At a Zoom press conference right now, @MassAGO Maura Healey notes the "turbocharging" language is McKinsey's own word in relation to sales. She says the settlement eclipses the money they made on the contract.
Healey notes McKinsey is a "big deal," given their clout in the government and private sector.
Other AGs on the line:
Colorado's top prosecutor Phil Weiser up now.
Weiser:
When others said maybe we should slow down the push for these deadly drugs, McKinsey didn't.
And when the probe heated up, the firm's partners deleted docs.
"These partners acted reprehensibly."
McKinsey says the partners were terminated.
Weiser emphasizes the importance of the document repository called for in the settlement, showing McKinsey's dealings with Purdue.
Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum is up, on the $573M deal:
"Just as important, it makes public documents at the heart of the epidemic so that scholars, journalist and the public can find out what went wrong so that it will never happen again."
AG Rosenblum on the significance of adding McKinsey to the group of bad actors:
"We don't typically think of large consulting companies doing word for their clients."
She adds to the firm: "Thank you for seeing the light," avoiding the need to push it into the courtroom.
Now up: @NewYorkStateAG James, speaking on the nationwide nature of the settlement.
"The opioid crisis has hit every corner of this nation. Half a million are dead. Families are destroyed."
James recalls meeting with many of these families in Buffalo in 2019, including a young man named Michael whose picture she keeps in her office.
He wanted to be an attorney, before becoming addicted to opioids.
"Those stories really strengthened my resolve," she says.
Michael committed suicide at the age of 20, some nine years ago, after being overprescribed opioids.
She describes a group founded in his name: Save the Michaels of the World, House of Hope.
James: "We're holding McKinsey's feet to the fire," in terms of public disclosure about their role in the opioid crisis.
NYAG says "all the other companies" they are negotiating with "should take heed" of McKinsey's settlement.
I asked the AGs to respond to those who may be disappointed by McKinsey's non-admission of wrongdoing in the settlement.
Multiple AGs answer:
NYAG:
"This settlement is civil in nature."
None of the AG's have waived criminal claims, she notes.
Colorado AG Weiser:
"The firm is accepting responsibility. It is taking action."
"This is a very meaningful settlement."
AG Healey notes the document repository will leave no doubt about what McKinsey did.
Oregon AG Rosenblum also said that clause allowed the prosecutors to reach that deal with McKinsey quickly and put the settlement money to ameliorate the opioid crisis to use quickly.
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On the line for a hearing on Jacob ‘QAnon Shaman’ Chansley's "emergency motion" for organic "sustenance," including wild caught tuna, vegetables, and soup.
White nationalist Douglass Mackey, the social media influencer better known by his meme-war nom de guerre Ricky Vaughn, has an arraignment this morning on 2016 election interference allegations.
Mark Leffingwell, charged with assault law enforcement during the Capitol insurrection, has an arraignment coming up before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
The Capitol Police officer he allegedly assaulted narrated the incident.
Live-thread ahead.
"All rise."
We begin.
AUSA Christopher Berridge for the govt
Mark John Carroll for the defense.
Judge ABJ asks whether Mark Leffingwell waives his physical presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carroll mentions that his client has a traumatic brain injury from an IED in the Iraq War, but he is competent to proceed.
This is an attorney for Lin Wood's former law partners during a hearing on Sept. 23, 2020, in a transcript.
Lin Wood's counsel R. Joseph Burby attributed his client's "emotional tailspin" to the toll of the turmoil in his firm and his ex-partners telling his children he was having mental health issues.
Wood claims he felt they were trying to drive a wedge with his family.