State AGs Shut Down 'GOP Extremist' Attempt To Block Big Oil Fraud Probe

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) will have to do more than issue subpoenas if he wants state attorneys general and environmental groups to turn over documents related to ongoing investigations into whether companies like Exxon Mobil committed fraud by covering up the risks of climate change.

In separate letters sent Tuesday to the longtime Republican climate change denier , the offices of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy said they have no intention of complying with Smiths demand, calling it unconstitutional, unprecedented and dangerous.

We wont allow @LamarSmithTX21 or any GOP extremists to stand in our way of investigating #Exxon for fraud. https://t.co/NiU5w7Kzu6

Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 26, 2016","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Eric Schneiderman","author_url":"https://twitter.com/AGSchneiderman","cache_age":86400,"description":"We wont allow @LamarSmithTX21 or any GOP extremists to stand in our way of investigating #Exxon for fraud. https://t.co/NiU5w7Kzu6— Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 26, 2016\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Eric Schneiderman on 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We wont allow @LamarSmithTX21 or any GOP extremists to stand in our way of investigating #Exxon for fraud. https://t.co/NiU5w7Kzu6
Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 26, 2016

On July 13, Smith, who chairs the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology , subpoenaed not only the two state AGs, but also eight environmental nonprofit groups. He said at the time that the AG investigations amount to a form of extortion , threaten legitimate scientific debate about climate change, and that his own actions were necessary to protect the American people from further infringement of their free speech rights.

As of Tuesday evening the day before Smiths deadline for compliance it appeared not a single subpoenaed party was planning to hand over the requested communications.

The committees rationale for why they need this information is just nonsense, Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, one of the eight nonprofit groups, told The Huffington Post. And what this really is ... its a committee of Congress coming to the defense of a private company thats under investigation.

In its 10-page letter , Schneidermans office called the subpoena an unprecedented effort to target ongoing state law enforcement investigations and potential prosecutions one that brings us one step closer to a protracted, unnecessary legal confrontation. The New York AG objects to the subpoena and cannot, and will not, comply with it, it wrote.

Healys office took things a step further in its lengthy 20-page letter , calling Smiths actions an affront to states rights.

Attorney General Healey will not yield to this blatant attempt to chill her investigation into Exxons conduct, her office wrote.

Both offices argued the First Amendment does not shield or protect fraud.