[Lazare]

This dispute has been going on a long time. Recall, the backstory is that Chevron claimed that Donziger tried to shake them down with a corruptly obtained judgement. They won a judgement against Donziger, but Donziger claims he has no money, so he hasn't paid them. (I mean, fair is fair I guess; Chevron won't pay the judgement Donziger won against them, why should Donziger pay the one they won against him?)

In any case, the criminal contempt is more recent, and stems from Chevron claiming that Donziger has been receiving a lot of money, primarily by selling "shares" in the judgement, ie, a law firm in Canada (or whatever) pays Donziger for the right to sue Chevron in Canada to try and collect. Donziger claimed he had not done so, and the judge in the case ordered him not to start. Chevron claimed he was still doing it (and apparently submitted some evidence to back this up). The the judge ordered Donziger to turn over records to demonstrate how much money he had and, in particular, if he was getting money by monetizing the fraudulent judgement he had obtained against Chevron (which would be against the judge's order).

Donziger has refused to turn over these records, which prompted criminal contempt charges, which he has now been convicted of. He can try appealing, but I'm not entirely sure under what grounds; Donziger's financial records would seem to be fair game (and it's pretty common for a court to ask for such records when someone is failing to pay a judgement against them), so...