{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-blumenthal-push-department-of-justice-to-hold-boeing-executives-accountable-for-deadly-safety-failures", "Warren, Blumenthal Push Department of Justice to Hold Boeing Executives Accountable for Deadly Safety Failures", "2024-10-03", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren, Blumenthal Push Department of Justice to Hold Boeing Executives Accountable for Deadly Safety Failures\n\nLawmakers urge DOJ to investigate Boeing executives\u2019 behavior, criminally prosecute those responsible for crashes\n\n\u201cFor too long, corporate executives have routinely escaped prosecution for criminal misconduct... This coddling comes at the expense of customer and worker safety.\u201d\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Boeing executives following years of promoting short-term profit over passenger safety. In the letter, the lawmakers urge the DOJ to review the behavior and potential culpability of Boeing\u2019s executives, and criminally prosecute those responsible.\n\nThe letter comes as years of safety issues involving Boeing planes \u2013 including the fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 \u2013 have continued to raise alarm about Boeing\u2019s corporate culture. As recently as last week, the National Transportation Safety Board was forced to issue \u201curgent safety recommendations\u201d for Boeing\u2019s 737 aircraft line due to mechanical issues. Even amidst these continued failures, the Department of Justice has not criminally prosecuted those individuals responsible for harms to deliver justice and hold Boeing accountable. In July 2024, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the federal government, but DOJ did not take the company to trial or charge individual executives. The deal included an additional fine, commitments to update compliance and safety processes, and oversight by a safety monitor for three years.\n\n\u201cFor years, the federal government has accused Boeing of putting profits over passenger safety, without pursuing full accountability from the company or the company\u2019s executives directly responsible for compromising passenger safety,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201c[T]he combination of a relatively small fine coupled with a toothless commitment to improve aircraft safety has proven insufficient to effect real change at the company.\u201d\n\nIn October 2023, Senator Warren called on the DOJ to immediately reverse its newly unveiled \u201csafe harbor\u201d policy, which would offer a \u201cget-out-of-jail-free\u201d card for mergers involving corporate white-collar criminals. Deputy Attorney General Monaco justified the policy, later noting that \u201c[t]he rule of law demands that those most culpable for a company\u2019s misconduct are the ones being charged, prosecuted, and convicted.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor too long, corporate executives have routinely escaped prosecution for criminal misconduct. This coddling comes at the expense of customer and worker safety, and it must end,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nAfter 346 people died in two Boeing 737 MAX plane crashes due to apparent failures in the MCAS flight stabilization system, the DOJ deferred prosecution, instead negotiating a deal to resolve criminal charges. This year, after the DOJ found that Boeing violated the terms of the deal, Boeing entered a plea agreement. Again, the DOJ failed to hold any Boeing executives accountable for the serious failures \u2014 and since the fatal 737 MAX crashes, countless more safety concerns have surfaced.\n\n\u201cThe deadly crashes and reporting on safety issues since 2018 have shined a spotlight on Boeing\u2019s corporate culture of prioritizing profits at the expense of safety\u2026DOJ must do its part to bring the individuals responsible for Boeing\u2019s safety failures to justice,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:55:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-blumenthal-push-department-of-justice-to-hold-boeing-executives-accountable-for-deadly-safety-failures"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.506221178919077, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}