NY Attorney General Defies Subpoena On Climate Probe

ALBANY (AP) —

New York’s attorney general is refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas seeking records about their investigations into whether Exxon Mobil misled investors about supposed climate change.

In an escalating political fight over global warming, the chairman of the House Science Committee is pursuing records from Eric Schneiderman, as well as from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

In a reply Tuesday to Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, Schneiderman’s lawyer called the July 13 subpoena “an unprecedented effort” bringing them “closer to a protracted, unnecessary legal confrontation.”

Counsel Leslie Dubeck wrote that enforcing the subpoena will interfere with Schneiderman’s investigation into whether Dallas-based Exxon violated New York fraud statutes and he “cannot and will not comply with it.”

Smith accused the attorneys general of chilling free speech “by those who question climate change orthodoxy.”

“The committee has a responsibility to protect First Amendment rights of companies, academic institutions, scientists and nonprofit organizations,” Smith said. “That is why the committee is obligated to ask for information from the attorneys general.”

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