The accusations made against the Attorneys General and the environmental community yesterday are an appalling attempt by the House GOP to shield Big Oil from the consequences of its own actions. Our Attorneys General deserve our adulation, not ire. They are investigating whether the fossil fuel industry committed criminal acts by intentionally misleading the public about the scientific reality of climate change. If the industry committed fraud, it deserves to be prosecuted not protected. And the House should spend its time working on real issues like funding for Zika or ensuring terrorists can’t legally buy guns, not going out of its way to interfere with the criminal investigations of our hard working prosecutors.”
Background: House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and other Republican House Members on Wednesday said that they plan to issue subpoenas to attorneys general and environmental groups in a move to impede legitimate investigations.
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Please note this statement was originally published on July 14, 2016 by Congressman Engel’s House of Representative’s office and posted to this website no sooner than 72 hours after initial publication.