What Does Allen Stanford Have in Common with Amazon Defense Coalition? Lobbyist Ben Barnes

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any shadier, I’ve learned that the lobbyist now representing the Amazon Defense Coalition (via Kohn Swift & Graf, P.C.) in its $27 billion lawsuit against San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corporation is the same man who represented Stanford Financial Group and its now-indicted founder R. Allen Stanford between 2002 and 2008.

Find out what else I learned here.

Is Andrew Cuomo Liar, Incompetent or Both?

I haven’t decided yet whether New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is a liar, an incompetent public official or both.

In a post June 5, I shared the outcome of a Freedom of Information Law (a.k.a., “FOIL”) request I had filed eight days earlier with Cuomo’s office: In short, he denied having any records of contact with representatives of the Amazon Defense Coalition, the over-the-top-zealous group behind a $27 billion lawsuit filed against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador. Further, it appears, he wants people like me to believe the accusatory tone he took in a widely-publicized May 4 letter to Chevron CEO David J. O’Reilly was based solely upon papers filed in the case and was without political motivation.

Now, for the second time in two weeks, Cuomo’s office has denied having had contact during the past 12 months with people on the plaintiff’s side of the case: representatives of Kohn Swift & Graf, P.C., the Philadelphia law firm providing funding for the plaintiff; and Steven Donziger, the lead plaintiff attorney in the case.

I don't believe it. To find out why, click here.

‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’ (Part 1 of 2)

“This case is the ultimate embodiment of ‘no good deed goes unpunished,’” said Charles A. James, executive vice president and chief legal counsel at Chevron Corporation, speaking about the 16-year-old, $27 billion lawsuit filed by the Amazon Defense Coalition against Chevron in Ecuador. Today, I published a two-part post about the monumental lawsuit that makes the Exxon Valdez case look like pocket change. Start with Part 1 of 2.

See also: Following the Money Difficult in Ecuador Lawsuit

Blogger Investigating $27 Billion Lawsuit Against Chevron, Sending Correspondent to Ecuador

“Big Oil” is under siege. Nowhere, however, are the stakes higher than in Ecuador. Within six months, a judge in that country is expected to issue a decision in a class-action environmental lawsuit that could cost San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Oil Company $27 billion.

To learn more about the case, I will travel with my oldest son, Matt, to ChevronLatin America’s offices in Miami for an April 30 briefing. After the briefing, however, I will return to St. Louis while Matt accompanies Chevron officials on a fact-finding journey to Ecuador.

Read more about the trip here.