VIDEO: Tillerson to Menendez: “Were we lobbying for the sanctions or against the sanctions?”

VIDEO: Tillerson to Menendez: “Were we lobbying for the sanctions or against the sanctions?”

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, continued to question Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson today on an alarming answer he gave earlier this morning where he claimed he was unaware of Exxon ever lobbying against Russia or Iran sanctions. 

When Menendez presented Tillerson with the required government disclosure forms showing Exxon did register to lobby on the issue, Tillerson asked Menendez “Were we lobbying for the sanctions or lobbying against the sanctions?” to which Menendez replied, “I know you weren’t lobbying for the sanctions.”

“It’s a little difficult to think you actually don’t know that Exxon was lobbying on the issues of sanctions,” Menendez asked. “Do you believe you were paying money to lobby for sanctions? Could you imagine being in a position in which you would have your company and its shareholders lobby for a position that would affect your bottom line?”

Tillerson repeatedly replied, “I don’t know.”

In response to Senator Menendez’s questions earlier in the day, Tillerson told Menendez “I have never lobbied against sanctions personally…To my knowledge, Exxon never lobbied directly against sanctions.”

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