BP And Halliburton Build Legal Teams, Attempt To Buy Off Government
Officials
Facing possible jail time
<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0602/Oil-spill-jail-time-for-\
BP-officials-It-could-happen> for their roles in the largest oil spill
in American history, BP and Halliburton are building high-powered
legal teams
<http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/02/02greenwire-bp-halliburton-tran\
socean-build-legal-teams-77304.html> with "deep Department of
Justice and White House ties." But the companies are pursuing other
means to defend themselves as well.
Halliburton's campaign donations have spiked as it tries to curry
favor with key members of Congress investigating the disaster. The
company donated $17,000 in May, making it "the busiest donation
month <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38047.html> for
Halliburton's PAC since September 2008," Politico reports.
Thirteen of the 14 contributions from May went to Republicans, while
seven went to members of Congress who are "on committees with
oversight of the oil spill
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38047.html> and its
aftermath":
About one week before executive Timothy Probert appeared before the
House Energy and Commerce's investigative subcommittee, Halliburton
donated $1,500 to Ranking Republican Joe Barton's reelection
effort. It was Halliburton's second-largest donation of the month
topped only by $2,500 to former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is
running for the Senate.
In the Senate, Idaho Republican Mike Crapo, who serves on the
Environment and Public Works Committee, Georgia Republican Johnny
Isakson, who serves on the Commerce Committee and North Carolina
Republican Richard Burr (N.C.), who serves on the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, all got $1,000. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also
got $1,000.
Meanwhile, a Hill analysis found that primarily during the Bush
administration, BP and other oil companies "paid for dozens of
trips and meals for officials
<http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/101161-bp-paid-for-agency-of\
ficials-trips-meals> " from the Department of Interior, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Homeland
Security agencies deeply involved in the regulation of oil
exploration and spill cleanup. BP had the "highest tab for gifts
<http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/101161-bp-paid-for-agency-of\
ficials-trips-meals> to government officials" of all oil and gas
companies:
BP and its affiliates BP America and BP Exploration show up
in the gift reports at least 16 different times, paying for meals as
well as for oil and gas industry seminars and tours of oil facilities.
The cost of the gifts totaled more than $7,200.
Only two industry-funded trips took place during the first nine months
of President Obama's administration. In 2004, BP paid for a group
of Interior officials to visit an offshore rig
<http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/101161-bp-paid-for-agency-of\
ficials-trips-meals> in the Gulf of Mexico. The group included
then-deputy secretary J. Steven Griles, who later went to prison
<http://thinkprogress.org/interior-scandals-under-bush/>
for his role in Jack Abramoff scandal.
In 2005, BP paid for travel and meals for then-Interior Secretary Gale
Norton and then-Minerals Management Service (MMS) Director Johnnie
Burton to attended the dedication ceremony
<http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/101161-bp-paid-for-agency-of\
ficials-trips-meals> of another offshore rig in the Gulf.
BP also paid for officials from the EPA and the Fish and Wildlife
Service to visit Prudhoe Bay, Alaska over a period of several years. A
recent Interior Inspector General report covering 2005 to 2007 found a
"culture of lax oversight
<http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/05/25/25greenwire-interior-probe-find\
s-fraternizing-porn-and-dru-45260.html> and cozy ties to industry."
Since January of 2008, BP lobbyists have spent $30 million to influence
legislation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics
<http://www.opensecrets.org/> .
Some coastal governors have benefited from BP as well. BP and other oil
companies gave Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) $1.8 million dollars
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/02/barbour-oil-milkjug/> for his
campaign, and since the spill, he's been aggressively downplaying
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/14/barbour-enjoy-beaches-spill/> the
disaster and encouraging people to visit his state's oily beaches.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) traveled to a BP-funded conference
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/04/mcdonnell-drilling-bp/> in Houston
last month "to lobby aggressively to drill for oil and natural gas
without delay." Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) dismissed
potential BP negligence by calling the spill an "act of God
<http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/03/bp-perry-god/> " at a trade
association funded by BP in May.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/03/bp-halliburton-buy-off/
