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withdrew. And when the fourth firm retained by the RICO Defendants in the same Section 1782
proceeding reviewed the record, and not merely Donziger's materially misleading memorandum,
it concluded that, "it appears not only that Cabrera and plaintiffs can be charged with a 'fraud'
respecting the former's report, but that Stratus was an active conspirator." At this fourth
counsel's request, the second firm retained by the RICO Defendants, who had previously
informed Donziger that the RICO Defendants' position was "untenable," prepared a brief
memorandum summarizing its bases for withdrawal. In that memorandum, that firm stated that
"we did not feel that we had a Rule 11 basis to file an opposition to Chevron's subpoena." Rule
11 ofthe Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that every filing submitted to a federal court
must be signed by an attorney who represents that the filing is not for "any improper purpose,"
that the "claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law," and that
"the factual contentions have evidentiary support."
285. When another lawyer, Andrew Woods, who worked for Donziger, grew alarmed
that Donziger was using him to make possibly false claims in a declaration filed in federal court,
and asked to make a clarifying submission if any of his previous statements were false, Donziger
and his co-conspirators talked him into remaining silent. Despite their own recognition of their
misconduct, the RICO Defendants continue to deny this evidence and dissemble in sworn
statements, in court filings, and in deposition testimony.
b. The RICO Defendants' Subsequent False and Misleading
Statements in an Attempt to Justify and Excuse Their
Emerging Misconduct
286. As their strategy of stonewalling and total denial became increasingly impossible
to square with the emerging factual record, including the video outtakes from Crude, the RICO
Defendants and their co-conspirators made a last-ditch effort to cover up their misconduct by
attempting to confuse and mislead federal courts regarding the Lago Agrio court orders
governing their association with Cabrera. The RICO Defendants distorted the record in several
ways as part of their attempt to impede federal court review of Chevron's discovery applications
and thereby allow the Lago Agrio court to march towards judgment.
113