Weaponization of Law Enforcement - A Timeline - Climate Litigation Watch

Weaponization of Law Enforcement — A Timeline

The below timeline affirms it is acceptable for an AG to launch investigations into, e.g., the renewable energy or climate industry at the request of trial lawyers

  • October 2012: La Jolla meeting proceedings published. Plaintiffs’ attorney Matt Pawa calls for “a single sympathetic attorney general” to begin subpoenaing records of private parties targeted by climate tort suits. A federal court later describes this request to initiate investigations of perceived opponents of a shared political and policy agenda a “‘strateg[y] to win access to internal documents’ of fossil fuel companies”.
  • December 1, 2015: Pawa emails MA OAG in pursuit of same:

“Melissa and Christophe – You have probably been reading about the disclosure of Exxon’s early knowledge. My office has collected and reviewed the documents that recently came to light and we have put together a mini trial-type presentation on what Exxon knew about global warming, when it knew it and what it did anyway in the next 20 plus years.

I have been giving this presentation to various government officials and am told that it has been very helpful to their understanding of the situation as they consider options similar to those the NY AG has commenced. I would be happy to do this presentation for you if you are interested ( and without regard to any issue of hiring counsel — this is just information provided as a public service that you may be able to use as you consider whether to take a closer look at this matter).

Links are here to the articles that have generated so much attention on this issue:

– http://insideclimatenews.org/ content/Exxon-The- Road -Not-Taken

– http:/ /graphics.latimes.com/exxon-arctic/

– http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-research/

AG Healey:

“[S]he disclosed that she too had begun investigating ExxonMobil and concluded, before receiving a single document from ExxonMobil,” that “Fossil fuel companies that deceived investors and consumers about the dangers of climate change should be, must be, held accountable. That’s why I, too, have joined in investigating the practices of ExxonMobil. We can all see today the troubling disconnect between what Exxon knew, what industry folks knew, and what the company and industry chose to share with investors and with the American public. (emphases added) Transcript, p. 12