The evidence mounts that state Controller Tom DiNapoli misused his power as sole trustee of the state pension fund in pressing Chevron to settle a lawsuit over decades-old pollution in Ecuador.
DiNapoli’s public pressure had everything going for it — except the merits. Chevron was a crowd-pleasing target, and all the more so because the oil giant (actually its predecessor, Texaco) stood accused of despoiling nature. Then, too, the lawyer driving the suit, Steven Donziger, and allies donated $68,000 to DiNapoli’s political war chest since 2008.
