the first filed federal case in houston was assigned, is an appropriate choice to provide oversight of these cases. this isn t a rank and file case. this is a case involving a couple hundred cases involving the biggest oil disaster in the history of the country where we ought to be especially concerned about public confidence in the judiciary. reporter: cnn examined judge hughes rulings on oil and gas cases going back three years. in fact, he ruled in favor of oil companies just a little more often than he ruled against them. lawyers who know judge hughes tell cnn he s fair and tough, but environmental attorneys say even the request by bp to have this judge sit on the bench is, quote, outrageous and unseemly. abbie boudreau, cnn, atlanta. consolidating hundreds of lawsuits under a same judge is not unusual. faulty gas pedals, bp s specific
insensitive. reporter: as pressure mounted, cnn is told that house gop leaders met with barton and demanded he take back his apology to bp or lose his senior position on the committee. hours later, this. i want the record to be absolutely clear that i think bp is responsible for this accident and if anything i ve said this morning has been misconstrued in an opposite effect, i want to apologize for that misconstrued, misconstruction. reporter: later, barton issued a written statement saying flatly, i retract my apology to bp. democrats forced that because they ve been saying bp bears responsibility and barton s testimony says you see, republicans are beholden to big oil. lot of politics today. julia reed, contributing editor
in fact, he ruled in favor of oil companies just a little more often than he ruled against them. lawyers who know judge hughes tell cnn he s fair and tough, but environmental attorneys say even the request by bp to have this judge sit on the bench is, quote, outrageous and unseemly. abby boudrou, cnn, atlanta. consolidating hundreds of lawsuits under a same judge is not unusual. faulty gas pedales, bp s specific request to have their case filed under judge hughes puts a new spin on it. jeffrey toobin, is it unusual for a company like bp to actually name the judge they want? no, not at all. it is not surprising they want this case not in new orleans which is, of course, so emotionally affected by what s gone on in the gulf and in houston, which is the oil
that pays him royalties, but he didn t disclose that information at the hearing. the company ended up winning and was awarded $3.9 million. the best practice that s out there and i think what judges across the country are encouraged to do is when there is any doubt, put some sunshine on the problem. turn your cards face up, to mix metaphors and basically make it clear to the parties what your potential interests are. reporter: which brings us back to bp and why it would like judge hughes to oversee the oil spill lawsuits. bp told us, quote, bp believes that judge lynn hughes, to whom the first filed federal case in houston was assigned, is an appropriate choice to provide oversight of these cases. this isn t a rank and file case. this is a case involving a couple hundred cases involving the biggest oil disaster in the history of the country where we ought to be especially concerned about public confidence in the judiciary. reporter: cnn examined judge hughes rulings on oil and
technical expert who helps you with these things, who might have been there? with respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year all around the world. i know. that s what s scaring me right now. reporter: hayward was bombarded by scathing criticism, another controversy was born when the committee s top republican accused the white house of forcing bp to fork over what he called a $20 billion slush fund. i do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. so i apologize. reporter: a senior republican apologizing to bp. democrats from capitol hill to the white house saw political opportunity and pounced. i find it incredibly insensitive. reporter: as pressure mounted, cnn is told that house gop leaders met with barton and