Nearly a dozen attorneys general called a year-long investigation targeting Exxon Mobil’s climate research a politically biased infringement of the company’s free speech.
Republican AGs from 11 states, including Oklahoma, Utah, and Texas, filed an amicus brief Wednesday castigating a Democrat-led probe against the oil company’s handling of decades worth of climate data.
The authors of the amicus believe the pursuit of Exxon violates the First Amendment of the U.S Constitution and constitutes an “unconstitutional abuse of investigative power.”
Their brief also asserts that New York AG Eric Schneiderman and his Massachusetts’ colleague Maura Healey are seeking to “promote one side of [the] international public policy debate” on climate change issues, which should not be up to the courts to decide.
The brief was filed on behalf of Exxon in a case that will be heard Friday by Judge Valerie Caproni, an Obama-era appointee who put an end earlier this month to a lawsuit filed last year by Exxon attorneys in Texas. She asked the company to refile its case.
Initial probes against the company were based on reports from liberal-leaning media outlets InsideClimate News and Columbia University, which claim Exxon has known the risks of global warming for decades but kept such knowledge under wraps.
Texas Judge Ed Kinkeade remanded the case to New York because the bulk of the events in the lawsuit occurred in the Empire State. Caproni did not address the merits of Exxon’s motion suggesting the law enforcers climate-tinged pursuits are a ploy to gain media attention.
Kinkeade brushed back Schneiderman and his colleagues in March before remanding the case. His line of questioning suggested he believed the investigation was purely political and meant to generate media attention.
Caproni’s court was the appropriate venue to hear the case, Kinkeade decided, because “a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred” in New York City at a now-infamous 2016 press conference attended by former Vice President Al Gore.
Much of the political machinations undergirding the investigation, conservatives argue, were hatched at an “AGs United for Clean Power” event held in New York.
Legal analysts, meanwhile, say this type of infighting is unprecedented. Reid Weingarten, a lawyer at D.C.-based firm Steptoe & Johnson, for instance, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that he has not seen this kind of AG-on-AG strife in more than 30 years.
“The attorneys general move to gain access to Exxon’s documents caught me by surprise,” he said, adding that the amicus brief hashes out some legitimate and “non-trivial” First Amendment complaints.
“I don’t know of any” knock-out, drag-down fights between AGs over political tactics and views, said Weingarten, who has practiced law for more than 40 years. “They are essentially accusing two of their own of wrongdoing.”
Weingarten was referring to several clauses in the brief suggesting that attorneys general have a duty to act impartially during their investigations. The 11 AGs argue that Schneiderman and Healey’s probes undermine public confidence the two Democrats’ ability to stay nonpartisan.
“Defendants are not using their power in an impartial manner. Rather, they are embracing one side of a multi-faceted and robust policy debate, and simultaneously seeking to censor opposing viewpoints,” the brief states. “This is bad faith.”
The premise of the little AG witch hunt is supposed to be
“when did Exxon know ” and they apparently are not telling their shareholders
that their legally sold products along with that of thousands of other fossil fuel companies (some owned by government ) were keeping a big secret . Isn’t that it ?
So when did Cadbury and Hershey “Know ” their candy caused tooth cavities ? Did they warn their shareholders of the devastating consequences of this OMG moment ?
Who is calling for their E mails from 1985 ?
The little clique of tax payer funded AG’s are a front for Democrat bag men looking for an easy target and one they know will roll over at the first chance.
Carbon tax … sure they will happily collect it just like the other taxes they already collect by stealth for governments in exchange for just getting out of the way to them looking green and sell their standard of living improvement products .
Governments have shaken down people to the point of diminishing returns and because they spend more than they even collect they are always keen on a new tax they can hide in fuel bills . Think about all those retired folks who ain’t playing ball any more and ballooning never to be repaid government debt . Cash flow baby it’ s now just about cash flow .
Who cares what Exxon knows . If the government was all worried why didn’t they ban fossil fuels and refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol ? Fossil fuels have done more for
the planet inhabitants than anything and a little group of AG ‘s claiming to be
promoting saving the planet are a joke . If fossil fuels helped with warming well
Thank You Exxon and the thousands of other fossil fuel producers world wide .
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What an unbelievable display of ignorance and stupidity on the part of the AGs suing Exxon for withholding evidence of man-made global warming from the public.
It is equivalent to suing the Flat Earth Society for withholding evidence that the earth is flat.
AG’s acting as lobbyist’s is a conflict of interest and outright theft of time and tax payer money . Getting all preachy with the earth has a fever promoter and failed Demorat just
ices it . Who cares what Exxon or any other corporation that produces or uses fossil fuel thinks about global cooling or global warming .
If the government actually thought fossil fuels were going to cause climate Armaggedon why are fossil fuels still legal all over the world ? Didn’t they know ?
It couldn’t be that Exxon agreed to be the greedy uncaring planet killer to set up a nice big fat sue and settle that the EPA was so clever at cooking up with their lobbyist friends .
My oh my what a coincidence Tillerson supports the Paris Agreement just like Exxon . Can a carbon tax be far off as a way to “have a seat at the table ” where tax payer funded Pork is consumed ?
Liberal insiders didn’t win the White House but they will ensure one term .
As I said before :
The crypto-communist AGs have
NO STANDING NOR JURISDICTION
to bring forth their unprovable case.
It seams there are some liberal activusts A.G. that need to try out for job training like gettting new jobs as sanitattion workers if they can deal out the garbage they can certianly clean it up