For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Contact: Oversight and Government Reform Committee Press Office, (202) 225-5051

Oversight Committee Issues Subpoena for Toyota Documents

WASHINGTON – House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) and Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) issued a subpoena today for “all documents relating to Toyota motor vehicle safety and Toyota’s handling of alleged motor vehicle defects and related litigation” in the possession of Dimitrios Biller, who served as the National Managing Counsel for Toyota’s American operation from 2003-2007.

“The Committee is conducting a comprehensive, fact-based investigation with the intent of collecting and analyzing as much relevant information as possible,” Towns and Issa said in a joint statement.  “The only way we can ensure that the safety needs of American drivers are being met is to examine, in a bipartisan fashion, exactly who knew what and when, and if appropriate and immediate action was taken to mitigate any danger to the American public.”

Earlier this month, news reports surfaced regarding accusations Biller had made regarding Toyota’s efforts to hide “evidence of safety defects from consumers and regulators, and fostered a culture of ‘hypocrisy and deceit.’”  As ABC News reported, Biller was quoted as saying. “You have to understand that Toyota in Japan does not have any respect for our legal system…they did not have any respect for our laws.”  Biller has claimed that his accusations are verifiable based on documents that are in his possession.

Toyota had filed an injunction preventing Biller from disclosing those documents, however, the Oversight Committee’s subpoena supersedes the injunction and Biller plans to fully cooperate with the subpoena.

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Subpoena