Biden Could Rescind Trump’s Boeing Immunity Deal
In the wake of two 737 Max crashes, Donald Trump’s administration made a deal with Boeing that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution. Now, if claims of airline safety issues are proven true, Joe Biden’s DOJ could rescind it.

A Boeing airplane takes off at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, on January 25, 2020. (Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images)
Allegations of fraud in a recent federal lawsuit — if substantiated — could empower President Joe Biden’s Justice Department to rescind a controversial deferred prosecution agreement granted to Boeing by Donald Trump’s administration and blessed by an archconservative judge in the wake of two 737 Max crashes, according to experts interviewed by the Lever.
The deal, which has long been criticized by crash victims’ families and recently challenged in court by air safety advocates, allowed Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution on fraud charges and shielded Boeing’s senior executives from such prosecution as well.
The agreement — which was announced just days before Donald Trump left office — was emblematic of the Republican administration at once billing itself as a defender of “law and order” but overseeing a record reduction in overall corporate prosecutions and a continuation of the use of leniency deals allowing companies and executives to avoid sanctions.