House GOP launches probe into alleged climate group influence on federal judges

By Fox News · Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee has opened an investigation into whether a climate law group is improperly influencing federal judges on environment-related cases. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan , R-Ohio, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the panel's subcommittee on Courts, sent four letters to varying judicial groups and lawyers asking for more information on communications with the Environmental Law Institute. "The Committee on the Judiciary is investigating allegations of improper attempts by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and its Climate Judiciary Project (CJP) to influence federal judges. Public reports have documented concerns around apparent efforts by ELI and CJP to influence judges who potentially may be presiding over lawsuits related to alleged climate change claims," the letter to the Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) read. "These efforts appear to have the underlying goal of predisposing federal judges in favor of plaintiffs alleging injuries from the manufacturing, marketing, use, or sale of fossil-fuel products." TOP ENERGY GROUP CALLS FOR PROBE INTO SECRETIVE 'NATIONAL LAWFARE CAMPAIGN' TO INFLUENCE JUDGES ON CLIMATE Jordan and Issa argued that existing JCUS policy acknowledged risks of allowing privately funded education programs to distribute material to courts, but that its policy was also "leaving the door open for groups like ELI and CJP to exert influence through program content and contact between judges and those who litigate before them." A separate letter to David Bookbinder, director of law and policy at the Environmental Integrity Project, alleged that "evidence has emerged that raises questions about whether ELI, CJP, or one or more of its ‘experts’ coordinated with you on judicial training materials while you simultaneously litigated climate-related cases pending before federal courts." Jordan and Issa charged that Bookbinder had "pre-publication access and provided peer review" for documents…