Ten attorneys general joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his filing of an amicus brief on Thursday, claiming the attorney general of Massachusetts misused governmental power to shut down one side of the debate on climate change.
The filing claims Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey exceeded her constitutional authority by attempting to shut down a viewpoint on climate change, which is an issue of scientific debate.
According to a press release issued by Paxton’s press office on Thursday evening, the “overt use of governmental power to shut down particular viewpoints is a blatant violation of the Constitution.”
It said a coalition of “liberal” states’ attorneys general announced at the “AGs United for Clean Power” press conference that they were going to go after one side of the climate change debate.
Healey issued a Civil Investigative Demand against Exxon Mobil Corporation for its “marketing and sale of fossil fuel-derived products and securities,” demanding over 40 years of internal company documents. Exxon is seeking to block the Civil Investigative Demand from being enforced.
Paxton and ten other states’ attorneys general—from Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, and Nevada—are asking the court to grant Exxon’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the subpoena.
“The Constitution was written to protect citizens from government witch-hunts that are nothing more than an attempt to suppress speech on an issue of public importance, just because a government official happens to disagree with that particular viewpoint,” Attorney General Paxton said when filing the brief.
The Daily Caller reached out to Healey’s deputy press secretary for comment then emailed her the release issued by Paxton. She did not respond by press time.