Not that Democrats care about breaking the law when whatever “justice” they’re interested in is at stake
(Daily Caller)  A legal expert in financial law said the Democrat-lead probe targeting ExxonMobil is likely illegal and a ruse to paint those investigating the company as champions “in the fight against global warming.â€
The Exxon subpoena into the company’s knowledge about internal climate change reports is an abuse of extraordinary powers. It allowed attorneys general (AGs) to subpoena private documents without either obtaining a court order or filing a complaint, Merritt Fox, a professor of law at Columbia Law School, wrote Monday at National Law Journal.
Essentially, Fox is noting that there is nothing contained within any documents that would leave an investor to not invest. No laws were broken by Exxon, and if people were given the small amount of information on Hotcoldwetdry from the company, people would still invest. Is the investigation illegal? I’ll leave it to you to read the articles, but, let’s consider that these are fishing expeditions against private companies engaged in Constitutional Free Speech, and there is not one bit of proof of actual fraud.
Fox, who is also the NASDAQ professor for the Law and Economics of Capital Markets at Columbia University, suggested that from his vantage point, the inquisition looks more like an AGÂ attempting to convince people he is a warrior in the battle against global warming.
“It is really about the attorney general acting as a champion in the fight against global warming,†Fox said, referencing a press release announcing the probe by Schneiderman in which the AG describes storm damage to his state as one of the reasons for the investigation.
I disagree with Fox on this a bit. While they may be attempting to look good for Leftist/Progressives/Democrats, this is about blatant political power. Forcing companies to do what they want (something Fox mentions later), scaring them, putting them under the government thumb, shutting down free speech and free association, scaring individuals and small entities, while also attempting to force them to pony up fines, fees, and payoffs.
