Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said this weekend that General Motors should make restitution to victims' families and face "criminal action if merited" for how it handed faulty ignition switches that caused fatal auto accidents, according to Reuters.
McCaskill is chairwoman of the Senate subcommittee on consumer protection and product safety.
The chairwoman led a road of questioning of GM CEO Mary Barra last week, and during an appearance on ABC's "This Week" program, McCaskill said GM now faces "a real moment of truth" as it conducts an internal investigation of GM's response to the defective ignition switches.
Thirteen people were killed in accidents as a result of switches that turned vehicles off, according to GM.
Back in 2006, GM made changes to the defective part, but did not change its identifying part number, which McCaskill believes is proof GM tried to deceive its customers.
Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, another member of the subcommittee, agrees with McCaskill, saying GM's "actions amounted to criminal deception," according to Reuters.
McCaskill was asked if someone should go to jail in the matter, and she didn't hold back in her response.
"You know we had the Citizens United case where our Supreme Court said corporations are people, but if in fact they are people, there needs to be some criminal accountability depending on what the facts of the investigation show," McCaskill said. "I know the Justice Department is taking a hard look at this."
McCaskill agrees with the people who have been calling for the automaker to establish a victims' compensation fund, and feels GM shouldn't waste any more time doing so, according to Reuters.
"Now it's time for them to come clean, be transparent and most of all make all victims whole no matter when this deadly ignition caused heartbreak in their families," she added.
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