This Inside Climate News article discusses the Exxon climate fraud case. The judge rejected the defense tactic that attacked the prosecutor. The oil giant is accused of trying to deceive investors about how it was managing economic risks posed by climate change.
ExxonMobil has suffered yet another setback in its legal fight to derail a climate fraud case by the New York Attorney General’s office.
A ruling on Wednesday by New York Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager prohibits Exxon from raising the claim of prosecutorial misconduct as a defense against allegations by the attorney general that the company engaged in a scheme to deceive investors by providing false or misleading assurances that it was managing economic risks posed by climate change.
In the wake of a four-count civil complaint last year, Exxon floated as one of many possible defenses contentions that the attorney general was selectively enforcing the law and violating what it said were the company’s First Amendment right to free speech and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.