Vermont Case Raises Dicey Question: Are State AG Emails “Privileged”?

When the Vermont Attorney General’s office was preparing to investigate Exxon Mobil for allegedly hiding its own climate change research, it was exchanging information with the AG’s office in New York state, which had a similar project in mind. The lawsuit was never filed, but now the conservative D.C.-based Energy and Environment Legal Institute, which advocates for “free-market environmentalism,” wants to have a look at that email exchange. The Vermont AG says no, it’s privileged. But the Institute says that can’t be, because if carried to its logical conclusion, the AG’s office would essentially be arguing that “everything is confidential, except for the things that they choose to disclose.” When the judge in the case appeared to take that same approach, the lawyer for the AG’s office was forced into an uncomfortable backtrack. The case is ongoing.