Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called for Boeing to be prosecuted by the Department of Justice on Friday in connection with a criminal fraud case involving deadly crashes in recent years.
The Democratic senators also asked that the DOJ reject a tentative deal that would keep the plane manufacturer from pleading guilty.
Boeing has been accused of misleading regulators about its 737 MAX jet ahead of two crashes that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia, respectively.
“DOJ must not sign a non-prosecution agreement with Boeing that would allow the company to weasel its way out of accountability for its failed corporate culture, and for any illegal behavior that has resulted in deadly consequences,” Warren and Blumenthal wrote.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT STRIKES TENTATIVE DEAL ALLOWING BOEING TO ESCAPE CRIMINAL CHARGES IN FATAL 737 MAX CRASHES
They continued: “Any deal between DOJ and Boeing that would allow the company and its executives to avoid accountability would be a serious mistake.”
The deal, which is not yet finalized, would make Boeing pay $1.1 billion, including $445 million to a fund for the crash victims’ families, in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping a fraud charge, according to the DOJ.
The new fund would be in addition to the $500 million Boeing paid into a fund for victims’ families in 2021 as part of a settlement to avoid prosecution.
Last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the two fatal 737 MAX crashes. The company previously agreed to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million and face three years of independent oversight.
But the company no longer agrees to plead guilty in the case, prosecutors told victims’ families during a meeting last week, noting that Boeing’s position changed after a judge rejected a previous plea agreement in December.
The deal was rebuked by the crash victims’ families, according to lawyer Paul Cassell, who is representing some of the families.
Cassell said allowing Boeing to escape a trial or guilty plea would be a miscarriage of justice and that the deal would effectively allow the company to become its own probation officer by allowing it to avoid an independent monitor.
“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it,” Cassell said.
Javier de Luis, whose sister was killed in the Ethiopia crash, said the DOJ’s filing allows it to walk away “from any pretense to seek justice for the victims of the 737 MAX crashes.”
“In spite of the mountains of reports and investigations over the last six years documenting wrongdoing by Boeing, DOJ is claiming that they cannot prove that anybody did anything wrong,” he said. “The message sent by this action to companies around the country is, ‘Don’t worry about making your products safe for your customers.'”
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SAYS BOEING BREACHED 2021 AGREEMENT
“‘Even if you kill them, just pay a small fine and move on,'” he continued. “Boeing has repeatedly shown itself incapable of changing their ways on their own. The Alaska Air door blowout five years after the fatal Max crashes proves this. This agreement does not provide for a robust, externally supervised safety monitoring program.”
The agreement would stop a June 23 trial over allegations that the planemaker misled the Federal Aviation Administration about a crucial flight control system on the 737 MAX.
Last year, the DOJ allegedly found Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement that shielded the planemaker from prosecution.
Boeing has faced increased scrutiny from the FAA since January 2024, when a new MAX 9 missing four key bolts had a mid-air emergency, losing a door plug near Portland, Oregon.
The FAA has capped production at 38 planes per month.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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