California Attorney General Xavier Becerra hinted that the state might investigate ExxonMobil’s records on climate change and Facebook’s alleged failure to protect people’s personal data.
California would absolutely keep “on top of” allegations Facebook was too lax with people’s personal data leading up to the 2016 election, Becerra told The Sacramento Bee Wednesday. Exxon would also be on the state’s radar, he added without explicitly stating a probe was forthcoming.
“You can imagine that on some of these matters that impact Californians … we’re going to be on top of it, whether it’s Facebook, Exxon, Equifax, opioids, Stephon Clark. We’ll be on top of it, but we won’t tell you what, if anything, we’re doing on any of these matters,” Becerra said of his continued refusal to publicize state investigations.
“We don’t need to telegraph what we’re doing,” Becerra said, adding that the policy can make things difficult during re-election campaigns. “It makes it difficult sometimes to get into some of these conversations, and it makes it awkward when you’re running in a campaign when people accuse you of things and you cannot respond.”
Becerra’s decision to stay mum is in keeping with the state’s former AG and now-Sen. Kamala Harris’s repeated refusals to come clean about where California stands on the probe. Harris, a Democrat who left office to run for Senate in 2026, has frequently responded with “no comment” whenever reporters asked her about any upcoming Exxon probes.
Her non-committal has allowed lawmakers and various elements within the environmental movement to cast her as a supporter of Schneiderman’s pursuit. Lawmakers wrote in an LA Time’s editorial earlier this year that they want Becerra to take up Harris’ position.
Follow Chris White on Facebook and Twitter.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.