Chevron keeps on rolling out the “Doh!” moments as they continue to attempt (and spectacularly fail) to deflect attention from their responsibility in Ecuador with their sideline shenanigans.
We’ve seen an illustrious chain of embarrassing Chevron snafus. There was the well-documented collusion with a known felon and former employee conspiring to bait an Ecuadorean judge. Then there was the instance in which Chevron did not like the media they were receiving on a national level. Following a scathing 60 Minutes piece exposing Chevron’s double speak and ill-crafted lies, Chevron conjured up the idea to produce their own “news reporting” for their YouTube audience. In this news report Chevron hired a retired CNN reporter to “report” their side of the story and pass it off as “journalism.” An event that nearly had the New York Times at the edge of their seat with laughter.
Now Chevron has gone from YouTube news to flat out bribes. That Chevron tried to manipulate the media is not news. I can’t blame them really. If I were Chevron I’d also be fearful the media will continue to non-objectively cover my responsibility to clean up my pollution in the Ecuadorean Amazon. Facts are a pesky thing when the media continues to report them.
Now Chevron, having used up any credibility as a genuine actor (outside of a few bloggers) in the $27 billion lawsuit, must now outsource their deceptions. They’ve enlisted the private investigation firm Kroll to do their dirty work. What was Kroll’s latest task for Chevron? Buying up a journalist to act as spy in Ecuador.
See part 2 of the new story here, with reaction to Chevron’s attempts to buy journalists HERE
In a well-publicized case, Kroll has been outed for offering to pay a journalist $20,000 to go to Ecuador undercover to “report” on Chevron’s behalf. To the reporter Mary Cuddehe’s credit she did not accept Chevron/Kroll’s offer, and instead reported on the shady dealings of Chevron in Ecuador.
Chevron’s strategies read like juvenile pranks, yet unfortunately there is much more at stake than which table you get to sit at in the cafeteria. Chevron continues to trivialize, with games and delay tactics, the health and well being of over 30,000 Ecuadoreans.
Chevron may very well continue to dig deeper into their bag of tricks as they reach for any way to distract the world from their responsibility in Ecuador. Yet it’s clear at this point Chevron will only be building up their reputation as a disingenuous company with cynical motives, because the world is squarely focused on the facts of the lawsuit, the suffering Chevron is causing, and not the desperate efforts to distract from the truth.