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By Hugh Cameron
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Boeing victims have called for the Department of Justice's second in command to recuse herself from the case, after her links to the aerospace giant were brought to light.
A lawyer representing the families of those killed in two Boeing crashes told Newsweek that this alleged conflict of interest will "degrade confidence in the scope and depth of the investigation and the ultimate conclusions that are reached."
Lisa Monaco has served as the Deputy Attorney General since April 2021.
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As the second-highest-ranking official in the DOJ, Monaco advises and directs Attorney General Merrick Garland in enacting the department's programs and policies.
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On Monday, Newsweek confirmed that the Department of Justice would be offering Boeing a deal in exchange for a guilty plea in its ongoing criminal fraud case.
This case dates back to January 2021, when the DOJ charged Boeing with fraud for misleading investors into approving the 737 MAX airliner, the plane involved in the 2018 and 2019 crashes which killed 346 people.
Under the terms of what the victims' lawyers told Newsweek was a "shameful sweetheart deal," Boeing would have to pay a $243.6 million fine, undergo three years of probation with a Boeing-appointed monitor, and meet with the families of those killed in the two crashes.
In light of this relatively lenient punishment, Monaco's previous relationship with Boeing raises the serious questions about the impartiality of the U.S. justice system when it comes to disciplining the $113 billion company.
Monaco previously worked at WestExec Advisors, a D.C.-based consulting firm founded by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
During her time there, Boeing was one of WestExec's major clients.
According to her 2022 Public Financial Disclosure Report, Monaco has also previously owned between $1,001 and $15,000 in Boeing shares. No Boeing stock was reported in her 2023 forms, however.
The DOJ and the Office of the Attorney General did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment on Lisa Monaco's ties to Boeing.
Regarding her work for Boeing during her time at WestExec, the Justice Department previously told Prospect that Monaco "provided a limited number of briefings to the company on the COVID pandemic, and this limited prior consulting work has no relevance to aviation safety or the ongoing case."
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Tim Loranger is an aviation attorney and senior partner at Wisner Baum, a firm representing passengers onboard the infamous Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in January, as well as families of those who died in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Loranger told Newsweek: "While more investigation is needed to fully understand Monaco's relationship with Boeing, there certainly is the appearance of a serious conflict which must be investigated further."
Loranger said that Monaco's relationship with Boeing compounded existing concerns over the company's connection with the Federal Aviation Administration, which approved the faulty aircraft involved in the 2018 and 2019 crashes.
"Considering the recent history of Boeing and its apparent cozy relationship with the FAA, Monaco should lean toward recusal in order to show that the investigation is free from bias," Loranger said.
"The families have already been let down by Boeing and the government who have not held Boeing's feet to the fire," Loranger added. "This decision, without recusal, will certainly erode more of the confidence they may have left that they will one day see Boeing held fully responsible for the injures they have caused."
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