Prosecutor Says She Was Pressured On Case

Sharon Eubanks Tells Bob Schieffer That Political Appointees Interfered With Tobacco Ruling

(CBS)  A career Justice Department lawyer — not a political appointee, but a career prosecutor who had been at the department for two decades — has come forward to say she wasn't fired, she quit a year and a half ago because high-level political appointees at Justice forced her to do what she didn't want to do: Go easy on the tobacco companies in a lawsuit that may yet cost those companies billions of dollars.

"They actually drafted for me for a position to take on a smoking-cessation remedy, which would reduce what the government had been seeking in the case from $130 billion to $10 billion, without any explanation," former federal prosecutor Sharon Eubanks tells CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer in an exclusive interview.

Eubanks was the lead lawyer when the government sued the tobacco companies for covering up the dangers of smoking. The case is currently on appeal, but it was the largest civil suit ever filed, and she says that when high-level political appointees at the Justice Department concluded she was about to win and force the big tobacco companies to lay out billions to help smokers break the habit, they stopped her.

She says they ordered a drastic cutback in the settlement she wanted, dictated her final argument and ordered her to read it, told her to drop her demand that key company officials be removed and ordered her to force key witnesses to change their stories.

"It was more what they didn't want them to say," Eubanks says of the witnesses' testimony.

Eubanks first told part of the story to The Washington Post, and it has already caused a furor at the capital. But what she finds odd is that despite the enormity of the case, she never discussed it with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Why not? "I think perhaps to be able to say, as he has said with the firings of the U.S. Attorneys, 'I didn't know what was going on.' Well, he need look no further than the mirror. He's responsible for that," Eubanks says.

Internal investigators at the Justice Department concluded nothing improper took place during the case. But Congress isn't satisfied — and Eubanks is headed to Capitol Hill to tell her story.

[mcvet]

You mean - the government isn't looking out for people's interests? There's collusion between government and corporations? Everyone's out there looking after number one?

I'm devastated. My faith in the system has been dealt a serious blow...

"Ain't politics grand?"
Posted by rikedoid at 12:33 PM : Mar 24, 2007

I think the point is that we need to return the Government to a more centrailzed way of dealing with the things around us. We should NOT vote for people, regardless of religion, who will not stear this nation in a neutral and centraist fashion.

[geneb5]

Actually, Eubanks first spoke out last year, but, as usual, shamefully, everyone in the media--including Schieffer--was busy totally ignoring the tobacco case.

http://www.tobacco-on-trial.com/2006/08/08/insights-into-usa-v-philip-morris-et-al-from-sharon-eubanks/

[rheola-2009]

This is the same government that denies Global warming, in order to protect Exxon and other energy companies, no matter what the catastrophic result is to this world.

Good on you Georgie, fill yours and your cohorts pockets with as much money as is possible, before it all comes to an end.

[rikedoid]

You mean - the government isn't looking out for people's interests? There's collusion between government and corporations? Everyone's out there looking after number one?

I'm devastated. My faith in the system has been dealt a serious blow...

"Ain't politics grand?"

[king77shaw]

we need more brave individuals like her stepping forward ... especially ones that have knowledge of what really happened on 9/11 and it's subsequent cover up ... http://www.911revisited.com/ ....

[besscannon-2009]

It seems Bush tried to run the government like a Mafia boss with him as the Godfather. That man should NEVER have become President. He has too many screwed up ideas. I think he engineered to be a war president because it then would give him the ultimate power. It is so-o-o-o sad so many of our young and finest had to die for his cockamania ideals. The man isn't religious, he is evil, he isn't moral because he does too many immoral things. I'll bet if the top of his head was opened up, what would come out would really stink. He needs pinished somehow really bad but, our wimpy congress doesn't have the hutzpa to do it.

[greco99-2009]

There is clearly a morass of corruption in the Justice department -- instigated by the current administration.

I believe that many of the cases like this one should be reviewed (in public), and that some cases may need to be tried again because of corruption.

This era will leave a legacy of cases that are suspect because of the corruption.

All Democrats and Republicans (and especially all lawyers) should deplore what has happened and demand to know the facts in this and other cases.

[mcvet]

It is becoming PAINFULLY obvious what was going on here folks. Bush and Rove were using the US Justice Department as their own little Gestapo. The same things that the Third Reich did with the German Gestapo and the way THEY, the Third Reich, just "justice" in 1930's Germany is very much like what these two Southern Fascist were doing with the US Department of Justice. Play ball with the Party and you get a get out of Jail Free Card. Cross the Fuehrer and the Party and you were most certainly in for an investigation and more if possible. What is so sad it that they were turning on REAL Republican's. I guess they were intent on cleaning the Party of the unfaithful, the ones who were blood line type Republican's. If they didn't belong to the Klan, then the family should have. If not that then they had to show loyality to the Klan. If not that then they were put on the block. Wonderful "Values" there Republican's... just WONDERFUL!!

[themooniac]

For the life of me I will never understand what people saw in Bush in 2000 to elect him to such a substantial position. When he was Gov. here in Texas he did absoulutly nothing. If someone from Texas can tell any piece of significant legislation or any positive legacy he had on this state let me know. He was a do nothing, private industry does it best politician. The only notoriety he had here was he was a "supposed" owner of the Tx Rangers but really was just a frontman that helped the other partners close the deal based on his daddy's name. I can't remember anybody talking to W about actual baseball transactions when he was "team owner" with Rusty Rose. He's always been a lackey for private interests and that is why his team would put the tabacco interests above yours and mine.

[colonieny]

Why is this pathetic story a lead story ? Iran has captured Brits in open waters !

How about looking in Conn Sen Dodd running for President, and getting campaign contributions from people and companies coming before his committee. He gets to keep all that money personally when he retires. What is that all about, if not a potential scandal. He has no hope of being nominated, and he knows it. !

[macusweil]

Can you say "tip of the neo.con treachery iceberg" ?