Embattled aerospace giant Boeing faces a monumental choice: Plead guilty to a felony fraud charge for its role in past deadly plane crashes, or roll the dice on a high-profile trial against the Justice Department.
The company has until Friday to decide.
Both options are potentially fraught. Accepting a plea deal for violating the terms of a 2021 agreement with DOJ would be a black mark for one of the United States’ most important manufacturers and defense contractors, whose factories support thousands of U.S. jobs and whose political arm gives heavily to candidates of both parties.
It would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and could complicate the company’s ability to continue winning contracts with the federal government.
But a trial would spark a potentially damaging discovery process, perpetuate Boeing’s ordeal in the news headlines and produce made-for-TV moments of victims’ families calling for justice. The legal process would drag out well into next year — potentially bringing an unpredictable face-off against a Trump administration DOJ.
Unlike its planes.
Spicy!!! I don’t really enjoy travel or flying in the first place - it’s mostly the amount of time standing and waiting in the middle of a crowd of people who have nothing to do but wait. But the Boeing (and others) stuff makes it real easy for me to stay home and not waste the money/resources.
I value quality time with my two pups more than travel. Taking a train to somewhere remote and beautiful is not off the menu, though. Marginally better than my experiences on a Greyhound.