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to STIC Settlement LibraryNEWS CONFERENCE OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL OF STATES SETTLING WITH LIGGETT GROUP
WEBWIRE-HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE WITH OTHER STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL TO DISCUSS THEIR SETTLEMENT WITH THE LIGGETT GROUP; WASHINGTON, D.C.
WOODS: Good afternoon. Thank you everybody for being here this afternoon. My name is Grant Woods. I'm the attorney general of the state of Arizona.
We're going to have three or four people speak briefly to you, and then we'll be glad to answer questions for a while. And then we can break up and answer privately if anyone has any further questions.
Twenty-two states across this union have sued the major tobacco companies in this country. We have alleged some very serious things against them. We have alleged, in particular, that they produce a product, which when used as intended by them, causes lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema.
We've alleged that their product contains nicotine, and that nicotine is addictive. We've alleged that they have actively marketed, illegally, to teenagers across this country for decades.
Up until this time, in courts throughout the country, in the halls of Congress, on television shows and in newspapers, every place they've gone, throughout the history of this industry, they have denied those allegations.
Today, for the first time, one of the five major tobacco companies in the United States is prepared to break this conspiracy. Today, these 22 attorneys general, all of the states that have sued the tobacco companies, have settled with Liggett. And Liggett has made the following admissions publicly.
Cigarettes and cigarette smoking cause lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. Liggett admits and acknowledges that nicotine is addictive. Liggett admits and acknowledges that the tobacco industry markets actively towards young people.
In particular, Liggett admits and acknowledges that in the internal documents of the tobacco companies, when they use the word "youth," youth means children ages 14 through 18.
Further, Liggett then says publicly and for the first time, for any tobacco company, that for any tobacco executive, for any tobacco company, for any person in this country to say contrary is a lie. They know it, and they will help us prove it.
The terms of the deal -- in general terms, without going into all the specifics -- are in addition to that admission as follows.
This tobacco company, Liggett, will now fully cooperate in every sense with these 22 attorneys general as we fight the other four tobacco companies in courts across this country. What does that mean?
It means at least the following. They have waived their attorney-client privilege, now and in the past, for all employees, for all lawyers that have represented Liggett today, yesterday or anytime in the past.
WOODS: They have turned over to this group of attorneys general all of their privileged documents that they had in their possession. Those fall into a number of categories.
They fall into the category, first, of Liggett-only, privileged documents. We have reviewed those documents. There's no question that the privilege only attaches to Liggett. The documents are extremely damaging. The documents support completely the admissions that Liggett has made today.
In addition, there are ultimately hundreds of thousands of potential documents that are in question. Liggett has represented to us -- and more importantly, in the coming weeks and months, will represent to judges across the United States -- that those documents should be given to us and to the public to finally know the truth about these tobacco companies, and that these judges should find, as Liggett represents, that they are evidence of crime and fraud on behalf of the participants for the tobacco industry that is reflected in those documents.
We have not seen those documents. We haven't seen them because we are forbidden by ethical rules to see them. We do not want to see them. We accept the representation. They are being filed as we speak in courts throughout the country, and we will let judges make that determination.
But we want the public to know what's in those documents, and most importantly, we want juries to know what's in those documents. Liggett will provide us with all of the witnesses that we ask for as far as employees and former employees. They are hereby waiving any confidentiality agreements with any employees, past or present. They will attend depositions with us, and if any past or present employee decides to invoke the privilege, it will be waived on their behalf.
They have agreed to a substantial compliance with the FDA regulations. They have agreed to put a warning label on their cigarettes from this day forward that says the truth for the first time. Smoking is addictive. They've agreed to pay 25 percent of their pre-tax profits for the next 25 years in order to settle this action.
What does this mean, ultimately, to us?
I believe this is the beginning of the end for this conspiracy of lies and deception that has been perpetrated on the American public by the tobacco companies. Someone is finally telling the truth. And
most importantly for us -- starting in Mississippi, and then in Florida and Texas and Minnesota, and ultimately, next year, in my state of Arizona -- we're going to stand in front of a jury of our peers, and they are going to know the truth.
We're going to tell them the truth. And from the inside, using their own documents, interpreted by their own people, their colleagues over the last several decades, they will learn the truth about the tobacco industry. And we will prevail in these lawsuits.
I want to thank a few people. I want to thank Liggett for doing the right thing here in coming forward and for telling the truth. I want to thank their lawyers for persevering. It was very, very difficult over a long period of time.
I want to thank in particular on our side, Steve Berman (ph) and Joe Rice (ph) and Ron Motley (ph) for working so hard.
WOODS: And I want to thank the person I'm going to bring up now, and that's the first attorney general of the United States to sue the tobacco companies.
It was much lonelier when he took the podium to announce that than it is here in this crowded room. And Mike Moore showed great courage, and he worked very, very hard on this agreement that could well break the backs of this conspiracy of deceit by the tobacco companies. So I'll turn it over to him now. The attorney general of Mississippi, Mike Moore.
MOORE: Thanks Grant. Appreciate it. Thank you very much, Grant. And thank you, fellow attorneys general. Senator, how are you?
It was about a year ago -- matter of fact, almost a year ago, when we announced the first deal with Liggett where there were five states. And you'll remember just a year ago, Massachusetts and Louisiana, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida were involved in that deal. At that time, it was called a breakthrough deal, a crack in the wall.
Well, I have to tell you today, through the leadership of Grant and the other attorneys general that are here today, we have knocked that wall down.
I feel so much better today after three years of litigation that we are finally going to have insiders, witnesses, testify and bring to life these documents that we have known about for some time. Matter of fact, what you will be finding out over the next few day as these documents -- and I have to tell you they are on their way, and at this time, I would say that they have been filed in court in Mississippi. They're probably on their way to other states now and will soon be filed.
You will find that there have been certain documents that have been segregated. I want you to be vigilant and find out as much as you can about those, because those particular documents -- probably 25 to 30 documents -- will be the most incriminating documents ever in the history of tobacco litigation.
These are documents, you see, that we were never to supposed to find out about. And these are documents that were discussed and talked about in the rooms -- smoke-filled rooms -- with lawyers and chief executive officers talking about the kind of things that have caused 420,000 deaths-a-year and caused our children to die from a terrible, terrible addiction.
And just today, those great heroes, the tobacco companies, have tried to stop us once more by going into -- guess which state -- a North Carolina court and to get a TRO. Well, I have to tell you, we have a saying down in Mississippi. That dog won't hunt.
I don't believe our judge in Mississippi's going to care too much about what a judge in North Carolina had to say about documents. And I doubt if a judge in other state in this country's going to care too much about what a judge in North Carolina said to try to hide those documents continuously from us.
Watch those 25 documents, because they will documents that will prove once and for all the crime and the fraud that has been involved in the tobacco industry, both involving lawyers and the officers of the company. This is the most historic thing that has happened in the three years of this tobacco litigation.
MOORE: And I think this will bring the tobacco companies to their knees. I'm exactly 70 days away from my trial. We begin opening arguments on June 2 in Mississippi. And we will have those documents, and we will have those witnesses, and we will bring the other four tobacco companies to their knees.
Thanks, Mike. I want to introduce Matt Myers next, who most of you know is a...
(UNKNOWN): There's one guy that didn't know your name -- your name.
MOORE: Oh, my name is Mike Moore from Mississippi.
(UNKNOWN): The first gentleman.
MOORE: Grant Woods. Grant Woods from Arizona. Matt Myers is in my estimation one of the true American heroes in this country and has been involved in tobacco -- has been a tobacco activist, and frankly, is a public health advocate, in my estimation. And he has put timeless hours into this particular piece of litigation, and he's also helped us tremendously with the public health concerns that we have.
And primarily, you folks talk about money all the time. What we're primarily concerned about is kids in this litigation. And frankly, Matt Myers is the person who has more concern than anybody I've ever met.
Matt, would you come up and make a few comments about this deal.
MYERS: Thank you. My name is Matt Myers. I'm with the National Center for Tobacco Free Kids. Make no mistake. This agreement is about kids and is about protecting kids.
It's for that reason, on behalf of our organization and organizations like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Lung Association that we're here today to thank you for putting the health of our kids first.
For 30 years, the tobacco industry has reached out to our kids, trying to sow seeds of doubt about whether it's really been proven that these products cause cancer in order to get them to start. That claim is dead today.
For 30 years, the tobacco industry has gone into courts all around the country claiming that smokers -- smokers who started as 11- , 12-year-old children -- should be held responsible for a lifelong addiction, because their products weren't addictive. That claim is dead today.
And for 30 years, the tobacco industry has said to anyone who will listen, we don't market our products to children, despite the fact that virtually all new smokers start as children and are addicted before they're old enough to purchase the product legally. That myth too is dead today.
We have turned a very important corner in the battle to reduce the number of children in our country who become addicted and eventually will die from tobacco. And for that, we in the public health community can't thank each and every one of you for the work you've done.
We will be at your side as you continue this battle, because it's the most important public health battle that has ever been fought in this nation. And for the first time, victory is within our sight.
WOODS: OK, now, we'd -- we're going to have a few words from the attorney general of Minnesota, Skip Humphrey. He has been one of the premier leaders in this fight. He's one of the first states to sue.
And Skip and his staff from the state of Minnesota have worked very, very hard on this agreement.
WOODS: And I can't tell you the countless hours that everybody put into it. So we thank him for that. And I'll give you now the attorney general from Minnesota, Skip Humphrey.
HUMPHREY: Thanks. Thank you very much, Grant.
This is a historic time and a historic action that's being taken today. Minnesota is very pleased to join with our colleagues in this effort. I think that it is very, very important to understand that in fact we have been able to get one of the conspirators in a sense to turn state's evidence.
But I think we need to put this in perspective. This is a little bit like busting a street drug dealer to get at the Colombia drug cartel. And I think it's very important that we make no mistake in understanding that this is a one-time deal.
The terms offered to Liggett today to come clean are not going to be offered to others. We're very serious about going ahead and making sure that the entire industry is transformed. And the information gained today, the representations made today, I think are a very strong statement that we're on the right road, and we're going to see this through to the end.
WOODS: We have a lot of people who would like to say a few words.and hopefully, you'll be patient, and we'll run through that. Senator Lautenberg, would you like to come forward?
LAUTENBERG: Thanks very much. I stand here with these attorneys general, proud of the moment that we're witnessing. And the fact is that for the first time, we're going to see a break in the lobby that exists around here. I think Mike Moore used the term "conspiracy," if not, apparently, it's loosely -- it's regularly used, because the documentation says so.
Since I wrote the law to ban smoking in airplanes in 1986, to ban smoking in public buildings, to ban smoking in -- where children reside or visit, clinics, et cetera, every step along the way has been a battle with the tobacco companies, even as they get a tax deduction for advertising their product that eventually is going to kill 400,000 people a year and shamelessly -- shamelessly -- advertising to children. More kids in the teenage -- in their teenage years know Joe Camel than they -- they know Joe Camel better than they know Mickey Mouse.
And so this is a historic moment, and I congratulate each one of you, attorneys general, because you are fulfilling your public responsibility -- protecting the children and the families of this country. I'm proud of you.
And I'm delighted that I'm going to be able to find out whether or not the witness who sat in front of my committee one day -- and when I asked him what happened, what they found out in their lab work on humans, he said: Oh, we've never done any. We've never done any experiments.
So I said: Well, how do you know what the effects are? There are -- there have been long time accusations of addiction being created.
LAUTENBERG: Well, we studied animals.
Well, I want to hear that guy when we have the documents that each of you is going to present so boldly, so quickly. And I stand here proud of you and delighted to be able to congratulate you on this moment, and pledge that I'm there, my office is there to help you in any way that we can.
WOODS: Thank you very much, Senator, and thank you for your leadership over a long period of time in this very important issue.
OK, Christine Gregoire is the attorney general, the State of Washington.
GREGOIRE: I want to be very brief. But I would ask you, please, to remind the American public of the image that the senator just brought forth to us again. It wasn't all that long ago, with their hands up, that they swore to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God, to the Congress of this country.
And then, they proceeded to tell lie after lie after lie. And today, we have solid evidence that they, in fact, lied to Congress and they have lied to the American public for all these many years.
The second thing I'd like you to think about by way of image is they've killed our children for far too many years. And today, we put Joe Camel in its coffin where it belongs on behalf of the children and those Americans who care about our children. It's a new day for their health in this country.
Thank you for your leadership, General Woods and General Moore, and thank you, Matt Myers and Steve Berman (ph) and Joe Rice (ph) and Motley (ph). Thank you all for just a tremendous effort. It is a breakthrough, watershed day. I am very appreciative of all the work of my colleagues.
BUTTERWORTH: Bob Butterworth, attorney general of Florida. I also am very proud to be here. Florida was one of the first states involved in the litigation, as well as -- as a very unique statute, which we passed just a few short years ago.
As General Moore stated last year to the day, the five of us stood before you with what at that time was a crack in the wall. And now, we have 23 states standing before you.
The more and more we get involved in this case, the more I reflect and say, I just wonder how many lives would have been saved, how many people would have lived longer to enjoy life with their grandchildren, with their children, if the industry had told the truth about their product and had not lied to them when they initially started smoking, usually when they were in their teens?
And that is really one of the saddest things -- that when you sit back and think how many of us in this room, how many of your viewers, how many of your readers, how many of your listeners have lost a loved one early due to tobacco. And I would say it is each and every one of us in this room. Today is very historic.
WOODS: Why don't we go to questions here, if we can.
WOODS: Well, I'll let Mike answer that one. Who wants this one?
QUESTION: What was the question?
WOODS: The question? The question is, is there absolutely no effect from the North Carolina TRO?
MOORE: We are in the business of enforcing the law. That's what attorneys general do. We take an oath to follow the law.
It upsets me a little bit that the tobacco industry goes into a court and wants to get an injunction against a company and allege basically that we're going to violate the law. We're the good guys. They're the bad guys. They're the ones that are breaking the law.
I don't think that they need worry about whether the attorneys general of this country are going to break the law. We've been having to worry about them breaking the law for 50 years.
So that North Carolina order, all it does is says that Liggett can't do anything illegal. But we're not going to give them a chance to do anything illegal. What we're going to do is take those documents, put them in a court, segregate the most incriminating 25 of them and say, judge, here they are.
And you want to hear some bickering and screaming and wailing and gnashing of teeth, you come to Mississippi or Florida or Texas where this hearing is the first time, and you listen to who's screaming the loudest. And I promise you it won't be attorneys general. It'll be Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds: "Please don't let those documents out! Please, they're going to kill us!"
I guarantee you that's what they'll say.
WOODS: Let me also say that we don't know what went on in that North Carolina courtroom. Interestingly enough, we were all here. They didn't invite us to make arguments in front of the judge.
But if you think that the tobacco companies went into North Carolina and asked them for a TRO that simply said don't break the law, I can't imagine that they were that meek. They've never been that meek before.
What I would guess is they asked to stop this deal. They asked to stop everything in its tracks. And even in the venue they picked, they were turned down. I don't know, but I can't imagine they would have asked for something as ultimately meaningless as this.
QUESTION: General, (OFF-MIKE) in response to (OFF-MIKE), do you -- does Liggett, in your opinion, intend to divulge information that's encompassed (OFF-MIKE)? (OFF-MIKE), Liggett, the North Carolina company, (OFF-MIKE) and bound by the orders of the court, (OFF-MIKE).
WOODS: OK. Could you identify yourself?
WOODS: OK. What their understanding is -- we're not enjoined from anything. Their understanding is they're enjoined from doing anything unlawfully. And it was never anyone's intention to do anything unlawfully. We have not changed our plans for these -- the delivery of these documents for the past month.
And the plan is that the most conservative read of the documents, the Liggett-only documents we can take possession of. Anything that we have -- that anybody could possibly have any question on, we're not looking at, we're not having anything to do with. Those are being deposited right now. Some of them have been deposited.
They will be all over this country here by the time sun comes up tomorrow. And we'll let a judge decide that.
QUESTION: General Moore, could you characterize these 25 to 30 documents you're talking about? What's in them that makes them such a smoking gun?
MOORE: Identify yourself for me.
MOORE: OK. I just want to make sure you weren't one of the lawyers representing the company up there today. You wouldn't trick me like that, would you? No, of course not.
We asked Liggett to segregate the most incriminating documents in their possession -- those documents that would help us prove, through their testimony and their support, that there's a violation of the crime-fraud provisions of our rules of procedure, so that the attorney-client privilege could be pierced if it was claimed by Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds.
MOORE: For those of you that don't know much about that rule, if there's evidence of a crime being committed or evidence of fraud involved in a conspiracy, which we have all alleged in our cases, if those documents have evidence of that, then they certainly can't be hidden. And that's what we're talking about. What we think, in these attorney-client privilege exceptions that they're taking, is they're trying to hide these documents.
A judge will hear evidence from both sides. Our side, fortunate for us at this point, is going to be supported by one of the participants.
Think of it like this. Five men in a room deciding to commit a crime -- none of you would ever find out about it unless one of them decided they were going to talk about it.
We're going to have the document that's evidence of it and the witness to testify about it. Then, Philip Morris can try to explain it away any way they want to.
QUESTION: Can you be more specific?
QUESTION: What did Liggett represent to you is in these documents that makes them so incriminating?
MOORE: I don't think I should be more explicit.
QUESTION: General, Alan Franken with CNN. Can you tell us if we can assume for a minute, for the sake of discussion, that you have -- you will ultimately gain access to all these documents and be able to use them in court. What would it now take for you all to settle with the other four companies, particularly Philip Morris, since it represents half the market?
MOORE: Tremendous amounts of money.
They would have to follow the FDA guidelines. They would have to do something in this country to undo the mess that they've caused, health-wise. It would take generations to undo that.
As you know, there has been much -- many, many, many, many news articles and stories, and many of the attorneys general have talked about what would it take.
We have a group of principles that guide us in that. This is the day, really, frankly, Al, for us to talk about the Liggett settlement. There will be plenty of time for us to talk about global resolutions. Today, we're knocking down Liggett. Tomorrow, we're going to knock down the next four. I really wouldn't want to comment on where we're going on any of the other.
WOODS: They need to do one thing before we'd even consider it. They have to tell the truth.
WOODS: So they haven't even come close to telling the truth.
QUESTION: Did you try to initiate any discussions?
(UNKNOWN): Let me just follow that up. I saw on CNN, on your TV show, that they had hired law firms to attempt to settle this matter, so you knew it first.
QUESTION: General, the Justice Department is investigating whether these executives lied in Congress. Have you been contacted by a criminal division about the smoking gun documents?
MOORE: Well, I'm sure they'll be very interested in them.
QUESTION: How (OFF-MIKE)? I mean, are they really smoking guns, or are we talking about...
MOORE: Yes. They've been represented -- it's been represented to us that they are evidence of crime and fraud. If that's the case, then there will be ramifications for that beyond simply the release of the documents to us, and hopefully, to the public.
Now, what those ramifications will be, I don't know. I can speak for Arizona. If there were crimes committed upon the people of Arizona, then I will take, as the top law enforcement officer, I'll take the appropriate action.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Did you all discuss the financial part, the percentage per tax (OFF-MIKE)?
MOORE: Well, there is lots of -- there is a whole group of them.
WOODS: But the committee of counsel documents -- in particular, we're going let a judge decide those issues. We don't want to look at them. We can't look at them. We haven't looked at them.
On the financial side, again, all we would take possession of and all we would look at would be Liggett-only and things that are without question Liggett-only. We don't want to have any question whatsoever that we've looked at anything that we shouldn't have looked at. So we haven't. And we won't. A judge will direct us, what we can and can't have in our possession or even view.
As far as the financial terms, it's basically what I told you. It has been reported that there was a $25 million up-front payment, and that is not correct. There is a $25 million payment if Liggett acquires another tobacco affiliate or if they are acquired by another tobacco affiliate. They would have to make an immediate $25 million up-front payment. But that's the only relevance of that figure.
Basically, what we're talking about, then, is 25 percent of their pre-tax profit for 25 years, whatever that is. It could be very little, if their financial state remains where it is; or it could be a lot, if they prosper in years to come.
QUESTION: General, but then on that point, then, that there really is actually, in terms of the monetary, that's really a rather insignificant amount, because it's possible you could get nothing out if they had no pre-tax profits, is that not correct?
WOODS: If they have none, we wouldn't get any. And it's not -- this is not a monetary deal. The significance of this deal really has absolutely nothing to do with the money.
Now, it may be a significant amount to them. I'm sure if you owned stock there, you would think that giving up a quarter of any possible profit you had would be important. But to us, the money's not significant. And I'll have to say, I think I can speak for all the attorneys general, money is way down the list of priorities of what our goals are in this litigation.
So, back to the question of any settlement with anyone else, our goals are to change the way this industry does business, period, in this country. So, that means they're going to have to get out of the lives of children across the United States.
First and foremost, they can have nothing to do with the lives of children. Secondly, they're going to have to come clean, completely, with the American public. And then ultimately, they're going to have to do other things to undo the damage.
They're going to have to do countermarketing. Some of the money that we receive will go right toward countermarketing.
The tobacco companies are scared to death of countermarketing, of the ads you see across the country. Why are they scared of them? Because they work. Because teenagers listen to them. Because they stop teenagers from smoking.
Some of their money is going to go to that. If we ever worked out anything with anybody else, money would have to go to that. So -- and then ultimately, they're going to have to pay, rather than the taxpayer, they're going to have to pay for the damage that they've done.
QUESTION: General, if I could follow up on that. You say this is not a monetary deal. But what do you estimate your monetary losses are due to the tobacco industry, as states?
MOORE: There's a -- $6 billion-a-year is an estimate of the Medicaid losses attributed to tobacco-related disease. There are other numbers that people bounce around as high as $100 billion-a-year total health care costs. A lot of folks attribute tobacco to 25 percent of the entire budget of health care in this country.
MOORE: Liggett is a very, very, very small company. From someone who settled with them a year ago and had a deal with them for pre-tax profit, I can tell you that my check for pre-tax profit this year is not going to be very much. They didn't make any pre-tax profit this year. They are very, very small. They were punished by Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds after the last deal, and many of the brands that they sold were knocked out.
So we didn't do this deal with Liggett because of what they're doing now. What we did this deal with Liggett for is what they know from 30 years ago forward.
Liggett was not always a small company. Liggett and Myers used to be an extremely large tobacco company in this country, and they were right there in the leadership position with Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds before they got to be such big guys.
So what they knew then and what they can tell us now about that is what's going to bring the rest of them to their knees. So that's the value of this deal.
WOODS: Let me put it this way. We got the wheel man. Now, we're going to go after the bank robbers. It's really that simple.
QUESTION: One of the speakers today described Liggett's agreement as an offer. Is there a signed piece of paper? Was it signed today?
WOODS: Yes. Can you have it? Well, that's a good segue. I think the easiest way to get it is on our Web page.
I feel so great saying that because I'm semi-illiterate on there but check our Web page. I think it's going to be there within two hours and it's supposed to be on the press release, I believe. Is it on there. Pardon me.
QUESTION: Will this require any congressional approval.
WOODS: Requires nothing. We're done.
QUESTION: There is no liability provisions.
QUESTION: What effect does this have on the other 28 states.
WOODS: Well the other 28 states -- it really, it has nothing but a positive effect, but that's up to them. One of the things we were clear about is we did not want to bind the other states. They can, they have the ability to opt into this agreement or opt out. It's totally up to them. They have six months to decide that. So if they want the benefits of this deal, then they can do it. But if they don't want to, they don't have to. That's up to them.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) RJR would come in the back door and (OFF- MIKE)
WOODS: No, no. There were discussions of that early on, of whether RJR could get the benefits of this deal through the back door. And there are -- there are some possible benefits to a future affiliate. But they're -- they're really, in my view, pretty minor.
For example, they go with -- if Liggett was acquired and there was a verdict against the future affiliate, then they would not have to post an appeal bond in order to appeal. That's about it.
HARSHBARGER: Let me -- can I just make one statement. There's a lot of details here -- and I'm Scott Harshbarger, the attorney general of Massachusetts and also happen to be president of the National Association of Attorneys General.
But it's worth keeping some perspective in response to these questions that have been asked. Last year, five states were here. And the question was, what was going to be the impact?
Well, thanks to the work of heroes like Bob Butterworth and Mike Moore, Grant Woods and Skip Humphrey -- and I was proud to be one of the first states to do this -- one year later 17 additional states are in full-fledged litigation. One year later.
And I submit to you, if any of you had told -- if you'd have asked us last year whether one year from that date -- a deal with the smallest tobacco company in this country -- whether we would have 22 states representing half the population of the United States, Republicans and Democrats from all over this country, engaged in a war that is big time against tobacco, you would have been very, very skeptical.
HARSHBARGER: This is a tremendous victory. I would hope, as I said a year ago, that the other companies, instead of engaging, and continuing to engage, and going and trying to stop this in court, would for once in their lifetime see whether the corporate self- interest could somehow also include the public interest. And we could engage in a wholesale process of figuring out how we really do protect the public health, protect children.
But until they do, we now have documents that are going to make it possible for every prosecutor in this country to prove their case. In one year, imagine where we'll be one year from today.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) sort of draw the line. And also, the other question on this is criminal (OFF-MIKE).
MOORE: The most important piece in this -- and that's why I used my fingers and said watch for those 25 documents. We are going to get documents, and we are going to get witnesses. We are going to get full cooperation.
Liggett has brought peace, so to speak, with the states. But they've given up a tremendous price. They're going to have to appear in everyone of our cases; they're going to have to provide the expert witnesses. Their lawyers are actually going to -- I mean, think of this. Their lawyers are going to be on our team fighting the other side.
I mean, that is -- if I was Philip Morris today, I'd be -- I'd be very, very scared. I don't know what the stock market did today. But I don't -- I don't know what it'll do tomorrow, because I don't know anything about that. But if I was them, I'd be worried, because if they know that we know what they knew 30 years forward, I mean, it's bad.
So the difference in the two deals is, is in the first deal. We did a deal that probably had a little money in it. It was a groundbreaking deal that had a cooperation piece in it.
But this deal is a deal that has witnesses in it, and it has documents in it. So it's something that we're going to be able to use and not think about a year from now. We're fixing to use it in about 70 days. So I mean, that's where we are.
HARSHBARGER: I think for timing, with all due respect, we have to cut the timing. There are plenty of people that can be interviewed here individually. But with the response to this, I think the full- fledged press conference is over.
???? - Indicates Speaker Unkown
- Could not make out what was being said.off mike - Indicates Could not make out what was being said.
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