1996 Memo Exposes Elizabeth Warren’s Hypocritical Legal Work for Big Corporations

A 1996 memo released by The Washington Post is putting Elizabeth Warren under renewed scrutiny for her past legal work on behalf of big corporations.

The Washington Post: “But on this occasion, Warren was not arguing on behalf of vulnerable families, nor was she offering the sort of stinging rebuke of corporate greed that would later define her political career. Rather, Warren was representing a large development company that was trying to avoid having to clean up a toxic waste site.”

“The eight-page memo, which has not previously been reported, offers a rare glimpse of Warren in action during her past work as a corporate consultant — one whose arguments were at times out of step with the liberal presidential campaign she is running today.”

The memo was prepared during Warren’s tenure at Harvard Law School, and is part of the $1.9 million she claims to have collected from corporations before railing against them as a presidential candidate.

And this isn’t the first example of Warren’s blatant environmental hypocrisy. She also worked to bail out a massive utility company whose takeover bid was disqualified after it made improper payments to gain control of a coal-fired power plant worth $1 billion.

The New York Times: “When Cajun Electric filed for bankruptcy in 1994, a bidding war ensued for control of Cajun’s assets, notably Big Cajun, a coal-fired power plant worth an estimated $1 billion. One of the bidders was SWEPCO, a utility company based in Shreveport, La.

As the case went on, SWEPCO ran afoul of the court. Unknown to the other bidders, it had quietly paid $1 million in legal bills for seven of the Cajun Electric-member cooperatives supporting its bid. A federal judge ruled the payments improper, disqualifying SWEPCO’s bid.

That was when SWEPCO, desperate to remain in the bidding for Big Cajun, called Ms. Warren, who carried the day. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the judge’s ruling, breathing new life into SWEPCO’s play.”

It’s important to note that Warren also claims not to have compensation records for at least five major clients, and she refuses to release tax returns that would enable independent verification.

“But Warren, who has released 11 years of tax returns, has not disclosed her tax records from most of that time period. And her campaign has provided few details about her private legal business beyond short descriptions released in May of cases she worked on and the Sunday night disclosure, which came amid a growing feud over transparency between Warren and rival Pete Buttigieg.”

For those keeping track at home:

2019 Elizabeth Warren wants 100 percent zero-carbon pollution from new buildings, 100 percent zero emissions standards for all new vehicles, and 100 percent zero-emission energy in electric generation.

1996 Elizabeth Warren didn’t even want corporations to clean up toxic waste sites.