Former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson said that a judge’s decision to find attorney Steven Donziger guilty of six criminal contempt charges was disappointing, adding that the lawyer’s treatment was “unconstitutional.”
In an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Williamson reflected on the Monday ruling on the contempt charges against Donziger, who in 2011 secured a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron on behalf of thousands of Ecuadorian farmers and indigenous people impacted by contamination from oil drilling.
Chevron countersued Donziger, accusing him of doctoring evidence in the case and bribing a judge. Donziger has been under house arrest since 2019 after refusing to turn over his laptop and cellphone to be used as evidence in the case, citing client confidentiality.
“It’s very disappointing,” Williamson said. “No lawyer has ever been put under house arrest for two years like this. Nothing like this has ever happened.”
“This is part of a tremendous assault by Chevron and, by extension, by all such corporate entities who believe that they should have this… kind of right to even try in court American citizens,” she continued.
“The whole thing is unconstitutional,” she argued, noting that federal judge Loretta Preska “denied” Donziger the right to a jury, and “denied him the right to even speak on his own behalf.”
Watch part of Williamson’s interview above.
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