Embattled aerospace giant Boeing faces a monumental choice: Plead guilty to a felony fraud charge for its role in past deadly plane crashes, or roll the dice on a high-profile trial against the Justice Department.
The company has until Friday to decide.
Both options are potentially fraught. Accepting a plea deal for violating the terms of a 2021 agreement with DOJ would be a black mark for one of the United States’ most important manufacturers and defense contractors, whose factories support thousands of U.S. jobs and whose political arm gives heavily to candidates of both parties.
It would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and could complicate the company’s ability to continue winning contracts with the federal government.
But a trial would spark a potentially damaging discovery process, perpetuate Boeing’s ordeal in the news headlines and produce made-for-TV moments of victims’ families calling for justice. The legal process would drag out well into next year — potentially bringing an unpredictable face-off against a Trump administration DOJ.
Boeing and killed John Barnett