It was only about four minutes into last week's GOP primary debate when the attention turned to one of the Republican primary season's favorite punching bags: BlackRock Inc. (BLK).

The question was whether the surging Nikki Haley was "too tight" with Wall Street — and BlackRock in particular — because the former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor recently met with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

BlackRock's name was then invoked repeatedly during the two hours that followed, with multiple candidates lobbing charges against the world's biggest money manager.

BlackRock — a longtime proponent of investing in companies that follow environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles — was trying "to use economic power to impose a left-wing agenda on this country," as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis put it.

"I love all the attention fellas," quipped Haley from the debate stage last week as she pushed back on the barrage of charges around BlackRock and other issues.

The exchanges were rife with falsehoods, and Fink personally rebutted them the next day. But what they showed is how the ascendance of Haley could further elevate the prominence of the GOP's campaign against ESG investing as the primary season heats up in early 2024.

BlackRock has become a corporate face for this controversial investing trend thanks to annual letters from Fink urging companies to prepare for climate change. Fink, due to the political blowback, now refuses to use the acronym "ESG" at all.

But that hasn't slowed the GOP attacks. And there are likely more to come as the House GOP pursues an ESG investigation led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan. The committee this week announced two subpoenas seeking ESG information from asset management companies, including BlackRock rival Vanguard.

Repeated mentions from the debate stage

BlackRock is certainly a popular topic this campaign season.

Through the four debates, BlackRock has now been mentioned at least seven times, according to a Yahoo Finance analysis of debate transcripts compiled by Rev, while becoming a regular feature in the candidates' daily messages.

DeSantis in particular often touts a bill he signed as Florida governor that pulled funds from BlackRock.

The issue placed Haley on the defensive last week when debate moderator Megyn Kelly asked about her meeting with Fink as well as with the heads of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS).

The questioning came after Haley had eclipsed candidates like DeSantis in the polls and appeared for the moment to be the strongest GOP candidate to face frontrunner Donald Trump.

The colorful charges included entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy calling Fink "the king of the woke industrial complex" and Haley saying she won't change her views but "when it comes to these corporate people that want to suddenly support us, we'll take it."

In a response late last week, Fink penned a LinkedIn post that called the exchange part of the "political silly season" and rebutted some the charges, including the false notion that he endorsed Haley.

He wrote instead that "I meet with policy makers all the time to understand the implications for our clients. That's my job."

Haley did receive one prominent CEO backer (of a sort) recently when JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon urged Democrats to support Haley and help stand her up as a viable alternative to Trump.

But throughout last week's debate, it was BlackRock that Haley's rivals focused on. Fink has now managed to come up on the debate stage more often than Tesla CEO Elon Musk as well as the tech CEOs leading the "Magnificent Seven" stocks, according to Yahoo Finance analysis of debate transcripts.

Another company getting increased attention alongside Haley is Boeing (BA), which had Haley briefly on its board of directors before she resigned in 2020. Like BlackRock, Boeing's name has been mentioned seven times, mostly as Haley's opponents criticized her.

Another area of inquiry: Capitol Hill

The GOP's focus on ESG likely won't fade anytime soon.

Another area of focus in the coming months will be from Capitol Hill as Jordan looks into what his House Judiciary Committee describes as "collusive agreements to promote and adopt left-wing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals."

The committee announced new subpoenas for Vanguard Group, another asset management giant, and for Arjuna Capital, a smaller firm focused on sustainable investing. The legal action came after the committee requested documents this summer about ESG practices and in both cases, the committee says, the company's response "has been inadequate."

Left off Jordan's subpoena list, for this week at least, is BlackRock.

Fink's company has been the recipient of multiple letters so far from Jordan's committee asking to turn over documents voluntarily, with a source familiar with the investigation making clear BlackRock could be in for additional questioning.

Asked about the possibility of additional subpoenas coming soon, including for BlackRock, this source said that "all options remain on the table."

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

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