Prosecution: Ex-BP exec lied; defense: no motive to lie

A former BP executive manipulated early estimates of the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico after a 2010 rig explosion to conform to a low government estimate, then lied about it to federal agents, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Defense attorneys countered that David Rainey's estimates were the best he could do as he and other BP officials worked to shut down the flow of oil after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and that he had no reason to lie roughly a year later when questioned about his calculations.

Rainey is on trial on a single count of making a false statement. Another charge, obstructing a congressional investigation, was tossed out Monday by U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt, although federal prosecutors urged him in papers filed Tuesday to reinstate it.

In Tuesday's opening statements, federal prosecutor Leo Tsao said the oil flow rate was important information for those working to stop a flow that lasted for 87 days — the nation's worst offshore oil disaster.

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