迈克尔 A. 弗莱切尔 7月16日
立法委员计划给通用首席执行官玛丽·贝拉及其法律总顾问迈克尔·米利肯施加压力，质问这些高管为何会连续十多年意识不到通用汽车的这一缺陷，甚至在公司律师就车祸造成的问题提出赔偿时也没有意识到这一问题。
本周四听证会上，通用最高律师将就通用汽车点火装置缺陷首次公开回答问题。
“除了玛丽·贝拉，迈克尔·米利肯也将受到质问，这是由原因的，主要是因为森克莱尔·麦克斯基尔也将面临一些针对通用法律顾问部门对于延迟回答问题中间所扮演的角色等等这样的问询。”麦克斯基尔发言人安德鲁·纽博德这样说道。
通用集团内部一项调查显示，关于点火装置缺陷的信息从未向高管传达过，而是在公司工程部及法律部就已经被隐瞒过去。美国前法官安东·瓦卢卡斯曾监管过这项调查，他总结说，这种“无能力和忽视”使得这一问题在长达十多年里得不到解决，直到今年高官们屡屡被传讯，才引起重视。报告之后，贝拉解雇了15名员工，其中包括公司一些涉及安全问题的律师队伍。（信息来源：中国进出口网 http://www.chinainout.com）
安装在雪佛兰及其他通用汽车上的有缺陷的点火装置导致汽车骤停、制动困难、气囊无法正常使用等问题。通用公司承认在今年召回车辆开始之前十多年间都未曾发现这个问题。
点火装置缺陷引发出通用汽车一连串的问题。这一汽车制造商目前面临着司法部门的犯罪调查，司法部门的调查重点则是通用是否遵守联邦汽车安全规定及其他已知的调档问题。
通用同时还面临着证券交易委员会所提出的一系列法律诉讼及调查，越来越多的州也开始介入调查通用，以及越来越多的汽车召回和财政上面的剧额花销。
GM execs to face grilling on Hill about why top executives were unaware of defects
By Michael A. Fletcher July 16
General Motors executives return to Capitol Hill on Thursday morning for what is sure to be another round of harsh questioning about their handling of an ignition switch defect linked to at least 54 accidents and 13 deaths.
Lawmakers plan to press Mary T. Barra, GM’s chief executive, and general counsel Michael P. Millikin on why top officials remained unaware of the defect for more than a decade even as the company’s attorneys settled legal claims resulting from accidents linked to the problem.
General Motors executives return to Capitol Hill on Thursday morning for what is sure to be another round of harsh questioning about their handling of an ignition switch defect linked to at least 54 accidents and 13 deaths.
Lawmakers plan to press Mary T. Barra, GM’s chief executive, and general counsel Michael P. Millikin on why top officials remained unaware of the defect for more than a decade even as the company’s attorneys settled legal claims resulting from accidents linked to the problem.
An internal investigation by GM found that information about the switch defect never made its way to top executives and instead remained trapped in the company’s engineering and legal departments. Anton R. Valukas, the former U.S. attorney who oversaw the probe, concluded that a pattern of “incompetence and neglect” allowed the problem to fester for more than a decade before executives ordered the first of a series of recalls this year. In the aftermath of the report, Barra dismissed 15 employees, including several GM lawyers involved in safety issues at the company.
Failure of the ignition switch, which was installed in Chevrolet Cobalts and other GM compacts, caused cars to stall, stiffening brakes and steering and disabling air bags. GM has acknowledged knowing about the problem for more than a decade before it began the recalls this year.
The ignition switch defect has touched off a cascading series of problems for GM. The automaker is facing a criminal investigation by the Justice Department, which is reportedly focusing on whether the company misled federal auto-safety regulators and others about what it knew about the switch problem.
GM is facing scores of lawsuits and probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission and authorities in a growing number of states, as well as a growing bill for recalls and financial settlements linked to the defect.
