Raymond DeGiorgio
The General Motors debacle is starting to increasingly look like a Hollywood caper.
The latest: New York Times reporters Bill Vlasic and Matthew Wald write that a GM engineer at the center of accusations that the company covered up a deadly defect appeared distraught during lengthy questioning by congressional investigators.
The Times reports that engineer Raymond DeGiorgio, who was suspended last month with pay, was “genuinely upset” about the deaths and about his inability to connect the ignition switch problem with the failure of air bags to deploy. The paper cited an unnamed Congressional aide.
DeGiorgio, a GM engineer, is at the center the center of accusations that the company covered up a deadly defect. He was a lead design engineer for ignition switches for a variety of models.
The Times reported:
“He came across as if he was just overburdened and just missed it,” said the staff member, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation. Mr. DeGiorgio’s comments, during 10 hours of questioning on May 19, offer a glimpse into how the switch was secretly changed eight years ago, but no recall was issued for vehicles equipped with the defective switches until this February.
Mr. DeGiorgio did not give any information that indicated that the new chief executive of G.M., Mary T. Barra, knew anything about the problem before she took her job early this year. He did not seek to implicate any of his superiors, the people familiar with the questioning said.
Below is a video posted a deposition with DeGirogio in 2013.
