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Lubbock residents have long dreamed of cheaper electricity. Will Texas’ open market deliver?

Years in the making, the transition from a municipal electric company to an open market has left some residents unsure.

Artist threatens to destroy Picasso, Rembrandt, Warhol masterpieces with acid if Julian Assange dies in prison

An artist in France announced plans to use acid to destroy up to $45 million worth of art – including pieces by Rembrandt, Picasso and Andy Warhol — if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange dies in prison. Andrei Molodkin said 16 works of art donated to him are held in a 29-ton safe with an “extremely corrosive” substance, British outlet Sky News reported. Molodkin, a Russian dissident, claimed that boxes containing the art are inside the vault, as well as a pneumatic pump connecting two white barrels – one with acid powder and the other with an accelerator that could cause a chemical reaction strong enough to turn the artwork into debris. The hearing for Assange’s possible final legal appeal challenging his extradition from the U.K. to the U.S. to face charges for publishing classified U.S. military documents will be held at the High Court in London on Feb. 20 and 21. If he is extradited to the U.S. after exhausting all his legal appeals, Assange would face trial in Alexandria, Virginia, and could be sentenced to up to 175 years in an American maximum-security prison. UK HIGH COURT SETS DATE FOR JULIAN ASSANGE’S FINAL APPEAL CHALLENGING US EXTRADITION No publisher had been charged under the Espionage Act until Assange, and many press freedom groups have said his prosecution sets a dangerous precedent intended to criminalize journalism. U.S. prosecutors and critics of Assange have argued WikiLeaks’ publication of classified material put the lives of U.S. allies at risk, but there is no evidence that the publishing of the documents put anyone in danger. The editors and publishers of U.S. and European outlets that worked with Assange on the publication of excerpts from the more than 250,000 documents he obtained in the Cablegate leak – The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País – wrote an open letter in 2022 calling for the U.S. to drop the charges against Assange. Molodkin’s project, known as “Dead Man’s Switch,” has the support of Assange’s wife Stella. The announcement of the project comes after U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, called on the U.K. government last week to halt the possible extradition of Assange over concerns that he would be at risk of treatment amounting to torture or other forms of ill-treatment or punishment. Additionally, a group of Australian lawmakers wrote a letter to U.K. Home Secretary James Cleverly last month demanding Assange’s extradition be halted over concerns about his safety and well-being, urging the U.K. government to instead make an independent assessment of Assange’s risk of persecution. Assange’s lawyer in the U.K., Jennifer Robinson, has previously said she fears he “would not survive if extradited to the U.S.” Molodkin told Sky News, “In our catastrophic time – when we have so many wars – to destroy art is much more taboo than to destroy the life of a person.” “Since Julian Assange has been in prison … freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of information has started to be more and more repressed,” he continued. “I have this feeling very strongly now.” Assange, 52, is facing 17 charges for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the Espionage Act, and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. AUSTRALIAN MPS PEN LETTER URGING UK GOVERNMENT TO STOP JULIAN ASSANGE’S US EXTRADITION, CITING HEALTH CONCERNS The charges were brought by the Trump administration’s Justice Department over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of cables leaked by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning detailing war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp. The materials also exposed instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition. WikiLeaks’ “Collateral Murder” video showing the U.S. military gunning down civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also published 14 years ago. Assange, an Australian publisher, has been held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped. Molodkin has refused to reveal which pieces of art he has inside the safe but said that the works include pieces by Picasso, Rembrandt, Warhol, Jasper Johns, Jannis Kounellis, Robert Rauschenberg, Sarah Lucas, Santiago Sierra, Jake Chapman and others. Molodkin said his own artwork is in the safe as well. “I believe if something happened and we erased some masterpiece, it will be erased from history – nobody will know which kind of piece it was,” Molodkin said. “We have all the documentation and we photographed all of them.” The safe, which is being held at Molodkin’s studio in the south of France, will be locked on Friday, but he plans for it to be moved to a museum. Molodkin explained that the “Dead Man’s Switch” works by requiring a 24-hour countdown timer to be reset before it reaches zero to prevent the corrosive substance from being released into the vault. He said the timer will be reset when someone close to Assange confirms he is still alive in prison each day. BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION CALLS ON US OFFICIALS TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST ASSANGE The works of art will be returned to their owners if Assange is released from prison, Molodkin said. He said many collectors are concerned the acid could be released accidentally, but insists the work has been done “very professionally.” Molodkin said he would feel “no emotion” if the art was destroyed because “freedom is much more important.” Giampaolo Abbondio, who owns an art gallery in Milan, said he provided the Picasso artwork for the project and that he signed a non-disclosure agreement prohibiting him from revealing which piece. He said he first told Molodkin “no way” when asked to

Ukraine claims critical strike on Russian warship

The attack came as Ukraine’s new military chief toured the front lines. Ukraine reported its forces have critically damaged a large Russian warship off occupied Crimea, landing a new blow on its foe’s Black Sea fleet. Ukraine’s armed forces said on Wednesday that the attack with naval drones had “destroyed” the Tsezar Kunikov landing ship. The strike came as Kyiv’s new military chief toured the front lines, describing the situation as “complex”. The military said via the Telegram messaging app that it had acted in concert with defence ministry intelligence to target the ship, which was in Ukrainian territorial waters near Alupka as it was hit. The Ukrainska Pravda media outlet published videos showing a column of smoke over the sea off the southern coast of Crimea, and helicopters flying over the water. Ukraine has mounted a series of attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in recent months. Pushing its ships out of the sea’s western waters would help free up a key export route. In February, Ukrainian forces used sea drones to attack and destroy a Russian warship. Cruise missiles struck a large Russian landing warship in December. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the latest attack. Cross-border attacks On land, the pair continues to swap cross-border air strikes. Russia launched several missile attacks on the town of Selydove in the eastern Donetsk region overnight, killing three people, injuring a dozen, and damaging a hospital and several apartments, Ukrainian officials said. Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app that 100 patients were evacuated after a wing of the town’s hospital was damaged. Several apartments in a five-storey residential building were destroyed, he added, injuring at least four people, including two children. Russian state agency RIA reported that Moscow’s air defence systems destroyed nine Ukraine-launched drones over the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, as well as over the Black Sea. Russia and Ukraine both deny targeting civilians in their attacks on each other’s territories. ‘Complex’ The use of air strikes has grown as the front line has become largely bogged down in recent months. Nevertheless, fierce fighting continues in the country’s east. Visiting the area, newly appointed Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyii described the situation as “extremely complex and stressful”. Syrskyii, who was accompanied by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said in a social media statement that the Russian occupiers had “a numerical advantage in personnel”. Adblock test (Why?)

Why is France revoking birthright citizenship in Mayotte?

France has announced a controversial plan to amend the constitution to restrict citizenship to people born to immigrants in the overseas territory of Mayotte in a move aimed at curbing immigration to the Indian Ocean islands. The move has been welcomed by the far-right but opposed by socialists who say birthright citizenship rule is “non-negotiable”. Leftist leaders fear the constitutional amendment will open Pandora’s box as the far right will try to emulate it in mainland France. The announcement comes less than three weeks after France’s highest court scrapped large parts of a new immigration law designed to toughen access to welfare benefits for foreigners and curb immigration –  a hot potato in the country. Here is more about Mayotte – an archipelago between Madagascar and the African mainland – and why the change has triggered controversy. What has France announced? French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Sunday announced that children of immigrants born in Mayotte, comprising of two islands, would no longer automatically become French citizens. The decision comes after weeks of protests in Mayotte, which has seen the deterioration of living conditions blamed on immigration from impoverished Comoro islands. “It will no longer be possible to become French if you are not the child of a French parent,” Darmanin said. France currently grants citizenship through both parentage and birthplace. The latest proposal would cause further political tensions in France in the wake of the adoption of a new immigration law. But the French interior minister assured that the “radical measure” would be “limited to the Mayotte archipelago”. Where is Mayotte? Mayotte is one of the five overseas departments of France located in the Indian Ocean, off the East African coast comprising of two islands. The others in the surrounding archipelago sought independence, becoming the Comoros Islands. The Muslim-majority overseas territory, which voted to stay part of France in 1974, became a full-fledged French department in 2011. What are French overseas territories? France administers 12 territories outside of Europe, known as French overseas territories. These territories exist under various statuses as part of the French state and are largely remnants of the French colonial empire. The French overseas territories, which are divided into three categories: overseas departments, overseas communities, and special territories, are collectively home to more than 2.6 million people. The territories, collectively known as overseas France, are subject to France’s constitution and the local administration cannot devise their own laws and regulations. Why is France planning to revoke birthplace citizenship in Mayotte? Sunday’s decision by the French interior minister came in a bid to curb immigration in Mayotte, which has seen gang violence amid declining living standards. Darmanin said the reform was the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron. Mayotte residents say the arrival of immigrants has put health, housing and education services under pressure. In the capital Mamoudzou, several hundred protesters greeted Darmanin and his entourage with boos and shouts of “Mayotte is angry” amid the lack of basic amenities including water shortage. Darmanin said the measure would reduce “the attractiveness” of the archipelago for prospective immigrants. According to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), the 375sq km (145sq miles) island is home to around 310,000 people, but officials say this figure is seriously underestimated. More than 40 percent of the islanders survive on less than 160 euros ($172) per month, says INSEE. Residence permits issued to foreigners in Mayotte are only valid for the island and cannot be used to travel to mainland France. The scrapping of that system is one of the key demands of the protesters. Darmanin said the authorities would abolish the measure as part of the reform, which some protesters welcomed. What are the reactions to France’s announcement? Boris Vallaud, head of the Socialists in the National Assembly, said they would oppose the revision of the constitution. “Birthright citizenship is not negotiable,” he told a local broadcaster. The decision was also denounced by Manon Aubry of the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party. President Macron’s administration was “attacking the very concept of nationality, the foundation of the Republic”, she wrote on X. French advocacy group SOS Racisme also denounced what it called “a particularly spectacular calling into question of the principle of equality”. Centrist MP Aurelien Tache told local media that “if this provision is enacted and if Marine Le Pen then comes to power, it will be the end of birthright citizenship in France”. But Eric Ciotti, leader of the right-wing Republicans party, welcomed Darmanin’s proposed reform – but complained it did not go far enough. The measure should be applied across the whole of French territory, he said. Sebastien Chenu, spokesman for Le Pen’s far-right National Rally took a similar line. Le Pen’s niece, Marion Marechal of the far-right Reconquete party, also welcomed the announcement. Has France had tensions with other overseas territories? Macron has proven unpopular throughout France’s overseas territories. In the last presidential election, majorities of voters throughout the overseas territories voted for far-right candidate Marina Le Pen over Macron. Le Pen won 41 percent of the vote. This distrust in the system stems from the discriminatory treatment of the territories as compared to mainland France. After Macron was elected in 2017, a social movement sprung up in French Guiana in protest of inadequate public service in the region. The president responded saying he is no Santa Claus. During his election campaign, he also incorrectly called French Guiana an island. Later, Macron’s government shut down France O, a television channel featuring programming from overseas departments. French departments Martinique and neighbouring Guadeloupe also saw street demonstrations and unrest following mandatory vaccination rules for health workers. Adblock test (Why?)

Exploited, abused, trapped: The lives of Italy’s South Asian rose sellers

Names marked with an asterisk have been changed to protect identities.  After a night of selling roses in Tuscany, Mohammed* was cycling along a seaside road when someone in a passing car hit him on the back with a pole. He fell to the ground. It was August 2013 and Mohammed was 22. He believes it was intentional and likely a racist attack. “I was already broken,” he said. “But after that, I was in pieces.” He suffered emotionally and still has back pain from the assault today. He had arrived in Italy a few months earlier following a harrowing seven-month journey via land and sea. He had no documents or money and owed 9,000 euros ($9,700) to the Bangladeshi agents who had arranged his trip. Mohammed says he was guided by multiple people along the way. When he arrived in Tuscany, he was approached by men from his country who, he says, put him to work selling roses in busy city centres so he could pay for room and board at a house with nine other foreign workers. “I didn’t like bothering people while they were eating to ask them if they wanted to buy a rose from me,” said Mohammed. “But I had no choice.” Street rose sellers in Italy work long hours and are often trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and despair [Agostino Petroni/Al Jazeera] Rose sellers are a common sight in Italy’s largest and most romantic cities, such as Rome, Milan or Turin. South Asian men wield bunches of red roses and approach hordes of tourists every night. During high season, you may see about 20 rose sellers a night spread across the city centre – and dozens more on Valentine’s Day weekend. But hidden behind the universal symbol of love is a bleak story of hardship, labour exploitation and human trafficking. On a given night, rose sellers of all ages can walk miles on end, weathering rejection, police scrutiny and even violence to sell a few flowers. “They are a pain in the ass,” said a Welsh tourist on a February night, at the top of the Spanish steps in Rome. Despite their familiar presence and the dangers they encounter, there are almost no official records or data about these street vendors. In recent years, several attacks on rose sellers in various parts of the country have been reported in local news outlets; they are often carried out by young Italian men. In November, a 50-year-old Bangladeshi rose seller described as a “well-known face” in Ivrea, Turin, was brutally beaten by a group of three men. Another Bangladeshi seller was randomly pushed into the Naviglio canal in Milan by two men in 2020. A year earlier, two young men in Nettuno reportedly beat and robbed a seller whose origin was unknown. It is unclear what consequences – if any – the perpetrators ultimately faced in each case. “They are visible to everybody but there is no data. There is nothing,” said Marina Mazzini, who conducted one of the only case studies on rose vendors in Italy for the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). For this article, as well as Mohammed, Al Jazeera interviewed two other rose sellers, three former vendors and four NGOs who have supported dozens of rose vendors with their documentation. Fear, uncertainty and thankless work South Asians who end up selling roses in Italy are predominantly from Bangladesh. Nearly all have crippling debts and rely on members of their communities to help them start life in a new country. Mohammed says he was hosted in Tuscany by a man of Bangladeshi origin and another from Pakistan. On the first day Mohammed was to sell roses, his hosts gave him 30 euros ($32) and told him to go to a local flower vendor to buy them. The hosts were always in contact with the flower shops to track how many roses each seller bought, Mohammed said. He says he spent at least 12 hours a night traversing the city’s restaurants, bars, monuments and other tourist hot spots until all the flowers were sold before returning to his hosts’ home, where he would sleep with five others in the same room. A rose vendor makes a sale in Fontana di Trevi, one of Rome’s busiest tourist destinations [Agostino Petroni/Al Jazeera] There is no going rate for a red rose. Vendors may ask for a few euros and accept between two and five ($2.16 to $5.40) depending on each sale. If he made 120 euros ($129) from selling 200 roses on a good night, he would have to give 60 euros ($65) to the flower seller and 50 euros ($54) back to his hosts for room, board and the promise of a good lawyer to get his paperwork in order, Mohammed said. The 10 euros ($11) left were usually spent on cigarettes and a coffee. Soon, he had trouble sleeping, and started suffering from panic attacks and nightmares about his journey – part of which he says was spent on a ship with 200 other people making their way from Egypt to Sicily. If local police poked around when he was working, Mohammed was transferred to a different area. In between selling flowers, he worked at a Bangladeshi grocery store in Genova, where he says his work was never compensated, sold artichokes at a Milan market and sold roses again in southern Italy, while toiling intermittently as a gardener, dishwasher and chef’s assistant. After about seven years, Mohammed was granted asylum in 2018 as a victim of human trafficking with the help of a local NGO, Comunità Progetto Sud. Mohammed believes his countrymen let him down. “A Moroccan helped me to learn Italian and Italians helped me get documents,” Mohammed said. “I have only been exploited by my own people.” “To the young people who are now coming to Italy, I tell them not to trust their own people,” he added. Recognising exploitation Uddin Md Mofiz, 55, who

‘World needs governments which are inclusive, take everyone along’: PM Modi at World Governments Summit

In his address at the World Government Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the pressing challenges of the 21st century, such as food, health, water, and energy security, despite technological progress

Former Navy SEAL launches massive six-figure ad buy promoting Trump endorsement in key Senate race

FIRST ON FOX: Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy’s campaign is dropping six-figures to promote his coveted Senate endorsement from former President Donald Trump with a new ad buy across the Big Sky State.  Trump announced last week he was endorsing Sheehy in the crucial Montana Senate race to unseat Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The announcement came just hours after Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., also announced his candidacy for the primary race. Trump’s backing was a key move in the Republican primary race, and Sheehy is taking the opportunity to share support from the leading 2024 presidential candidate with the rest of Montana in an ad buy. The new ad, shared first with Fox News Digital, begins with a picture of Sheehy and Trump together, while a narrator reads from the former president’s endorsement on Truth Social.  DONALD TRUMP ENDORSES ‘AMERICAN HERO’ TIM SHEEHY IN BATTLEGROUND SENATE RACE “President Trump is endorsing former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy for the United States Senate. Trump says Sheehy is a political outsider, who is strong on the border, strong on our military and vets, and strong on the second amendment,”  the narrator says. “Trump calls Sheehy an American hero, and a highly successful businessman who will beat Jon Tester.”  “Tim Sheehy is the Trump-endorsed conservative who will put America first,” the ad narrator said. CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND ANNOUNCES RUN FOR KEY BATTLEGROUND SENATE RACE BEING TARGETED BY DEMS The six-figure television and digital advertisement buy will begin running Wednesday across Montana, Fox News Digital learned. Trump made the endorsement Friday in a post on Truth Social. “I LOVE MONTANA!” Trump wrote in the endorsement announcement. “Tim Sheehy is an American Hero and highly successful Businessman from the Great State of Montana. He is strongly supported by our incredible Chairman of the NRSC, Steve Daines, and many other patriotic Senators and Republicans who have endorsed our Campaign to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump also mentioned Sheehy’s primary opponent, Rosendale, who was defeated by Tester in the 2018 Montana Senate race. “I also respect Matt Rosendale, and was very happy to Endorse him in the past – and will Endorse him again in the future should he decide to change course and run for his Congressional Seat. But in this instance, Tim is the candidate who is currently best-positioned to DEFEAT Lazy Jon Tester, and Regain the Republican Majority in the United States Senate,” Trump said.  Sheehy and Rosendale will battle for the Republican nomination at the Montana primary election on June 4, 2024.

Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt Democrat Tom Souzzi’s victory speech after he wins congressional seat

Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., giving a victory speech Tuesday night in a special election for a vacant House seat once held by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December. Chants of “You support genocide,” “Stop supporting genocide” and “Ceasefire now”were heard from protesters in the crowd holding Palestinian flags. One demonstrator appeared to be knocked off the stage by security amid the chants, which come more than four months after Hamas terrorists launched their Oct. 7 attack against Israel, prompting military retaliation from Israeli forces. The crowd then drowned out the pro-Palestinian protesters by shouting “Souzzi! Souzzi! Souzzi!” DEMS FLIP SEAT AS SUOZZI WINS CRUCIAL SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION IN NEW YORK Suozzi was projected Tuesday night to defeat Republican county lawmaker Mazi Pilip to win back his old job. “I did call my opponent. I congratulated him,” Pilip told supporters at an election night gathering. “We are fighters. Yes, we lost. But it doesn’t mean we’re going to end here.” Suozzi, speaking a few minutes later at his victory celebration, emphasized that “despite all the attacks and despite all the lies about Tom Suozzi and the squad, about Tom Suozzi being the godfather of the migrant crisis, about sanctuary Suozzi, despite the dirty tricks, despite the vaunted Nassau County Republican machine, we won.” The Long Island district held for a decade by Democrats was flipped by Santos in the 2022 midterms. However, Santos was kicked out of the House less than a year into his tenure for lying about his background and being indicted for several financial crimes. BIDEN ACCUSED OF ‘BETRAYAL OF ISRAEL,’ CATERING TO FAR-LEFT VOTERS FOLLOWING MEETING WITH KING OF JORDAN Suozzi, who represented the district for six years before running unsuccessfully for governor, repeatedly attempted to tie Pilip to Santos and former President Trump. Pilip, an Ethiopian Jew who fled to Israel at age 12 to escape persecution and who later enlisted and served in the Israeli military before immigrating to the U.S., attempted to link Suozzi to President Biden and the illegal immigration crisis. With the GOP hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, national Republicans and Democrats poured big bucks into this race in suburban New York City where immigration and border security, crime, and abortion were viewed as the top issues. When Suozzi is sworn in following Tuesday’s special election, the Republican majority in the House slips to 219-213. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt Democrat Tom Suozzi’s victory speech after he wins congressional seat

Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., giving a victory speech Tuesday night in a special election for a vacant House seat once held by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December. Chants of “You support genocide,” “Stop supporting genocide” and “Ceasefire now”were heard from protesters in the crowd holding Palestinian flags. One demonstrator appeared to be knocked off the stage by security amid the chants, which come more than four months after Hamas terrorists launched their Oct. 7 attack against Israel, prompting military retaliation from Israeli forces. The crowd then drowned out the pro-Palestinian protesters by shouting “Suozzi! Suozzi! Suozzi!” DEMS FLIP SEAT AS SUOZZI WINS CRUCIAL SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION IN NEW YORK Suozzi was projected Tuesday night to defeat Republican county lawmaker Mazi Pilip to win back his old job. “I did call my opponent. I congratulated him,” Pilip told supporters at an election night gathering. “We are fighters. Yes, we lost. But it doesn’t mean we’re going to end here.” Suozzi, speaking a few minutes later at his victory celebration, emphasized that “despite all the attacks and despite all the lies about Tom Suozzi and the squad, about Tom Suozzi being the godfather of the migrant crisis, about sanctuary Suozzi, despite the dirty tricks, despite the vaunted Nassau County Republican machine, we won.” The Long Island district held for a decade by Democrats was flipped by Santos in the 2022 midterms. However, Santos was kicked out of the House less than a year into his tenure for lying about his background and being indicted for several financial crimes. BIDEN ACCUSED OF ‘BETRAYAL OF ISRAEL,’ CATERING TO FAR-LEFT VOTERS FOLLOWING MEETING WITH KING OF JORDAN Suozzi, who represented the district for six years before running unsuccessfully for governor, repeatedly attempted to tie Pilip to Santos and former President Trump. Pilip, an Ethiopian Jew who fled to Israel at age 12 to escape persecution and who later enlisted and served in the Israeli military before immigrating to the U.S., attempted to link Suozzi to President Biden and the illegal immigration crisis. With the GOP hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, national Republicans and Democrats poured big bucks into this race in suburban New York City where immigration and border security, crime, and abortion were viewed as the top issues. When Suozzi is sworn in following Tuesday’s special election, the Republican majority in the House slips to 219-213. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Billionaire-fueled Rockefeller fund coordinated climate lawsuits with Dem state AG: internal documents

EXCLUSIVE: Left-wing nonprofits quietly coordinated a first-of-its-kind investigation into Big Oil led by the New York State Attorney General (NYAG) years ago, sparking dozens of current climate lawsuits, according to newly disclosed internal communications. The communications — obtained by watchdog group Government Accountability & Oversight (GAO) and shared with Fox News Digital — show Lee Wasserman, the longtime director of the billionaire-fueled Rockefeller Family Fund, and other climate advocates first pitched the idea of subpoenaing oil giant ExxonMobil to then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office in early 2015. Following months of coordination and dialogue between Wasserman, his associates and NYAG officials, including current New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg who was leading NYAG’s Social Justice division at the time, Schneiderman subpoenaed ExxonMobil in November 2015. Three years later, the NYAG filed a lawsuit against the multinational oil major, accusing it of fraud and misleading investors on global warming. “These newly released emails and memos, withheld for seven years, document how outside ideological and political interests convinced law enforcement to launch investigations of political opponents — even over the New York AG Office’s own lawyers’ reservations — in service of a larger, planned lawfare offensive,” Chris Horner, an attorney representing GAO, told Fox News Digital. “They represent a civil libertarian’s nightmare.” CONSUMER GROUP REVEALS LEFT-WING GROUPS INCREASINGLY USING COURTS TO PUSH GREEN NEW DEAL “This dispels beyond doubt the fiction of a ‘missing link’ between outside financial, ideological, and political lobbies and the nationwide campaign of lawfare brought by governmental plaintiffs and their partners in law enforcement,” he added. “It puts the lie to claims that these suits are a series of unrelated, purely local actions: Every single ‘climate’ lawsuit has the DNA of this ‘Patient Zero’ case, weaponizing law enforcement against the ‘climate’ industry’s political opponents.” According to the documents, which GAO recently received after a multi-year information request lawsuit, the Rockefeller Family Fund’s Wasserman emailed NYAG Environmental Protection Bureau Chief Lemuel Srolovic on Feb. 3, 2015, referencing a meeting they recently had regarding ExxonMobil. In the email, Wasserman requested another meeting with Srolovic where his associates would present a “trove of material.” MAJOR ‘CLIMATE DECEPTION’ LAWSUIT AGAINST BIG OIL VOLUNTARILY DISMISSED That follow-up meeting was scheduled for Feb. 23, 2015, and included other climate activists who had for years argued ExxonMobil deceived the public on the impact of fossil fuels on global warming. The other attendees were former Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando, Energy and Policy Institute Deputy Director Matt Kasper, Climate Investigations Center Founder Kert Davies and Rockefeller Family Fund adviser Larry Shapiro. “If the [fossil fuel] companies admitted what they know about climate science, it would almost certainly hasten greater regulatory changes to restrict the extraction of fossil fuels,” Wasserman wrote to Srolovic days before the meeting. “In our opinion, their work to confuse the public about the science has mismarked the value of their reserves, which supports their current stock valuations.” “Even if greater regulation were not to occur, climate change will have meaningful financial consequences, both positive and negative, e.g. inundation of infrastructure and opening of the Arctic and other previously inaccessible places for drilling,” he continued. TOP REPUBLICANS LAUNCH PROBE INTO LEONARDO DICAPRIO-FUNDED BLUE STATE LAWSUITS AGAINST BIG OIL Then, one month later, in March 2015, Wasserman sent a memo his organization crafted outlining the legal case against ExxonMobil to then-NYAG Chief of Staff Micah Lasher. Minutes after receiving the Rockefeller Family Fund memo, Lasher then forwarded it to Bragg, Srolovic, NYAG senior lawyer John Oleske and NYAG senior enforcement counsel Steven Glassman. The memo notably resembles the arguments the state would eventually make in court. “The Office of the New York Attorney General should investigate whether leading energy companies are conducting a scam to prop up their share prices by minimizing the risk that climate change poses to their business models,” the memo states. “That risk is simple: energy company valuations are driven by ‘proven reserves’ of oil, gas, and coal.” “If the reserves cannot be used – because of regulation or an ecological disaster, two very real possibilities – energy stocks must fall,” it adds. “Energy companies prop up their current high valuations by disseminating misinformation about climate change and valuing reserves as if they had no chance of being stranded underground.” The memo further states that ExxonMobil can be sued for violating the Martin Act of 1921 which grants the NYAG broad powers in investigating potential fraud. And it calls for the NYAG to subpoena the company for its internal climate studies and internal communications related to climate change. LEFT-WING CLIMATE GROUP IS QUIETLY PREPARING JUDGES FOR GLOBAL WARMING CASES But shortly after the NYAG officials reviewed the memo, Lasher contacted Wasserman, expressing concern about the suggested legal arguments. Still, despite the apparent questions, he said he was committed to pursuing the issue. “Please do know that I want to find a way on this as much as you do,” he wrote to Wasserman on March 14, 2015. “What you may have heard from me today was a bit of vexed struggle as I balance needing all the help from thought partners as we can get with protecting the prerogatives of our office and the judgment of our attorneys.” Following additional meetings and communications, Wasserman then sent an updated memo to the NYAG office in April 2015. “Your staff is concerned that the fossil fuel companies might succeed in motions to quash subpoenas aimed at their spreading misinformation about climate change. This fear is misplaced,” the updated memo states.  “Your office can reduce the chance of motions to quash ever being filed by sending out initial discovery requests without alerting the press,” it continues, explaining how the NYAG can avoid publicity. “Martin Act investigations can be completely confidential, so if a case fails to materialize the inquiry can be abandoned without publicity.” DARK MONEY GROUP WIRED MILLIONS TO LAW FIRM SUING BIG OIL WITH DEM STATES Former Attorney General Schneiderman eventually issued the subpoena against ExxonMobil on Nov.