Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed Republicans on the House committee investigating state attorneys general for potentially overstepping their bounds by investigating if Exxon Mobil defrauded investors by lying about climate change.
Warren, the junior senator from Massachusetts, tweeted that the two subpoenas sent last week by House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, to her state’s attorney general, Maura Healey, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are an example of how “giant corporations rig the system.”
Warren said Smith is trying to stop a legal investigation to protect a campaign donor. According to OpenSecrets.org, Smith has received more than $675,000 in donations from the oil and gas industry during his career.
“For the GOP, states’ rights only apply for restricting voting rights or regulating women’s bodies,” Warren said. “Not investigating climate change fraud.”
“This is an outrageous abuse of congressional subpoena power to threaten a state AG and help a campaign contributor,” she added.
Healey and Schneiderman are two of the 20 Democratic attorneys general who agreed to work together on fighting climate change using their law enforcement powers earlier this year. However, they are the only two who have issued subpoenas to Exxon Mobil and then stuck by those subpoenas — the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general withdrew a subpoena earlier this summer and the remaining 17 attorneys general have not taken any action.
The two attorneys general argue they’re investigating if Exxon Mobil defrauded their residents by working to cover up how burning fossil fuels affect climate change.
Last week, Smith announced he was sending subpoenas to Healey and Schneiderman for criminalizing science that says climate change is not happening. He said the subpoenas might be the first time a congressional committee has subpoenaed sitting state attorneys general.
Smith asked for communications and documents about the investigations multiple times before issuing the subpoenas.
He said the subpoenas are about protecting the First Amendment and keeping the state attorneys general from criminalizing speech that they disagree with.
However, Warren argued that Smith is violating a different part of the Bill of Rights by going forward with his investigation.
“[Smith] says he ‘takes very seriously his obligation to uphold & defend the Constitution’ — but apparently not the 10th Amendment,” Warren said. The 10th Amendment says any powers not specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution are left to the states or the people.
Smith brushed off federalism concerns when asked about it by the Washington Examiner last week.
“I don’t see that this has anything to do with states’ rights,” he said. “Again, it’s freedom of speech, it’s scientific inquiry, it’s protecting the right of individuals to have different opinion on various subjects, in this case climate change.”
When asked for comment on Warren’s tweets, Kristina Baum, spokeswoman for the House science committee, directed the Washington Examiner to a tweet she recently posted.
Quoting a warning from Warren that Smith had gone after the wrong attorney general, Baum said, “Bless her heart.”
