Leave Maura Healey Alone, Says Massachusetts Congressional Delegation

Massachusetts' Congressional delegation published a letter Thursday urging a House committee chairman to, essentially, back off State's Attorney General Maura Healey.

Congressmen on the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology subpoenaed Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last month regarding their offices' joint probe into Exxon Mobil, investigating whether the company knowingly misled the public regarding climate change.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) previously ripped into committee chair Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas) over the issue on Twitter.

Now, the rest of the state's congressional delegation has entered the fray, writing to Smith that his committee is using the subpoena "as a political tool in an ongoing effort to ignore or deny the causes of global climate change."

The summons “plainly infringes upon state law functions and oversteps the jurisdiction granted to Congress in the Constitution," the letter, sent Wednesday, says.

Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) is the top signatory on the letter, next to Warren.

The rest of the letter reads in part:

“State and federal courts – not Congressional Committees – are the proper arbiters of legal disputes between state attorneys general and private corporations. Congressional subpoenas should not be used as a vehicle for misguided and likely unconstitutional political tactics that could permanently harm the reputation of this body and undermine states’ abilities to carry out necessary functions.

The Science Committee lacks jurisdiction over any of the relevant issues raised in this case, including state securities laws and your purported concerns about the ‘First Amendment rights of companies.’ The dispute in question is not a scientific one; it is a legal question about whether Exxon misled its investors and consumers. This dispute has no relevance to the Science Committee or its legislative or oversight jurisdiction.”

"The attorneys general have appointed themselves to decide what is valid and what is invalid regarding climate change," committee Chair Lamar Smith, R-TX, reportedly said during an initial press conference regarding the subpoenas.

Exxon has previously called the attorney generals' probe a "fishing expedition," and opened a lawsuit against Healey.

Healey, for her part, had only thanks for Massachusetts' delegation, writing on Twitter late Thursday, "There's no doubt about it - we have a congressional delegation of fighters. Sincerelely, thank you."

>> Photo via Elizabeth Warren Twitter