Attorney General Ken Paxton today along with Attorney General Luther Strange of Alabama, dismissed their lawsuit against the Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Earl Walker, after he agreed to end his improper pursuit of ExxonMobil. Walker, working with a Washington, D.C.-based private law firm on a contingency fee basis, issued an unconstitutional and harassing subpoena for decades of ExxonMobil records.
Attorney General Paxton intervened in the dispute between ExxonMobil and Walker because the contingency fee arrangement between Walker and the Washington, D.C.-based private law firm implicated sensitive questions of constitutional due process.
“The so-called 'investigation' by Walker was a constitutionally improper attempt to suppress the freedom of speech based only on the content being communicated. In America, we have the freedom to disagree, and we do not legally prosecute people just because their opinion is different from ours. We are glad that the abuse of power by Attorney General Walker, and those that he hired, has come to an end,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Attorneys working for the government should be motivated by public interest, not financial gain.”
Attorney General Luther Strange of Alabama gave this statement on the withdrawal of the subpoena:
“I join with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in welcoming the decision of the Virgin Islands Attorney General to withdraw his subpoena and cease an investigation which conflicted with the First Amendment right of free speech. We are all free to advocate our own opinions about climate change, but we don’t have the right to do so through subpoenas, litigation, and threats of prosecution against those with whom we disagree. I am pleased the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands has acknowledged that free speech must be protected.”
The dismissal filed by General Paxton and General Strange can be found here:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/Doc_41_Notice_of_Dismissal.pdf