E-Paper
Stockton Rush said he ‘would buy a congressman’ to make problems with Titan expedition ‘go away,’ ex-employee claims
A former OceanGate employee testified that Stockton Rush said he “would buy a congressman” to make problems regarding the Titan sub’s expedition “go away."
A former OceanGate employee testified that the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush, said he “would buy a congressman” to make problems regarding the Titan submersible’s expedition “go away,” CNN reported. Matthew McCoy, a Coast Guard veteran, alleged that Rush said this to him in 2017.
“He said, ‘I would buy a congressman’ and make, basically, the problems … go away at that point in time,” McCoy said during the hearing’s final day this week.
McCoy said that Rush had also told him the Coast Guard had tried to shut him down in California. McCoy revealed that shortly after that, he resigned.
“That will stand in my mind for the rest of time,” McCoy said. “I’ve never had anybody say that to me directly, and I was aghast and basically, after that, I resigned from the company.”
‘[Rush] knew that eventually it was going to end like’
The Titan sub’s implosion killed Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.
During the hearing, McCoy also claimed that OceanGate did not plan to certify or register the Titan. He added that he believes there were no professional engineers or safety officers on its team. McCoy also said that no formal system was in place to investigate employee complaints or concerns at the Washington-based company. He added that Rush had a “concerning” temperament and was known for becoming defensive.
Rush’s longtime friend Karl Stanley said that the CEO wanted to follow in his ancestor’s famous footsteps. “[Rush] knew that eventually it was going to end like this and he wasn’t going to be held accountable,” Stanley said.
Former OceanGate Operations Director David Lochridge previously testified that he often clashed with Rush, adding that the “whole idea behind the company was to make money.” “There was very little in the way of science,” Lochridge said.
