Chemical Industry Group Suit Survives Against California’s Bonta

A federal judge refused to dismiss the American Chemistry Council’s claims that California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) violated the group’s First Amendment rights by seeking documents for his probe into plastics recycling.

The case involves Bonta’s investigation into the petrochemical industry, which he has accused of running a decades-long campaign of deception around plastics recycling.

Bonta, who recently withdrew both his original subpoena for documents in his investigation and a subsequent petition to enforce it, told the US District Court for the District of Columbia in October that the trade group’s claims were now moot and should be dismissed. ...