Former OceanGate employee testifies that CEO said he would ‘buy a congressman’ if Coast Guard blocked Titan expedition

CNN
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Former OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy testified Friday that during a lunch meeting in September 2017, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush told him that if he encountered problems with the U.S. Coast Guard before the Titan expedition, Rush would “buy a congressman” and make the problems “go away”.

McCoy, a former Coast Guard member who was then in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, spoke at the meeting about safety and regulatory concerns about shipping. Rush said they would overcome this expedition by passing through the Bahamas and leaving Canada.

“The conversation ended when, after explaining that the Coast Guard had tried to shut him down in California, and that he would no longer operate there, but that if the Coast Guard became a problem, he would buy himself a member of Congress and make him disappear,” McCoy said on the final day of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Investigation Board hearing.

“Mr. McCoy, is that a direct quote? Jason asked Neubauer, chairman of the Coast Guard Marine Board investigation examining the cause of the Titan’s implosion.

“He said, ‘I would buy a congressman,’ and basically the problems would go away at that point,” McCoy said. “That will stay in my mind for the rest of time. No one ever said this to me directly, and I was appalled and basically after that I resigned from the company.

Rush was also known for his short temper and would become defensive when asked pointed questions, according to McCoy.

“It was also very concerning because he may not have had the temperament to do this kind of work,” McCoy said.

In his testimony Friday morning, McCoy revealed that OceanGate had no plans to certify or register the Titan submersible.

McCoy said he doesn’t believe OceanGate has professional engineers on staff, nor does it have a security guard. There was no formal system in place to investigate employee complaints or concerns, according to McCoy’s testimony.

Rush was killed on the Titan along with businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet and businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.