Steven Donziger: Prosecution Didn’t Flout DOJ Authority, Judge Says

Steven Donziger hasn’t shown that the special prosecutor in his criminal contempt case lacked government oversight, a Manhattan federal judge said in rejecting a new trial bid from the disbarred human rights attorney.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska said Monday Donziger can’t vacate his July 26 criminal conviction for refusing to hand over devices for inspection in civil litigation with Chevron, which accused him of fraudulently obtaining a $9.5 billion environmental judgment against the oil giant in Ecuador.

Donziger claimed in his recent new trial motion that court-appointed prosecutor Rita Glavin, the founder of private firm Glavin PLLC, brought the charges without any supervision or direction from the U.S. Department of Justice as required by the Constitution’s appointments clause.

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