Rex Tillerson, who is now serving as Secretary of State, had been using an alias email account when he was still the CEO of energy company Exxon Mobil Corp. The move was questioned by lawmakers who argued that the alias email account was used to discuss climate change issues.
According to a report by The Hill, attorneys of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP came to Tillerson's defense after his use of alias email account during his tenure at Exxon Mobil raised some concerns amongst lawmakers. The attorneys sent a letter to a state supreme court justice to say that the alias email account was not all about keeping information secret.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office wanted Tillerson to explain why he used a different email account for certain dealings when he was Exxon Mobil's CEO. Tillerson apparently used the name Wayne Tracker, which had a different email address than the official one he used as Exxon Mobil's CEO.
The New York attorney general seems to be making a connection between the use of the alias email account and Exxon Mobil's stance when it comes to climate change. Schneiderman's office is looking into whether the energy giant has misled the public about its findings related to climate change.
CNBC reported that Exxon Mobil believes that the New York attorney general's move to publicly disclose Tillerson's use of an alias email account destroyed its reputation. The energy giant said the New York attorney general should have discussed the matter with it first before going to the public with the information.
Exxon Mobil attorneys claimed that Tillerson did not violate any rules in using an alias email account. The purpose of the alias email account was to allow some senior executives to directly contact Tillerson when he was still the CEO of Exxon Mobil.
Meanwhile, Jobs & Hire previously reported that Edward Snowden is urging President Donald Trump to provide proof that he was wiretapped when he was running for the presidency.
