An investigation of billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer’s campaign contributions reveals a pattern of unusual donations to several cities and counties in California involved in climate liability litigation against the fossil fuel industry. The donations, all of which were made either shortly before or after the municipalities filed their lawsuits, have been given new significance after the Daily Caller published a memo this week that reveals Steyer’s team discussed opportunities to pay the “California AG and/or one or more California city attorney[s] [to] open investigations of Exxon” following the New York Attorney General’s announcement that he was investigating the company for alleged climate fraud.

The November 2015 memo directly contradicts past statements about the ExxonMobil investigation by Steyer, who has claimed, “We’re definitely not pushing this thing…We are not part of this effort.”

This latest revelation, paired with contributions from Steyer and his NextGen CA Committee to the various plaintiffs either shortly before or after they announced their lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, suggest that Tom Steyer is actually a major kingpin in the #ExxonKnew Campaign.

Continue reading at EID Climate.