, Chevron 103 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: described him as a quote unquote good Samaritan, but later 104 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: it came out that Borgia and his wife, Sarah Portilla, 105 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: had both worked for Chevron at various points. At that point, 106 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: Chevron updated their description of Borgia to a logistics contractor 107 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: for them, but also Borgia, his uncle, and Chevron's attorneys 108 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: had offices in a building that Borgia's uncle owned. In June, 109 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: a couple months before the videos were released, Chevron moved 110 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: Borgia and his wife to the US. The company claims 111 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: that was done to protect the Borgias. They rented the 112 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: couple a house in California and paid them a stipend 113 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: of ten thousand dollars a month for about two years. 114 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: We only know all this stuff because the plaintiffs hired 115 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: a private investigator to look into Borgia and Hansen, which 116 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: turned up all kinds of stuff, including some tapes of 117 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: their own audio recordings of calls between Borgia and an 118 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: acquaintance that make Borgia seem like, well, let's say, not 119 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: quite a good samaritan. Here's a moment from one of 120 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: those tapes. You'll hear Borge's acquaintance first and then him 121 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: you can tip the balance to either side. His acquaintance says, 122 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: so I had to, of course, and for either of 123 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: the two sides. Look at how much it tipped just 124 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: now says this was around the time that Nunia's had 125 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: just recused himself. 126 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 3: And looking up for. 127 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: What they haven't been able to do and how long 128 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: a year or something, Borgia says they threw that judge 129 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: out in what three days? Two days? There are several 130 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: of these tapes, and some of them also called Chevron's 131 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:57,079 Speaker 1: scientific experts into question. Borza talks about collecting samples for 132 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: the company, which he says he's been doing since two 133 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: thousand and four. He also claims to have set up 134 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: a bunch of supposedly independent labs to test samples for Chevron, 135 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: and documents that were submitted to the ECUADORI in court 136 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: do show not only that Borges's wife worked for the 137 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,319 Speaker 1: lab that Chevron used to test contamination samples, but also 138 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: that Borgia was handing some samples off directly to her. 139 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: None of this looked good for Chevron, But by this point, 140 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: late two thousand and nine, they had brought on the 141 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: law firm Gibson Done and lawyer Randy Mastro was busy 142 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: gathering evidence of his own about the plaintiffs scientific experts. 143 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 4: There were a series of wow moments. 144 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: Here's Mastro talking to us via zoom from his place 145 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: in New York describing what he dug up on the 146 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: plaintiffs once Chevron brought Gibson dun in to help. 147 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 4: What are the very first of these subpoenas that we 148 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 4: were able to issue in the United States was to 149 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 4: compel the testimony of a scientific expert Steve Donziger had hired, 150 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 4: named doctor Charles Combacher from Georgia. 151 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: If you're wondering how Chevron's lawyers were able to subpoena 152 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: things from the plaintiffs when the case was still going 153 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: on in Ecuador, I get it. It seems very weird. 154 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: Here's the deal. There's a section of the US Legal 155 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: Code called Section seventeen eighty two, and it says, basically, 156 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,719 Speaker 1: if you're an American or an American company or organization, 157 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: and you're involved in a lawsuit in another country, and 158 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: there are documents or American witnesses that might help you 159 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: in that litigation, you can subpoena them. That's what Master 160 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 1: used to get Combacher's deposition. 161 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 4: And he was supposedly played this expert in Ecuador confirming 162 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 4: that based on the research and tests that he had done, 163 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 4: that there was significant environmental contamination done in the Amazon. 164 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 4: But when we compelled doctor Combacker's testimony in Georgia, what 165 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 4: he actually testified was that the report that Steve Donziger 166 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 4: and his Ecuadorian lawyers submitted to the court in Ecuador, 167 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 4: what was not Combacker's conclusion that he had not in 168 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 4: fast concluded that it was a significant environmental damage, and 169 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 4: the work that he had done was further revealed that 170 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 4: Donziger had asked him for signature pages separate from his report. 171 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: The plaint is, of course deny this. They say Combucker 172 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 1: was fired, that he thought they owed him money, and 173 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: this deposition was some sort of revenge. Donziger says Kalmbucker 174 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: authorized the submission of his report and that he sent 175 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: his signature separately because he'd already returned home to Georgia. 176 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:58,959 Speaker 1: In any case, it was enough for Gibson Done to 177 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: get to go ahead from a US judge District Court 178 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: Judge Lewis a Caplan of the Southern District of New 179 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:10,959 Speaker 1: York to file more subpoenas. Next, Mastro went after Douglas Beltman, 180 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: the executive VP from Stratus Consulting, that we heard from 181 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: last time. It's a disgrace. They treated Ecuador like a 182 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: trash heap. He also subpoenaed Beltman's colleague and Maeste. At 183 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: issue is the report by Richard Cabrera, the court appointed expert. 184 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,679 Speaker 1: Remember I mentioned before that this guy was going to 185 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: come up again and again. Cabrera and the Cabrera report 186 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: were becoming increasingly contentious, in part because Donziger was talking 187 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: about the report a lot in the press, and because 188 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: it was Cabrera's report that said, this is how much 189 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: Chevron should owe to clean up this mess, and it 190 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: was in the many, many billions of dollars. According to Mastro, 191 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: Cabrera was supposed to be neutral and not tied to 192 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: either side in the case, and he was increasingly finding 193 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: that that was not the case at all. Here's Master 194 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: explaining more. 195 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 4: We sought by subpoena the records and then testimony from 196 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 4: a firm that became a principal outside expert for Donziger Andess, 197 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 4: Ecuadorian lawyers, Stratus scientists at Stratus, and when those records 198 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 4: were ordered produced pursuing too our subpoena, and they showed 199 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 4: that the supposedly independent expert in Ecuador, who had been 200 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 4: appointed by the court to be an objective, independent party 201 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 4: in assessing environmental damage and how much there was and 202 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 4: attributing it to two parties if there were found to 203 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 4: be environmental damage, that in fact that was not an 204 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 4: independent objective report, had been ghost written word for word 205 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 4: by Stratus. 206 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: Donzegher says, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. 207 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 5: That allegation is just a bunch of bs on every level. 208 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 5: Stratus did write or draft most of the Cabrera Report. Cabrera, 209 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 5: though reviewed it, signed it. They worked together. There was 210 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 5: a massive amount of information, you know, literally tens of 211 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 5: thousands of chemical sampling results in any single individual would 212 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 5: never have the capacity to pull that together analyze it 213 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 5: by himself or herself. So we did what Chevron did 214 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 5: and what's customary, and courts all over the world, including 215 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 5: in the United States. We used our experts to support Cabrera, 216 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 5: who was also our expert, because we were the ones 217 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 5: who asked for his report and Chevron did not. 218 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: In fact, Donziger says Chevron was doing the same thing 219 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: with their experts. 220 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 5: So Chevron used the same method in support of its experts, 221 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 5: you know, would use its US based experts to help 222 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 5: its equador and experts write their reports. And this was 223 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 5: standard operating procedure under Ecuadoran law in terms of how 224 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 5: expert reports were done in Ecuador in all cases, in 225 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 5: particular this case. 226 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: But Master thought the plaintiff's involvement with Cabrera was fishy 227 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: and Kaplan a US judge agreed, So in May twenty ten, 228 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: he okayd Masters next and possibly most critical move, a 229 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: subpoena for all of the outtakes of the documentary, crued 230 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: some six hundred hours worth of tape shot by documentary 231 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: filmmaker Joe Berlinger. 232 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 4: So you have this building block, you have what happened 233 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 4: with Combacker. Simultaneous to this, there's proceedings are going on 234 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 4: to get documents and testimony from Stratus status officials. Right, 235 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 4: Joe Berlinger had made a documentary Crude. It had been 236 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 4: on the film festival circuit, and the issue of whether 237 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 4: Cabrera was an independent objective expert who'd done an independent 238 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 4: report and reached conclusions independently was critical in the Ecuadorian 239 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 4: proceeding because it was the basis on which Donziger and 240 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 4: his Ecuadori lawyers were asking the Ecuadorian court to impose 241 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 4: billions in damages on Chevron. So Joe Burlinchard produces Crude, 242 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 4: and it shows on the festival circuit, then it comes 243 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 4: out on Netflix, and a curious thing was picked up 244 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 4: by the Chevron team. There was a change in scenes 245 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 4: from the film festival version to the Netflix version, and 246 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 4: the scene that had been changed or deleted was a 247 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 4: scene that showed someone supposedly working as an independent expert 248 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 4: for Cabrera, was in fact meeting with the plaintiffs lawyers 249 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 4: and their clients at a session that Joe Berlinger was 250 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 4: Steve Donziger in attendance, and then by the time it 251 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 4: came out on Netflix, that scene had been deleted. 252 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,400 Speaker 1: The filmmaker Joe Berlinger fought this subpoena and the characterization 253 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 1: of his work is not journalism. It became a really big, 254 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: high profile First Amendment case in its own rate, and 255 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: we're going to get into that in future episodes, but 256 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,479 Speaker 1: for now, keep in mind this is all happening in 257 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,320 Speaker 1: twenty ten and heading into twenty eleven, and there's still 258 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,360 Speaker 1: no verdict in Ecuador yet. So you've got the international 259 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: arbitration proceeding happening, then you've got all this seventeen eighty 260 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,920 Speaker 1: two action from Mastro. Eventually he does get the crude 261 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,360 Speaker 1: out takes, and he fils more and more subpoenas. They 262 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: get Donziger himself for weeks of depice positions, and he's 263 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: even required to hand over his personal diary and various 264 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: correspondences between himself and the lawyers in Ecuador, him and 265 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:14,679 Speaker 1: Pablo Fajardo, him and various litigation financers. Everything. Again, this 266 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: is while the case is still going on in Ecuador. 267 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: Even with all that, though, you. 268 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 5: Know, it was very clear in i'd say December of 269 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 5: two thousand and ten January twenty eleven that the case 270 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 5: was going to end and they were going to lose. 271 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 5: I mean, it was just obvious, you know, that all 272 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,919 Speaker 5: their little tricks had not worked and the case was 273 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 5: ripe for decision the evidence against them was overwhelming and 274 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 5: they were going to lose. So instead of just accepting 275 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 5: that fact and appealing, they prior to the issuance of 276 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 5: the judgment and Ecuador, they filed the RICO case against us, 277 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 5: describing what they thought was a criminal conspiracy to extort 278 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 5: money from them. 279 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: RICO stands for racketeer, influence and Corrupt Organizations. It's a 280 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,199 Speaker 1: US federal law that was created to deal with the 281 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 1: mob and various other types of organized crime. In more 282 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 1: recent years, it's been used against big corporations. For example, 283 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: RICO has been invoked in a law of the opioid litigation. 284 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: In its initial RICO complaint against Donziger and Fajardo and 285 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: the plaintiffs, Chevron alleged that the legal team had cooked 286 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: up a sham case and then set about falsifying evidence 287 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: and bribing judges to make it stick. About two weeks 288 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,400 Speaker 1: after this RICO case was filed, the Ecuadorian courts finally 289 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:41,640 Speaker 1: delivered a judgment, eight years after the trial had started. 290 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: Chevron was guilty and I owed more than eighteen billion 291 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: dollars in damages. 292 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 3: So when the decision in Ecuador came down in our favor, 293 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 3: that came down two weeks after Chevron had already tried 294 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,680 Speaker 3: to preempt it by suing US under the Rico case. 295 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 3: So when the decision came down in Ecuador, I was 296 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 3: in New York and, you know, with some other lawyers 297 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 3: in the US who had been working on the case, 298 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 3: and we got the news and we were obviously thrilled, 299 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 3: but we were also at that point dealing with the 300 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 3: Rico case. So it was all confusing, and in a 301 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 3: weird way, Chevron had stolen the moment. 302 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: The judge in Ecuador by this point, a guy named 303 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: Nicholas Soembrano, made a point of saying that he had 304 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:35,199 Speaker 1: not relied on either Combacker's report or the Kaber report, 305 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: not because he'd found evidence of a problem with either one, 306 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: but because he didn't want the controversy swirling around the 307 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: two to undermine his ruling. Next time on drilled. 308 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 6: So in the mornings, we would be lined up in 309 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 6: this very long line. We had to get there very 310 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,159 Speaker 6: early in October November, so it was cold, so we 311 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 6: would be all bundled up. We would be in this 312 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,719 Speaker 6: long line to get through security to get into the courthouse, 313 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 6: and we'd have our blow ups and our boxes with 314 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:17,399 Speaker 6: us and our briefcases, and then you would see a 315 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 6: row of five black Lincoln suburbans arrive with tinted windows, 316 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 6: and out of it would come the senior management of Chevron, 317 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 6: their head of litigation, their entire legal team, and they 318 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 6: were ushered in through a separate entrance as VIPs, so 319 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 6: they didn't have to stand in the line with all 320 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,360 Speaker 6: the rest of us. They would get out and go 321 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 6: straight into the courtroom. So we would have been in 322 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,239 Speaker 6: line for forty five minutes when they would arrive and 323 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 6: go straight through. 324 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 1: Drilled is an original production of the Critical Frequency podcast Network. 325 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: The show was created, reported, and written by me Amy Westerveldt. 326 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: My co reporter this season is Karen Savage. Our editor 327 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: is Julia Ritchie. The show's editorial consultant is Rika Murphy. 328 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: Mixing and mastering by Mark Bush. Original score by b Beeman, 329 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: fact checking by wodn Yan. Our artwork for this season 330 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: was done by the super talented Matt Fleming. Special thanks 331 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,719 Speaker 1: to Trevor Gowen and Emily Gertz. If you are a 332 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: Patreon subscriber, thank you your money is helping to make 333 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: this season, And as a special thank you to Patreon members, 334 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: we're providing a variety of benefits, including bonus content and 335 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: early access to episodes in this season. If that sounds 336 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: appealing to you, or you just want to support our work, 337 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: go over to patreon dot com slash drilled and sign up. 338 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,959 Speaker 1: We also have some merch associated with that. You can 339 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 1: find stories, documents, and photos related to this season on 340 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: our website at drillednews dot com. That's it for this time, 341 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.