Exxon sued the attorney general’s office nearly one year after Schneiderman launched an investigation into the company for potential violations of New York’s securities, consumer, and business fraud laws.
Schneiderman’s office says his Motion to Dismiss debunks numerous false and misleading statements made by Exxon in its lawsuit against him. In doing so, it quotes Exxon’s own attorneys’ acknowledgments of the legitimacy of the attorney general’s investigation during a recent appearance in NY Court. “The NY AG has ‘the right to conduct this investigation’” (MTD, p.5 quoting Exxon attorney).
Recently, in a related proceeding, a New York State Court ordered Exxon to comply with two subpoenas issued by Schneiderman in furtherance of the investigation.
The Motion to Dismiss cites binding legal precedent — including case law from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court — to demonstrate why Exxon’s lawsuit should be dismissed. The Motion to Quash cites similar precedent to demonstrate that permitting discovery of the NYAG by Exxon would undermine the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation, (“As former United State Attorney General Robert Jackson put it: ‘Counsel for a defendant or a prospective defendant, could have no greater help than to know how much or how little information the Government has, and what witnesses or sources of information it can rely upon.’” (MTQ, p.2).
The Motion to Dismiss can be found here.
The Motion to Quash can be found here.
