DOJ Reportedly Offering Boeing Plea Deal

The federal government is about to bail Boeing from getting hammered for two crashes that involved the Boeing 737 Max jetliners.

Between the two crashes, there were 346 people who were killed.

Needless to say, the families of the victims are not happy this is happening.

Cut Them a Break

This “deal” was always more or less in the bag.

Boeing is a major government contractor, so there is no way the DOJ was going to let Boeing get gutted over these crashes.

To that point, the deal, which the DOJ had to discuss with families on a conference call, heavily favors Boeing and not the victims.

According to the report, part of the deal will require the Boeing board to meet with the victims’ families as well as Boeing being required to invest in new safety measures.

Paul Cassell, a lawyer for 15 families of victims who were killed in 2018 and 2019 crashes, stated, “The deal will not acknowledge, in any way, that Boeing’s crime killed 346 people. It also appears to rest on the idea that Boeing did not harm any victim.

“The families will strenuously object to this plea deal.

“The memory of 346 innocents killed by Boeing demands more justice than this.”

Boeing has until the end of the week to decide if it wants to accept or reject the deal.

Criminal cases were discussed after the DOJ initially found that Boeing had violated a previous settlement, which resulted in an overhaul of Boeing’s compliance department and a $2.5 billion fine.

A fine that was likely paid for with government contracts that were paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Boeing responded by stating that it believes it is still in compliance with that deal, stating, “We believe that we have honored the terms of that agreement and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this issue.”

After the DOJ initially found that Boeing could be criminally charged, Cassell stated, “Because Boeing’s crime is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history, a maximum fine of more than $24 billion is legally justified and clearly appropriate, although it might be partially suspended if funds that would otherwise be paid are devoted to appropriate quality control and safety measures.”

Now it looks like the government was just posturing, once again ready to bail Boeing out of serious trouble even though more than 300 people lost their lives for what appears to have been gross negligence on the part of Boeing’s safety and compliance departments.