Rob Bonta and others are accused of conspiring to defame the Spring-based oil giant and its plastic recycling initiatives.

The oil giant ExxonMobil this week sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alleging that the state’s chief lawyer has been motivated by “foreign influence, personal ambition, and a murky source of financing rife with conflicting business interests.”

The lawsuit, an unusual strategy for the oil giant, comes after California’s attorney general sued Exxon last year alleging it misled the public about plastics recycling.