Eric Schneiderman, New York’s Attorney General, has launched an investigation of Exxon Mobil. But it isn’t your typical investigation. He is demanding documents going all the way back to 1970, when global cooling was still the popular environmental scare, that would show the company knew about global warming and failed to warn its investors.

Or so it seems. After all, this probe is supposed to be secret. But in the long tradition of politically ambitious New York attorneys general, Schneiderman has made sure the public knows just enough to assume guilt and support his crusade.