BP Seeks to Block U.S. Access to Lawyer Spill-Rate Files
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BP Plc, on trial in New Orleans federal court for the biggest U.S. offshore oil spill in history, asked a federal judge to block a government request to make public internal communications with the company’s lawyers.
The documents, which the company said are protected by attorney-client privilege, detail oil spill flow-rate calculations the government claims are related to BP’s guilty plea. BP admitted to 14 criminal counts, including one charge of lying to Congress about the size of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded. BP agreed last year to pay $4 billion in fines and penalties.