Two new criminal investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, in addition to one already pending by the antitrust division, could have multi-faceted consequences well beyond the possibility that tobacco industry executives could be indicted and sent to jail, says Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
"A grand jury investigation provides an unprecedented opportunity and weapon for finally getting to the bottom of an alleged 30-year world-wide conspiracy to addict tens of millions of American children," says law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of the national antismoking organization.
There are probably many scientists, like those who have already testified before Congressman Waxman's former subcommittee, who would be willing to come forward and tell what they know, but who ¾ like the others ¾ are bound by written secrecy agreements they were forced to sign.
But grand jury subpoenas, such as those already issued as part of the investigations, trump any such agreements, says Banzhaf, permitting already-willing witnesses to testify without fear of legal recriminations.
In addition, many tobacco-industry executives may be pressured into providing further damning evidence rather than face the prospect of being indicted and tried for a wide variety of crimes including conspiracy to commit perjury, mail and wire fraud, false advertising, and even securities violations.
"With so many people involved, and subpoenaed witnesses unable to find out which documents the Justice Department, Waxman, private attorneys and antismoking smoking organizations already have in their possession, the possibilities for playing one witness against another are endless," says Banzhaf.
In addition, since many of the documents already revealed refer to other still-undisclosed papers, grand jury subpoenas could be used to bring these additional incriminating pieces of evidence to light. "The thousands of documents revealed to date are probably only the tip of an iceberg of deceit and duplicity," suggests Banzhaf.
In the end, all of the documents showing the tobacco industry's knowledge of the addictiveness of nicotine will provide an even stronger case for regulation by the FDA, and provide the linchpin for currently-pending civil law suits by individual states and class-action plaintiffs, he says.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, July 26, 1995
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL: John Banzhaf (202) 659-4310