15 AGs Defend NY, Mass. Probes of Exxon From Lamar Smith Subpoenas

"A group of 15 state attorneys general call on House Science Committee chair to withdraw his attack on legal state investigations."

"A coalition of 15 Democratic state attorneys general has urged Congressman Lamar Smith to withdraw subpoenas sent to the AGs of Massachusetts and New York seeking records related to their investigations of ExxonMobil. In a letter to Smith sent Tuesday, the attorneys general argue the demand for documents interferes with the investigative authority of the states.

The attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York have ongoing investigations of Exxon under each state's securities and consumer protection laws related to whether Exxon properly disclosed risks posed by climate change to the company's business.

"Under the Constitution and the principle of comity that has been honored by Congress and federal courts since the Nation's founding, the states' attorneys general must be free to fulfill the responsibilites they owe to the people they serve, unimpeded by interference from a committee of Congress," the AGs said in the letter."

Phil McKenna reports for InsideClimate News March 1, 2017.