Exxon case:
New York attorney general may force Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to testify.
NEW YORK — “Wayne Tracker” cannot be forced to testify under oath. He does not exist.
But the man who used the “Tracker” alias, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, can be questioned — and is increasingly expected to be — as New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman expands his sweeping probe into whether Tillerson’s former employer, ExxonMobil, misled investors about the impact of climate change.
Schneiderman’s office considers the nation’s chief diplomat a central figure in a case that pits the ambitious Democrat against a Texas energy giant and has divided attorneys general nationwide. Republican state prosecutors from South Carolina to Utah, like Exxon’s high-profile legal team, accuse the New York attorney general of abusing the power of his office to score political points with his liberal base on a politically explosive issue.
It remains unclear whether Schneiderman will ultimately force Tillerson to answer questions under oath, but he said he has the legal authority to question the secretary of state, who served as Exxon’s CEO until joining President Trump’s administration.
“We haven’t gotten to the point where that’s necessary, but yeah, we have the legal right to conduct depositions. I don’t know that we’re going to have to get to Mr. Tillerson.”
The New York attorney general’s nonchalant tone does not reflect the intensity of the case or his office’s expectation that it will lead to Tillerson. But in an investigation that has already spanned 18 months and forced Exxon to release roughly 3 million internal documents, the confrontation could be several months or even years away.
Schneiderman opened the Exxon investigation in November 2015, shortly after reaching a settlement with another fossil fuel giant, Peabody Coal. In that case, Schneiderman’s office determined that the coal company misled shareholders, regulators and the public about the company’s financial risks related to climate change.
Now, Schneiderman is using the subpoena power of his office to determine whether Exxon did the same.
The New York attorney general’s office says the investigation has already uncovered “Exxon’s significant potential investor fraud,” including evidence that Tillerson himself may have approved accounting discrepancies.
Most of the “Tracker” emails have been permanently deleted, Exxon says, citing the company’s regular practice of destroying emails after a certain period of time.