Legal Scholars To GOP Climate Deniers: You Can't Subpoena Activist Groups

In a Monday letter to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), climate change denier and chair of the House Science Committee, several constitutional experts argued that the committee should not have issued subpoenas to environmental groups as part of its probe into state investigations of Exxon.

The scholars wrote in the letter obtained by InsideClimate News that "these Subpoenas violate the separation of powers, exceed the committee’s delegated authority, abridge the First Amendment, and undermine fundamental principles of federalism."

"The Subpoenas should not have been issued and should not be enforced. We urge you to withdraw voluntarily these misguided demands for information your committee has no legitimate right to inspect," the letter reads....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/legal-scholars-science-committee-subpoenas