AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. Senate Democrats plan to enlist accountants and legal experts to pore through the business records of Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Democratic aides said.

Tillerson could face a rocky confirmation process, given concerns among both Democrats and Republicans about his ties to Russia, Reuters reported. If Tillerson can overcome the skepticism of Republicans, he could win confirmation since their party will control a slim majority in the Senate when Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Democrats' misgivings about Tillerson go well beyond the worry that he might be too accommodating toward Moscow. They see risks of conflicts if the head of the $380 billion oil giant becomes the nation's top diplomat and they want to ensure that his personal wealth and business interests get close scrutiny.

Aides said Democrats began assembling experts to prepare for Tillerson's confirmation even before his nomination was formally announced on Tuesday.

"We will bring in people who have been through confirmation battles before," a Democratic leadership aide said. "We want to have a very thorough review. We are very comfortable with this process taking as long as it needs."

In many ways, Exxon operates its own kind of diplomatic corps, dispatching executives to network with government officials in the more than 40 countries in which the company operates.

"The scale and the reach of Exxon Mobil ... does raise some questions about those relationships and how his experience at the helm of Exxon Mobil will influence his decision-making as secretary," said Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will hold Tillerson's confirmation hearing next month.

Tillerson, 64, is on the New York Times' list of the 200 highest-paid CEOs, having earned some $24.3 million in 2016. He has a net worth of $150 million, plus a $70 million pension plan. He would likely need to divest his holdings of Exxon stock.