Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against California AG Rob Bonta and a number of environmental groups, including Surfrider, saying they defamed the company.

Exxon Mobil Corp. filed a federal defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, months after Bonta sued the oil and gas giant alleging that it deceived the public for half a century by promising the plastics it produced would be recycled.

The Texas-based company said in its lawsuit, filed Monday in that state's Eastern District, that Bonta, the Sierra Club, San Francisco Baykeeper, Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation ...