BP Exec May Face Criminal Charges For Misleading Congress,  Fifth Circuit  Rules

A former BP executive accused of downplaying the consequences of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill can be charged criminally for obstructing Congress, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled on June 27. In the decision, a three-judge panel said a lower court misinterpreted the obstruction statute when it dismissed charges against David Rainey, who allegedly lied to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment in 2010 by  knowingly understating the flow rate of oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico. In May 2013, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt dismissed the obstruction charge because, he said, it was unclear whether the law also applied to House subcommittees.