Ralph Nader: Open Letter To Nikki Haley

Dear Nikki Haley:

You served lucratively on the Board of Directors of the Boeing Corporation from April 2019 to April 2020. This unusually abbreviated tenure immediately followed the Boeing 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. They were perceived as caused by Boeing’s criminal negligence. You justified your departure by opposition to Boeing’s receipt of corporate welfare from the United States during the onset of the Covid pandemic. That professed justification is more than disingenuous.

You supported the multi-billion-dollar bailouts of South Carolina nuclear plants under construction, which were never completed and terminated. As Governor, you welcomed or endorsed all kinds of direct and indirect taxpayer subsidies, handouts, giveaways, and bailouts, including the new Boeing plant in North Charleston.

So be candid. The seats on Boeing’s Board of Directors were smoking as the media began zeroing in on what the Board knew and when did they know about Boeing’s executives cutting corners, suppressing technical dissent, and accelerating production on the assembly line. Lawsuits from the government, the bereaved families and shareholders promised sworn depositions and other discovery. It is likely that you decided to “cut and run,” given your vaulting political ambitions.

Voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and other states, including Washington state and Illinois, are entitled to a forthright explanation and willingness to answer informed questions by reporters and other interested parties about your knowledge and inquiries into the Boeing 737 Max lethal crashes.

You should be prepared for this heightened level of interest by some people on your campaign tours. For now, we look forward to your response. 

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader, Esq.
Bruce Fein, Esq.