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Billionaires Buying Minnesota Prosecutors?
Townhall.com ^ | July 26, 2020 | Gil Gutknecht

Posted on 07/26/2020 4:56:46 AM PDT by Kaslin

magine a state’s attorney general accepting staff who were paid by a foundation that was funded by an out of state billionaire who had financial and political interests he wanted advanced. These volunteer assistant attorneys general waste little time filing lawsuits against the billionaire’s adversaries in Minnesota. They pursue their actions knowing full well that even if they succeed, the only result will be higher prices for all Minnesotans.

That’s exactly what is happening right now in the Minnesota attorney general’s office.

Recently, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office filed a lawsuit against the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, and Koch Industries, claiming that they have caused “devastating economic and public-health consequences.” These entities have engaged in a “campaign of deception” concerning their carbon emissions. The lawsuit isn’t grounded in fact. It’s simply a replay of suits filed against energy providers that have already failed in other courts.

Let’s call it political prosecution.

Two of the four attorneys on the Minnesota complaint came from a New York University fellowship program. Curiously, that program received $5.6 million in funding from the Bloomberg Family Foundation to support “defending and promoting clean energy, climate and environmental laws and policies.” Coincidentally, they hold the titles of “Special Assistant Attorney General” in the office. They even have official state e-mails. They receive these titles despite their salaries being paid by the Bloomberg Foundation. So, a Democrat mega-donor effectively bought influence inside our attorney general’s office? Shouldn’t this raise serious legal and ethical concerns?

The suit pretends that the science is already settled on what they categorize as the “severe environmental and social consequences” of carbon emissions. They must know that this is far from the case. They further claim that the world has warmed by two degrees Fahrenheit due to human-caused climate change. That two-degree number has never been proven. The role that human beings and their burning of hydrocarbon fuels may have played in any change is even more tenuous.

Apparently, these energy companies should be held liable for disagreeing with what climate alarmists have projected, even though other respected scientists have challenged these findings. You may remember just a few weeks ago, one former climate alarmist made a public apology for claims he had previously made. A recent study found that over 100 of the climate models used by government climate scientists – between 1950 to 2015 – dramatically over-predicted warming rates. These energy companies are targeted largely because they disagree with these increasingly flawed models and forecasts.

Ellison’s job as the state’s chief legal officer is to uphold and enforce the law objectively. He represents all Minnesotans. He hasn’t found much time to prosecute rioters and those who defaced statues on the state capitol grounds. So why is he devoting so much time to suing companies that supply much-needed energy to Minnesotans?

A New York judge threw out a similar suit, stating that “the scope of plaintiffs’ theory is breathtaking” and asked a critical question – “would it really be fair to now ignore our own responsibility in the use of fossil fuels and place the blame for global warming on those who supplied what we demanded?” Other judges have also ruled that courts are not the proper venue to address climate policy.

Minnesota continues to rely on hydrocarbon fuels. According to the Energy Information Administration, about 30 percent of all U.S. crude imports flow through the North Star State. Coal and natural gas generate over 60. percent of the state’s electricity. How can these frivolous lawsuits do anything but waste taxpayer’s money and drive up the price of energy?

We all want a cleaner environment. Suing energy providers won’t make anything better. Especially when similar lawsuits have already been adjudicated. It gets cold here in Minnesota. We need access to affordable energy. We have seen a dramatic 16.5-percent organic increase in electric power generation from 2007 to 2017. Wind and other renewables cannot carry the load.

Politically motivated, frivolous lawsuits solve nothing. Allowing billionaires to pay for prosecutors sets a dangerous precedent. The whole thing demands oversight hearings


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; US: Delaware; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: bettymccollum; bloomberg; clowncar; delaware; exxon; gas; ilhanomar; joebiden; joeclowncarbiden; keithellison; minnesota; mobil; oil

1 posted on 07/26/2020 4:56:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The attorney general has become the most important job in Federal government. The AG even controls the fate of the President.

So it makes sense that AGs in states and DAs in local government have equally immense power in their areas to control who gets prosecuted, what investigations get squashed or promoted, and in sum how the law is applied


2 posted on 07/26/2020 5:02:27 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Kaslin

Keith Ellison is a communist Moslem. Hard to get more evil than that .


3 posted on 07/26/2020 5:05:16 AM PDT by Nateman
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To: Kaslin

It will be amusing to see how they’re going to heat their homes in Minnesota with wind and solar power. Just like in Mexifornia,there are conservatives living there that have to suffer communist policies. The rain falls on the just and unjust.


4 posted on 07/26/2020 5:08:58 AM PDT by HighSierra5
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To: Kaslin

Coming soon to a trash pile near you


5 posted on 07/26/2020 5:13:40 AM PDT by abbastanza
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To: Nateman

He has already done his job for his slavemasters - destablize, deconstruct, and disrupt. He knows he won’t win in the courts, but he has already won a battle of asymmetric warfare. It is war. Time for Americans to recognize it and say ENOUGH!


6 posted on 07/26/2020 5:19:29 AM PDT by silent majority rising
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To: Kaslin

“I’ll take George Soros Connections for $500, Alex.”


7 posted on 07/26/2020 5:19:44 AM PDT by polymuser (It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and so few by deceit. Noel Coward)
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To: Kaslin

Exxon Mobil, and Koch Industries should bite the bullet and shut down all operations in Minnesota. Close any plants or facilities. Just board them up and leave. Then get the word out: anyone else want to mess with us?


8 posted on 07/26/2020 5:37:58 AM PDT by Michael.SF. (Youth, and speed can always be overcome with experience and treachery.)
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To: PGR88

Mnay AG’s around the country are soros installed


9 posted on 07/26/2020 5:40:26 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: ronnie raygun

Wasn’t Ellison mixed up with some Klinton evil enterprise?


10 posted on 07/26/2020 6:32:26 AM PDT by Highest Authority (DemonRats are pure EVIL)
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To: Kaslin

Many states were set up on the basis of permanent rights of perfect religious freedom and of Amendment I rights.

Perhaps Minnesota needs to loses its senators and resume territorial status. Its public pension funds may wind up in the US Treasury.


11 posted on 07/26/2020 6:42:43 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: Brian Griffin

Where it the real AG, of the US, not some backwater shithole nation like Minnesota.

Ellison should be arrested.


12 posted on 07/26/2020 8:43:45 AM PDT by SteelPSUGOP
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To: Kaslin

Bringing lawsuits against the evil oil companies, but the rioters who burned Minneapolis have yet to come to justice and likely never will except under federal charges.


13 posted on 07/26/2020 12:02:00 PM PDT by The Great RJ ("Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher)
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To: Kaslin
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office filed a lawsuit against the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, and Koch Industries

Hmmm, API Response??:

We at the American Petroleum Industry are taking the following actions immediately in an effort to mitigate any potential damages that may arise as a result of this Lawsuit. Effective Immediately API and All of it's partners and subsidiaries shall immediately Halt All Sales, Distribution, and Transportation of Any and All Petroleum Products or any Product that contains a Petroleum Product or it's packaging contains a petroleum product into the State of Minnesota until the conclusion of this Lawsuit.

ps, I hope you all freezse to death in the name of Global Warming.
14 posted on 07/26/2020 1:14:37 PM PDT by eyeamok
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