BP Wants U.S. Taxpayers to Foot the Bill For Its Crimes; Criminal Investigation Is Stepped Up

British Petroleum said on Tuesday that it is planning to cut its U.S. tax bill by $9.9 billion, by deducting costs related to its Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the second quarter of the year. Some of this could be refunded from taxes that BP has paid in previous years. The tax credit that BP wants to claim, could mean that U.S. taxpayers will foot, in part or in whole, the bill for the $20 billion fund that Obama and BP established to compensate people and businesses harmed by the disaster, and limit BP's liability. Since BP's payments to the fund were to be spread over four years, amount to a mere $5 billion a year, and its tax-credit claim is for just one quarter of this year, BP could end up paying nothing into the fund — if the British-puppet Obama administration allows BP to get away with it.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports an intensification of the ongoing criminal investigation of BP by the U.S. Justice Department. The Post reports: "A team of federal investigators known as the 'BP squad' is assembling in New Orleans to conduct a wide-ranging criminal probe that will focus on at least three companies and examine whether their cozy relations with federal regulators contributed to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to law enforcement and other sources." Investigators are reportedly looking into whether BP officials made false statements to regulators, obstructed justice, or falsified test results for equipment such as the failed blow-out preventer. The Post notes that the criminal probe "has operated in the shadows," but it could result in large fines and jail time for company executives. BP also disclosed, in a regulatory filing, that the DOJ and SEC are looking into possible securities violations.