Ep. 215: Kafka in America. It Can’t Happen Here? (w/ Steven Donziger)
The Michael Moore Podcast
Michael Moore
4.7 • 9.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 October 2021
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Steven Donziger has spent the last 800 days under house arrest with a government tracking device around his ankle.
His crime?
Well, Donziger is the lawyer who successfully sued the oil giant Chevron on behalf of the people of Ecuador for deliberately discharging 16 billion gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon between 1964 and 1992. Donziger and his colleagues succeeded and won a $9.5 billion judgment on behalf of the indigenous and poor communities of Ecuador in 2011. Chevron has yet to pay a dime on this judgement and instead, have brought this case to the friendly confines of the United States and turned Donziger, the person who successfully prosecuted them, into the one doing time.
Mike is joined by Steven Donziger, live from his house arrest, to explain the Kafka-esque/Twilight Zone case in which Donziger is serving as the punching bag of corporate America, with the American people footing the bill. They discuss this bizarre and unprecedented case, his condition, and what we all must do to fight back.
Episode Notes:
Announcement on U.N. Human Rights body ruling that the U.S. government must release Donziger from “arbitrary” detention and compensate him for legal violations:
https://www.makechevroncleanup.com/press-releases/2021/9/29/breaking-highest-un-human-rights-body-rules-us-government-must-release-steven-donziger-from-arbitrary-detention-and-compensate-him-for-legal-violations
Slate’s piece on the horrific facts of this case:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/chevron-judge-loretta-preska-steven-donziger.html
Donate to Donziger’s legal fund and sign the petition for his release here: https://www.freedonziger.com
Call Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office to demand the federal government take on this case and pursue justice for Donziger: 202-514-2000
Or email AG Garland here:
https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice
And make sure to call your respective Congressperson to pressure them on this issue: (202) 224-3121
Music in the episode:
“I Fought The Law” - The Clash
https://youtu.be/yhcreVY_qLI
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A full transcript of this episode can be found here:
https://rumble.media/category/podcast/transcripts/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm breaking rocks in a hot sun I fall for lower and a lower one I fall for lower |
| 0:26.2 | This is rumble with Michael Moore and I am Michael Moore. My guest today is Human Rights |
| 0:36.0 | and Environmental Activist lawyer Steven Donziger. Donziger is the lawyer who successfully |
| 0:42.5 | sued the Chevron oil company on behalf of the people of Ecuador for deliberately discharging |
| 0:49.4 | 16 billion gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon between 1964 and 1992. For this amazing |
| 1:01.5 | legal victory, what has Steven Donziger received? Well, today is the 800th day of his house |
| 1:10.1 | arrest after Chevron has turned the legal tables on him. This is a bizarre or well-earned story |
| 1:20.4 | that is happening right now right here in the United States of America and I wanted |
| 1:27.4 | all of you to hear this. Please make sure you are sitting in a stable chair or are walking |
| 1:36.7 | on a flat surface as you are listening to this because this is just blown my mind and |
| 1:42.9 | I need to not just have my mind blown by myself. I need your mind blown with me so we can |
| 1:49.4 | figure out what to do here my friends. And thanks again to all of you who joined us |
| 1:55.6 | on Tuesday night for our very first live stream Q&A. We had a great time with it and I'll |
| 2:05.1 | post a couple things from this. This is a Q&A I do with the members of my sub stack. |
| 2:10.8 | Become a member. If you don't want to become a member, just sign up for the free subscription |
| 2:15.8 | to my weekly letter and to this podcast and be sent right to you in your email. Go to |
| 2:23.4 | Michaelmore.com to do that. So before we bring on Steven, let's give a shout out here |
| 2:30.5 | to our OG underwriter, anchor. My podcast here was created using the anchor app. Anchor |
| 2:40.5 | is the free podcast platform that allows me and you and anyone to set up and start their |
| 2:46.1 | own podcast free of charge so that your voice is heard. Anchor will distribute your podcast |
| 2:52.8 | for you again, free of charge. So you can be on Spotify, you can be on Apple podcasts |
| 2:58.3 | many more. Now why are they doing this? Simply, it's because they believe in the democratization |
... |
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