House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has launched an investigation into a California-based climate advocacy group, demanding records tied to its lawsuits against American energy companies amid concerns that foreign funding may be shaping litigation inside U.S. courts, according to a letter obtained by The Daily Wire.
The Ohio Republican sent the request Thursday to ClientEarth USA, formally asking the organization to turn over documents about its climate-focused legal work. Jordan said he wants to determine whether the group is “using foreign funding and abusing the American legal system to disrupt American industries and stop domestic energy production.”
ClientEarth USA maintains a “strategic partnership” with the U.K.-based ClientEarth Group, and its own financial filings show it received hundreds of thousands of dollars from its British affiliate in 2024. In a December 2024 filing, the group reported receiving “$370,332 of restricted contributions from ClientEarth UK to establish program activities in the United States of America.”
Focus on ‘Foreign-Sourced’ Litigation Funding
In the letter, Jordan frames the inquiry as part of a broader effort to scrutinize how overseas money flows into American legal battles. Because ClientEarth draws funding from affiliated entities abroad, the chairman argued, those foreign entities and their donors “may have outsized influence on the types of lawsuits that ClientEarth brings in U.S. courts that affect American industries.”
He said the investigation centers on “addressing the use of foreign-sourced third-party litigation funding.”
The letter follows reporting that large sums from overseas have flowed into U.S.-based climate and environmental advocacy organizations. A report from Americans for Public Trust found that groups based in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Switzerland poured nearly $2 billion into American climate organizations in recent years, according to The Daily Wire.
Jordan zeroed in on two active ClientEarth USA cases. One seeks to help a man who wants his company to offer a “fossil free” retirement investment option. Another, filed in Colorado, accuses two oil and gas production companies of failing to meet their responsibility to plug abandoned oil wells.
“The outcome of this and similar lawsuits could affect U.S. policy on domestic energy production and interstate commerce,” Jordan wrote.
Questions About Carbon Tracker Ties
The chairman also pressed ClientEarth USA to explain its relationship with Carbon Tracker, a U.K.-based financial think tank that advocates aligning investment markets with a transition away from traditional fossil fuel energy. The two organizations recently took part in the same event during London Climate Action Week.
For Jordan, that overlap raises the possibility of coordination between Carbon Tracker and other third parties “interested in securing favorable judgments against American energy producers.” He asked the group to clarify the nature and extent of any such coordination.
The Daily Wire said it reached out to ClientEarth USA for comment on the letter.
The probe adds another front to the ongoing clash between congressional Republicans and environmental groups over the role of outside money in climate litigation. Jordan’s demand for records signals that the Judiciary Committee intends to examine not only the funding behind such groups but also the strategic alliances they form as they pursue cases against domestic energy producers.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-jim-jordan-takes-aim-at-foreign-funded-climate-activist-group