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Person

Andrew Cuomo

Andrew Cuomo is the 56th governor of New York and a former New York attorney general. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Controversies

Chevron Environmental Damage Lawsuit (2018)

In 2009, then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo threatened to investigate the energy company Chevron while the company was a defendant in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit in Ecuador. The lawsuit charged Chevron with environmental damages to the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador, even though the company had not actually drilled for oil there.[1]

According to court-ordered released emails for the trial, Cuomo was pushed to threaten legal action against Chevron by his former aide, Karen Hinton, and her husband, Howard Glaser, another former staffer for Cuomo.[2] [3] Cuomo subsequently filed a letter accusing Chevron of financial fraud which was later used by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including the main lawyer, Steven Donziger.

Chevron’s internal reports show that Donziger paid Greenpeace activist Rex Weyler $15,000 to write “Chevron’s Amazon Chernobyl Case moves to Canada,” an environmentalist blog article against the company.[4][5]

Donziger has since been disbarred from practicing law in New York due to his corrupt conduct during the trial.[6]

References

  1. Williamson, Kevin D. “Green Floyd: Roger Waters and the Great Green Chevron Scam.” National Review. October 30, 2018. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/chevron-case-shakedown-ecuador-roger-waters/. ^
  2. Schwartz, John. “Ex-Aide Said She Drew Cuomo, as Attorney General, Into Rain Forest Case.” The New York Times. October 11, 2011. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/nyregion/documents-in-chevron-suit-show-lobbyists-contacts-with-cuomo.html. ^
  3. Rubinstein, Dana. “The Cost and Benefit of Karen Hinton.” POLITICO. July 16, 2015. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2015/07/the-cost-and-benefit-of-karen-hinton-000000. ^
  4. Williamson, Kevin D. “Green Floyd: Roger Waters and the Great Green Chevron Scam.” National Review. October 30, 2018. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/chevron-case-shakedown-ecuador-roger-waters/. ^
  5. Weyler, Rex. “Chevron’s Amazon Chernobyl Case Moves to Canada.” Intercontinental Cry. September 22, 2017. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://intercontinentalcry.org/chevrons-amazon-chernobyl-case-moves-canada/. ^
  6. Krauss, Michael I. “Chevron-Ecuador Sequel: Steven Donziger Suspended From The Practice Of Law.” Forbes. July 10, 2018. Accessed November 08, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkrauss/2018/07/10/chevron-ecuador-sequel-steven-donziger-suspended-from-the-practice-of-law/#7ac2af9c3cef. ^
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