Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the Department of Justice Criminal Division and Boeing have agreed to a plea deal after Boeing pled guilty to defrauding the federal government over two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX planes, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement:

“The DOJ’s proposed sweetheart deal with Boeing is nothing less than a miscarriage of justice,” said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Boeing’s disastrous pattern of mismanagement—which has led to fatal results—deserves criminal prosecution, not a mere $243 million fine for a $77 billion company. Boeing’s executives should face time behind bars for their responsibility in not effectively addressing the deaths of 346 people in the two MAX crashes in 2018-2019 and allowing the ongoing safety issues that have come to light since the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 event in January. Monopolists shouldn’t get to evade their crimes because of their size and influence. We urge the judge presiding over the case to reject the settlement and force the DOJ to hold Boeing accountable.”

Last week, Economic Liberties and coalition of advocates sent a letter urging Attorney General Garland to not let the aerospace monopoly off the hook with a plea deal and for Deputy AG Lisa Monaco to recuse herself from the deliberations given her conflicts of interest.

Read the letter here. 

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.