President-elect Trump’s cabinet picks are filled with Billionaires that have no past experience in government. Today, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, proved to be a liar when he lied under oath at his own confirmation hearing.
Tillerson has been known to have a long history of doing business with the Russian government. During the hearing, he was asked about his, and Exxon Mobil’s, history of lobbying against sanctions which were put in place against Russia by President Barack Obama’s administration in response to the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014. He answered with “I have never lobbied against sanctions. To my knowledge, Exxon never directly lobbied against sanctions.”
But, according to Politico, “ExxonMobil successfully lobbied against a bill that would have made it harder for the next president to lift sanctions against Russia, clearing the way for the oil giant to restart a program worth billions of dollars if Donald Trump eases those restrictions as president.”
Wall street journal reporter Byron Tau also had his fair share of facts that he posted on Twitter that shows evidence of Tillerson’s attempted deception.
There are 14 lobbying reports where Exxon lists lobbying on sanctions between 2006 and 2014, despite what Tillerson just said under oath
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) January 11, 2017
Here a 2010 lobbying report from Exxon listing where the issue of sanctions lobbying is listed seven times. https://t.co/9h8CZnJwVb
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) January 11, 2017
Here’s a 2014 lobbying report from Exxon where it lobbies on “provisions related to sanctions” in a Russia bill. https://t.co/6obNVy5SAi
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) January 11, 2017
I could keep going, but you get the point. Exxon lobbied on sanctions and disclosed that activity in public reports. Period.
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) January 11, 2017
By Tillerson saying “I have never lobbied against sanctions. To my knowledge, Exxon never directly lobbied against sanctions,” makes him a liar under oath, which is a felony that could cost him five years in prison.
If law prevails, Tillerson should be prosecuted for his lies. Leave it to Trump to pick this man to carry out foreign policies.