Note: Matthew Hamilton reported from Albany. Hearst’s Dan Freedman reported from Washington.
A congressional committee has taken the apparently unprecedented step
of sending subpoenas to attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts
over a multi-state probe of Exxon Mobil.
Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House
of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee, announced
that formal subpoenas would be going out at a Wednesday afternoon press
conference at the U.S. Capitol. This after a roughly two-month effort to
force New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and others to
voluntarily give up a number of records related to the Exxon
investigation, which looks at whether the company lied to investors and
the public in the past about what they knew about climate change.
Smith said “the attorneys general have appointed themselves to decide
what is valid and what is invalid in terms of climate change” and the
investigation is a “blatant effort to deny free speech.”
“The actions by the attorneys general amount to a form of extortion,” he said.
Smith said he expects responses from attorneys general in two weeks.
In a statement, a Schneiderman spokesman maintained that the
committee “has no authority to interfere with these state law
enforcement investigations, and whether they issue a subpoena or not,
this Attorney General will not be intimidated or deterred from ensuring
that every New Yorker receives the full protection of state laws.”
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Source: TimesUnion
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