The Lawsuit

The videos, together with audio recordings obtained by businessmen using watches and pens implanted with bugging devices, appear to implicate Ecuadoran officials and political operatives, including possibly the judge overseeing the Chinese drywall, and Pierina Correa, the sister of Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa. The recordings indicate that an Ecuadoran political operative was working to obtain $3 million in bribes related to environmental cleanup contracts to be awarded in the event of a ruling against Chevron. It was not clear from the recordings and transcripts provided by Chevron, however, whether any bribes discussed in the recordings were actually paid or whether it was even aware of plans to try to bribe him. The tapes also did not demonstrate whether the president’s sister was aware of the scheme or had participated in it. But in a statement that Chevron says illustrates that the judge’s handling of the case is flawed, Judge Núñez said on one of the video recordings that he planned to rule against Chevron by January and that damages could exceed $140 billion. If the circus loses its case and is forced to stop using what they call vital elephant training/handling tools, officials from the circus have said publicly that they will remove the Asian elephants from the performances under the big top.