Texas has become the hub for corporate bankruptcy cases where big businesses try to avoid paying out lawsuits, and one judge in particular oversees most of those cases. So it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that this judge is about as corrupt as possible, and reports suggest that an illicit affair that he had with a corporate bankruptcy lawyer may have tainted countless bankruptcy proceedings. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more.
Transcript:
*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.
Mike Papantonio: Texas has become the hub for corporate bankruptcy cases where big businesses try to avoid paying out lawsuits. And one judge in particular oversees most of those cases. So it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that this judge is about as corrupt as possible and the reports that are coming are just as ugly as you can imagine. Bankruptcy court matters in this country, this judge and this relationship with the law firms that he’s with have bastardized justice, not just in Texas, but all over this country. Pick it up.
Farron Cousins: Yeah. What we have here is Judge David Jones, US bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Texas. And prior to this whole affair thing, New York, Delaware, that’s where companies went to file bankruptcy. That’s where all the businesses are either located or that’s where they have their mailing address in Delaware. So that’s where they would do bankruptcy. But then David Jones comes along and he says, you know what, I’m gonna make Texas the place for corporations to go to get their bankruptcy protections, whether they’re trying to keep money away from their shareholders or keep it away from civil lawsuits. I’m gonna help them. And he did that. And now Texas is the home of this. And in the process of this, he is having an affair with this corporate bankruptcy lawyer who fights for corporations to not have to pay.
Mike Papantonio: Yeah. Elizabeth Freeman.
Farron Cousins: Elizabeth Freeman.
Mike Papantonio: And she’s with the Jones Law Firm over in Texas.
Farron Cousins: And also connections with Kirkland & Ellis.
Mike Papantonio: Excuse me, Kirkland & Ellis.
Farron Cousins: Well, she had a couple, you’re right there. And so she was associated with several of them and so what happens is he starts having an affair with her. She is getting all of these other lawyers, hey, hey, hey, bring your bankruptcy case down here to my guy and he’ll handle it. And of course, they’ve highlighted several dozen cases that she brought to him that he, of course, ruled in favor of for the corporation, screwing over consumers and investors.
Mike Papantonio: Right. So here’s the point that you can’t miss on this. Okay. The kind of rulings he would make would enable the corporation to keep money, to supposedly rebuild their company, when people who had lost millions of dollars are sitting out there saying, judge, they have enough money to pay us. Can’t you make ’em pay us? No, no, no, no. They need that money for reorganization. Typically in bankruptcy court a vendor, okay, a vendor who might sell coffee machines to the company. Unfortunately, they have a higher position of being paid with the company that’s in bankruptcy, if they’ve killed or crippled or done horrible things to thousands of people. That coffee vendor has a superior position to all those people who are injured. Now, that’s where it begins. That’s just the overview.
Here, he had people that were out there saying, judge, could you show us your math? And the judge would say, I’m not gonna show, that was his exact words. He says, that’s not gonna happen. In other words, one company would say, they’re worth $7 billion, judge, what are you doing? And the judge says, no, no, no, no. They’re only worth $5 billion. And they’d say, well, can you show us the math? And he’d say, no, we’re not gonna show you the math. It was a love affair. And Kirkland & Ellis, don’t miss this point, this law firm that’s one of the biggest law firms in the world, by the way, knows about this love affair. They absolutely talk, they joke about it. Hey, let’s take it to Judge Jones because he’ll give us everything we want. The corporation will get everything. The creditors will get nothing. These people who have their lives invested in this corporation on a chance, are gonna lose everything. I mean, that’s what this is about.
Farron Cousins: And also to pay his girlfriend, he would have her listed as a referral attorney, even if she had nothing to do with it, he would go out there and say, okay, well, no, no, no. She steered the case this way. So yes, some of these fees and all of that, they must go to her, you know, 15%.
Mike Papantonio: Right. God almighty.
Farron Cousins: So he is also funneling money to this woman that he was having this affair with. And only resigned, actually resigned a couple days after this story initially came out.
Mike Papantonio: He needs to be prosecuted.
Farron Cousins: Yes.
Mike Papantonio: Okay. Now he’s with, his friend is Judge Marvin Isgur. Okay. It’s Jones and Isgur. They’re like a team. Bring your cases to us and we’re gonna give you everything you want if you’re a big corporation, and if my girlfriend, oh, by the way, says that this is something you should do. This is such an ugly story, man.
Farron Cousins: And it really, we’re talking about all kinds of things. We’re talking about pharmaceuticals, we’re talking about energy companies. There is a good chance that people watching this, you were either directly affected.
Mike Papantonio: Oh, no question.
Farron Cousins: Through your portfolio or somebody you know was directly affected being an employee of one of these companies. That’s how sprawling this story is. What this man did by corrupting the entire justice system in the state of Texas for his benefit, for his girlfriend’s benefit, and for the benefit of those other corporate lawyers.
Mike Papantonio: Okay. Let me tell you, you want to hear the real stinger on this right now. The company, Johnson & Johnson, that made baby powder, that talc that’s killed thousands of women and will continue to kill thousands of women. You know where they’re going for their new bankruptcy, bankruptcy number three? They’re going to Texas because they think you’re gonna get a good judge there. This story’s almost endless with ugly, isn’t it?
Farron Cousins: It really is. And I will say, going through this whole thing of all the horrible stories we’ve done over the years, this one, it may not be at the top. This one is close to the top.
Mike Papantonio: It is.
Farron Cousins: Because I want people to truly grasp how disgusting this story is. And if you get a chance, read the whole thing yourself, because it’s shocking. It is nothing short of shocking.
Mike Papantonio: It’s absolutely hard to read because you’re reading this article about these judges and this woman and the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, and to them, this is like a big payday. This is a standing joke. We’ll go in front of Judge Jones because he’s having sex with Freeman and we’re gonna win. And oh, by the way, the girl he’s having sex with, she’s gonna get paid extra money too. I don’t know how it gets much uglier than that.
Farron Cousins: I’m sure it is. Even the stuff we don’t know about though.
