A federal judge overseeing the glyphosate litigation in San Francisco said last month that he was inclined to order Rowland to submit to questioning by lawyers for the plaintiffs, who contend he had a “highly suspicious” relationship with Monsanto. Rowland oversaw a committee that found insufficient evidence to conclude glyphosate causes cancer and left his job last year after his report was leaked to the press.

Monsanto issued a statement defending its use of glyphosate without directly addressing the allegations about Rowland. The retired official couldn’t immediately be reached for comment about the multiple documents concerning his role at the agency that were ordered unsealed Tuesday by the judge.

“Glyphosate is not a carcinogen,” the company said. “The allegation that glyphosate can cause cancer in humans is inconsistent with decades of comprehensive safety reviews by the leading regulatory authorities around the world.”

Monsanto also said the documents submitted by plaintiffs’ lawyers “are taken out of context.”

“Plucking a single email out of context doesn’t change the fact that the U.S. EPA and regulators around the world ... have concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans,” the company said in the statement.