The judge handling Boeing’s plea deal asks Justice Department to explain its diversity policy WSOC TV [Video]

DALLAS — (AP) — The federal judge considering Boeing’s plea deal with prosecutors wants to know how the Justice Department’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies would affect the selection of an independent monitor to oversee the aerospace company during a three-year probation period.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, a conservative nominated to the federal bench in Fort Worth, Texas, by President George W. Bush in 2007, ordered the Justice Department to explain how it will pick the monitor and whether DEI considerations would — or should — influence the choice.

The judge asked Boeing whether it would follow its own DEI policy to block a proposed monitor.

The appointment of an independent monitor to make sure Boeing follows compliance and safety rules is a key component of the deal in which Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government.

O’Connor has long been a favorite of conservative lawyers looking for a court to hear their …