The disclosure was made Friday in arguments filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a Manhattan federal court. He is seeking dismissal of a request by Exxon for an injunction that would halt his investigation into the oil giant. Schneiderman has been looking into whether Exxon's past statements downplaying the risks of climate change were a form of fraud against its shareholders and the public.
Attorneys for Schneiderman did not elaborate in the 25-page document on the scope of the expanded investigation other than to suggest that it involved the recent disclosure that Tillerson, now U.S. secretary of state, used an email alias when discussing issues including climate change and the risk that it posed to the company.
New York and Massachusetts investigators denounced the company's attempt in federal court to derail their parallel inquiries as a vexatious legal tactic that has no chance of succeeding.
"So far, this federal action's primary purpose has been to investigate the NYOAG's Investigation," the New York brief states.
The filings by Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey represent the first round in a series of legal jousts expected over the course of the summer before U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni.
Read more at New York's Exxon Probe into Missing ‘Wayne Tracker’ Evidence Widens
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