New Christie Attack Dog Attorney No Friend to Ecuador's Indigenous Peoples
Nikolas Kozloff
New Christie Attack Dog Attorney No Friend to Ecuador's Indigenous Peoples
Posted: 01/20/2014 12:16 am
In a recent column, journalist Chris Hedges compares New Jersey governor Chris Christie to a "Third World despot." In a rhetorical flourish, Hedges writes that if the New Jersey governor ever becomes president "the corporate state's repression, now on the brink of totalitarianism, would with the help of Christie, his corporate backers and his Tea Party loyalists become a full-blown corporate fascism."
Hedges' article is a bit over the top and ideological at times, and it would be a mistake to equate Christie with some kind of "banana republic"-type dictator along the lines of Anastasio Somoza. Nevertheless, Christie's links to high-powered attorneys may stir uncomfortable memories for those who have been on the receiving end of the corporate stick in Latin America.
Recently, the New Jersey governor tapped well-known lawyer Randy Mastro to lead his political defense in the so-called "Bridgegate" scandal. A Republican attorney known for aggressive tactics, Mastro served as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's Chief of Staff and subsequently as the city's Deputy Mayor for Operations. He was also a member of John McCain's judicial steering committee during the 2008 presidential election.
The Nicaragua Legal Prototype
More recently, Mastro has been chairing a "crisis management group" in the powerful Gibson & Dunn Los Angeles-based law firm. The company has long been infamous for its defense of corporations and their foreign dealings. In one high-profile case, Gibson & Dunn rescued Dole Food from billions of dollars in damages based on allegations that the company had used pesticides which caused sterility and other harm to banana workers in Nicaragua. Turning the tables, Gibson & Dunn claimed that workers had lied about their medical condition in an attempt to defraud Dole, and the case was later dismissed.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nikolas-kozloff/new-christie-attack-dog-a_b_4629610.html