WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department has abruptly changed the financial damages it is seeking from tobacco companies from $130 billion to $10 billion.
The news was a bombshell for the tobacco companies and even anti-smoking factions who have followed the 6-year-old landmark civil racketeering case, the Washington Post said Wednesday.
Justice Department lawyer Stephen Brody said the Justice Department will ask tobacco companies to pay $10 billion over five years to help millions of Americans quit smoking.
Afterwards, Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum and members of the trial team refused to answer questions or explain the reduction.
Dan Webb, lawyer for Altria Group's Philip Morris USA and the coordinating attorney in the case, said the lack of explanation spoke volumes.
"It's clear the government hasn't thought through what it's doing," he said.
In the lawsuit, the government contends six tobacco companies engaged in a 50-year conspiracy to defraud and addict smokers and then conceal the dangers of cigarettes.
