As one reporter put it, “The first thing to know about the crusade against Exxon by state attorneys general is that it isn’t about the law. The second thing to know is that it isn’t even about Exxon. What these liberal prosecutors really want to shut down is a universe of their most-hated ideological opponents.”
The New York Attorney General is using an obscure 1921 law -- originally aimed at stock-sale fraud -- to attack ExxonMobil with threats of prison time for its principals. Some Democratic Congress members have demanded a Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department investigation of ExxonMobil in much the same way they went after the tobacco industry in the 1990s, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D, RI) wants a RICO investigation of the company. The only problem: the "Crime" they want ExxonMobil prosecuted for never happened except in the twisted minds of the would-be judges and juries.