Thread by @eisingerj

NEW===> A Republican US Attorney in Texas wanted to indict Walmart over opioid dispensing.

Trump appointees at the DOJ quashed it.

From me and @jamesbandler:

propublica.org/article/walmar…

I know that Covid-19 (legitimately) is almost all anyone can think about, but this is a rare window into how the corporate justice system really works in America.

Prosecutors uncovered evidence that Walmart pharmacists were trying to not fill opioid prescriptions they thought illegitimate. They pleaded for help from national compliance.

One Walmart pharmacist wrote about a dr:

“is a problem and a liability on us…
Filling for him is a risk that keeps me up at night. This is a serious situation.”

In response, the Walmart’s national compliance department did not block the doctors. It threw up bureaucratic hurdles for WMT pharmacists, investigators believed. One compliance manager said employees would be better to focus on “driving sales.”

The US Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas wanted to bring criminal charges, but was overruled by Trump DOJ appointees in DC.

The EDTX was told to focus on individuals. But when it wanted to bring a criminal charge against that Walmart compliance manager, Trump DOJ appointees did not allow that either.

When EDTX wanted to bring civil charges, Trump DOJ appointees told the office to negotiate a settlement instead.

Prosecutors met w/ then-DAG Rosenstein in Oct 2018. The DEA’s acting administrator said a fine wouldn’t be a good deterrent bc Walmart “has more money than it knows what to do with.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong w/ that,” Rosenstein responded. “We are all capitalists here.”

The EDTX civil chief was so frustrated with Main Justice that he resigned in protest. “Corporations cannot poison Americans with impunity,” he wrote.

Walmart told us that EDTX “engaged in misconduct multiple times as it investigated Walmart, including threatening to bring meritless criminal charges against Walmart in order to extort an unjustified civil settlement from the company.”

EDTX responded: “Walmart’s behavior in dispensing opioid medication in the middle of a public health crisis should embarrass Walmart.”

By the end of the experience, one person said: “I wanted to ask for a Walmart greeter badge. It’s got much more stroke than a DEA badge.”

Please read the whole thing here! Lots of great detail.

propublica.org/article/walmar…

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