ExxonMobil has told a federal judge in New York that it intends to continue its vigorous legal challenge to climate change fraud investigations by the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York.
The company wants U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni to reinstate a sweeping discovery order won in a Texas court that would allow it to depose Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, as well as dig into the attorneys generals’ investigative files on the company.
The latest request comes in the wake of a decision last month by a federal judge in Texas to transfer the case on the grounds that New York is the proper jurisdiction for the proceeding to play out. Exxon explained its decision to continue fighting to derail the two investigations in a joint status letter sent to Caproni on Wednesday.
Healey and Schneiderman both rejected Exxon’s view. They said the company’s federal complaint should be dismissed because the proper venue for it to fight the two investigations is not in federal court but in state courts in Massachusetts and New York where cases are pending.
Caproni has scheduled a hearing on April 21 for Exxon and the attorneys general to begin formally arguing their positions.
The New York and Massachusetts investigations focus on whether past statements by Exxon questioning climate change science and downplaying risks to the company constituted a form of fraud against the public and its shareholders.
Those investigations prompted Exxon to go to federal court in Texas last year for an order halting the probes.
The company, which is headquartered in Dallas, found a judge sympathetic to its arguments. In a ruling last year, U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered Healey and Schneiderman to appear for depositions under questioning by Exxon lawyers. Kinkeade justified the order by saying he thought Healey, especially, had acted in bad faith when opening her investigation of Exxon
The two attorneys general argued Exxon lacked jurisdiction to fight the case in the Texas court because it was improper to sue them outside of their jurisdictions. Kinkeade finally relented and ordered the case transferred to New York while at the same time signaling his support for Exxon’s arguments.
Exxon seized on Kinkeade’s suggestions that Healey’s actions reflected prejudice.
“Judge Kinkeade’s conclusion remains as valid today as it did last fall,” Exxon said in the status letter.
David Hasemyer
Reporter, San Diego
Inside Climate News reporter David Hasemyer is from the red rock country of Southeastern Utah where he grew up and learned to appreciate the importance responsible stewardship of the environment. He is co-author of the Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You’ve Never Heard Of, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and co-authored the 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist series “Exxon: The Road Not Taken.” Prior to joining ICN, Hasemyer had an award-wining tenure at The San Diego Union-Tribune as an investigative reporter. Hasemyer’s newspaper work has been recognized by the Associated Press, the Society for Professional Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He also has been a finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice and Human Rights. PGP key: http://ow.ly/iEHN3089Gqg
