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As the U.S. House Science Committee prepares for a major hearing tomorrow on Congressional oversight of state attorneys general involved in the #ExxonKnew campaign, the New York AG at the center of the controversy is now facing pay-to-play accusations.

As the New York Post reported this week, New York Attorney General Eric Scheniderman may have used his investigation of ExxonMobil as a hook to secure campaign funding from billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer for his upcoming run for governor. As the Post puts it,

When state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman took on ExxonMobil over climate change last year, it seemed like an odd global crusade for a local politician.

Perhaps he was drilling for campaign cash, critics now contend after The Post obtained an e-mail that appears to show the state’s top cop was seeking a tree-hugging billionaire’s help to finance a run for governor in 2018.

In March 2016, four months after announcing the Exxon probe, the Democratic AG tried to arrange a phone meeting with hedge-fund mogul Tom Steyer, an environmental activist and Exxon enemy.

“Eric Schneiderman would like to have a call with Tom regarding support for his race for governor . . . regarding Exxon case,” reads the March 10 e-mail. (emphasis added)

Steyer’s group, NextGen Climate, has publically lobbied state attorneys general to join Schneiderman’s political climate crusade against ExxonMobil. On April 21, 2016, NextGen hosted and funded an ultimately unsuccessful rally to encourage New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster to launch his own investigation into Exxon.

When this revelation came to light, the New York Republican State Committee View Full Article