This week, I'm deconstructed. I'm Sharon Lerner, investigative reporter for the Intercept,

sitting in for Ryan Grimm. Our guest this week is Steven Donziger, the environmental

lawyer who sued Chevron and won. Donziger helped win a multi-billion dollar judgment against

the company for the contamination of land in Ecuador, specifically the Lago Agria region,

where he's been fighting on behalf of indigenous people and farmers for more than 25 years.

As Donziger was arguing the case, again Chevron and Ecuador, back in 2009, the company said

its long-term strategy was to demonize him. And since then, Chevron has waged an all-out

assault on Donziger in what's become one of the most bitter and drawn-out cases in the

history of environmental law. Chevron has hired private investigators to track Donziger,

created a publication just to smear him and put together a legal team of hundreds of

lawyers from 60 firms who have successfully pursued an extraordinary campaign against

him. As a result, Donziger has been disbarred. His bank accounts have been frozen. He's

had a lien placed on his apartment. He faces exorbitant fines and he was prohibited from

earning money. A court seized his passport and put him on house arrest. Chevron, which

has a market capitalization of $316 billion, has the funds to continue targeting Donziger

for as long as it chooses. In an email statement, Chevron wrote that, quote,

any jurisdiction that observes the rule of law should find the fraudulent Ecuadorian

judgment to be illegitimate and unenforceable. The statement also said that, quote,

"'Shavron will continue to work to hold the perpetrators of this fraud accountable for

their actions, including Stephen Donziger, who has committed a litany of corrupt and

illegal acts related to his Ecuadorian judicial fraud against Chevron.'"

Donziger was charged with contemptive court for refusing to hand over his computer, cell

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