Toy tops spinning.
James E. Johnson is the first Debevoise & Plimpton lawyer among the three to whom the DOJ's Deferred Prosecution Agreement is addressed. Like the other two, he is a partner at this grand law firm.
When I became very concerned about what I noticed in the documents, basically, a dangerous ongoing fraud related to the vehicle electronics, [note: the self-same docs that Debevoise and possibly other defense counsel had reviewed and had undoubtedly selected for translation to English, and was pretty certainly the recipient of the English translations--so they had quite an opportunity to see it too...] I telephoned D & P and asked to speak to the lawyer in charge of the Toyota client account. I tried to convey that I had a matter of great concern to discuss with that lawyer. The administrative assistant in charge of handling such inquiries would not disclose the name of the attorney, let alone put the call through. I tried several times. I remember trying to convince him how important it was, but in vain. Then I gave up, and the rest is history. So, James, just know that I tried.
Now I see this description of the D&P - Toyota representation among the list of key respresentations on the James E. Johnson attorney page at D&P. Is this beyond spin? You decide. I thought that D&P was hired to defend against charges of fraud. But maybe I am just dizzy.
Most recently, Mr. Johnson was lead enforcement counsel for the team representing Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motor Sales USA in connection with investigations into reports that drivers of certain models were experiencing unintended acceleration. The team resolved investigations being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the attorneys general for 29 states and American Samoa.