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U.S. seeks tobacco deal
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June 19, 2001: 6:07 p.m. ET
Ashcroft assembles a team in an effort to settle suit against tobacco industry
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Government sources told CNN that the Department of Justice is seeking to settle its civil suit demanding billions of dollars in damages against the tobacco industry.
The sources said Attorney General John Ashcroft has assembled a team of three lawyers – all career attorneys in the department's Civil Division – to work on a possible settlement. The team met Tuesday with the department tobacco litigation team about a potential settlement.
A White House official said "we are aware of" the decision by Ashcroft, and that official and other sources indicated that the Justice Department is pursuing a dual-track strategy, continuing to litigate the case while pursuing a settlement.
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The official could not say when or if President Bush was briefed about the Justice Department decision, but the official believed the White House was informed Tuesday after Ashcroft "formally" made his decision.
Justice has filed lawsuits against the tobacco industry to compensate billions of dollars taxpayers have spent on smoking-related health care since the 1950s.
The government alleged that the cigarette companies conspired to defraud and conceal information about the effects of smoking and addictiveness of nicotine to the American public.
The defendants are among some of the biggest names in the industry, including Philip Morris (MO: Research, Estimates), R.J. Reynolds (RJR: Research, Estimates), Lorillard Tobacco Co. of Loews Corp. (LTR: Research, Estimates), and Liggett Group from Vector Group (VGR: Research, Estimates) .
Earlier in the month, a Los Angeles jury ordered Philip Morris to pay a record $3 billion in damages to a Marlboro smoker with incurable lung and brain cancer.
The jury's award was the largest individual punitive damage award ever against a tobacco maker.
-- CNN's Kelli Arena contributed to this report. 
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