After a months-long fight to get information from a handful of Democratic attorneys general (AGs) who are investigating ExxonMobil for fraud, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said last week that he had no choice but to issue the AGs subpoenas.
Smith believes New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts AG Maura Healey colluded with various environmental groups to demonize ExxonMobil for allegedly “lying” to the public and its shareholders about the dangers of climate change.
They have been fighting his efforts for months, causing Smith to ask, “What are they hiding?”
#EverythingScience: State Attorneys General Subpoenaed by Rep. Lamar Smith for Exxon Fraud… https://t.co/kLZTV7YMoB pic.twitter.com/7u3GavndO0
— r/ (@bzdt3) July 14, 2016
Smith is demanding that the attorneys general and eight environmental groups turn over documents related to what he sees as “coordinated efforts” to deprive companies, scientists, and think-tanks of their free speech rights.
As one pundit put it, the attorneys general are pointing high-powered guns at those who disagree on climate change, telling them to shut up or face jail time.
Smith elaborates that handing out the subpoenas was a last resort.
Attorneys general coordinated attack of ExxonMobil
Earlier this year, a handful of Democratic attorneys general held a press conference alongside former VP-turned-activist Al Gore, calling themselves the “AGs for Clean Power.”
At the event, Schneiderman boasted they would look for “creative ways” to prosecute companies, think tanks, and other individuals that challenge the climate change canons, effectively squelching further scientific investigation.
The attorneys general intermediaries allegedly met with Big Green activists to lay out an election-year road map to vilify fossil fuel companies using the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act.
