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upon the judge the false assertion that "Texaco's sampling is full of s[**]t." Donziger has also
asked his co-conspirators to meet with the judge in secret and press their case. And indeed,
Fajardo and the Front-the organization that stands to receive a windfall from the judgment­
have met directly with the judge, pressing the conspirators' interests and obtaining promises of
cooperation from the judge.
79. The RICO Defendants did all this because they believed that it worked. On one
occasion, one of Donziger' s co-conspirators suggested that in order to get the court to rule in
their favor on an important legal point, "Maybe Pablo [Fajardo] can have one of his backroom
conversations." In August 2006, co-conspirator Joseph Mutti updated Donziger that, "Luis
[Yanza] reported that the judge appears to be backing down from his position regarding the
cancellation of the inspections and that pressure must be brought to bear on him. Thus, it was
resolved that two members of the coalition will be traveling to Lago next week to meet with the
judge. Esperanza already met with him twice this week-once with an accompanying
declaration-so he's already feeling the pressure." The RICO Defendants are not the only
observers to note the impact that these tactics have had. The Economist, for example, observed:
"The judge in Lago Agrio, Juan Nllfiez, ... has made no secret of his sympathy for the
plaintiffs."
80. Not content merely to apply pressure themselves, and as part of their previous
arrangement with the Ecuadorian government (see paragraphs 60-63, supra), the RICO
Defendants and their co-conspirators have also enlisted Ecuadorian officials to pressure and
intimidate the judiciary to rule against Chevron. As Donziger has explained the strategy, "We
can have the best proof in the world, and if we don't have a political plan we will surely lose.
On the other hand, we can [have] mediocre proof and a good political plan and stand a good
chance of winning." Donziger understood that to get what the co-conspirators wanted, he had to
do "political work at the highest level to make things happen, like get the government, for
example, to take a position in a case that affects your clients." This was facilitated by the fact
that, according to Donziger, the conspirators had "close ties" to "high-ranking Ecuadorian
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