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='''Attorney General Offices'''= | ='''Attorney General Offices'''= | ||
==Background - Start Here== | |||
=== | ==='''2018 Aug 28 - [https://cei.org/studies/law-enforcement-for-rent/ Law Enforcement for Rent]'''(thorough report)=== | ||
* | *Author’s Note: This paper is based on documents obtained over two and a half years from open records requests and, in some cases, subsequent litigation. Due to the volume of records, not all cited records are included in the body of this paper. Key documents are provided in the paper’s appendix, which can be accessed at CEI.org. The complete collection of documents cited in this paper is available at ClimateLitigationWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit public interest law firm Government Accountability & Oversight. | ||
==='''[https://climatelitigationwatch.org/attorney-general-paper/ Extensive collection of documents]'''=== | |||
==General / Multiple States== | |||
===2021 Apr 25 - [https://insidesources.com/bloomberg-blasted-for-using-billions-to-block-vaccines-for-tobacco-company-workers/ Bloomberg Blasted for Using Billions to Block Vaccines for Tobacco Company Workers]=== | ===2021 Apr 25 - [https://insidesources.com/bloomberg-blasted-for-using-billions-to-block-vaccines-for-tobacco-company-workers/ Bloomberg Blasted for Using Billions to Block Vaccines for Tobacco Company Workers]=== | ||
*Since at least 2017, Bloomberg has funneled money to attorneys general offices in nine states and the District of Columbia to essentially underwrite government lawsuits against oil companies. Much of that funding came through New York University law school’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. It used a $6 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to fund the hiring of “special assistant attorneys general” to help states sue oil companies for their alleged culpability for climate change. | *Since at least 2017, Bloomberg has funneled money to attorneys general offices in nine states and the District of Columbia to essentially underwrite government lawsuits against oil companies. Much of that funding came through New York University law school’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. It used a $6 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to fund the hiring of “special assistant attorneys general” to help states sue oil companies for their alleged culpability for climate change. | ||
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=== | ===2020 Feb 18 - [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bloomberg-network-climate-lawyers-ag Bloomberg’s ‘mercenaries’: Billionaire Dem funding network of climate lawyers inside state AG offices]=== | ||
* | *The arrangement, which currently pays the salaries of Special Assistant Attorneys General (SAAGs) in 10 Democratic AG offices, is drawing new scrutiny now that Bloomberg is running for president. The New York University School of Law's State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, which was started in 2017 with $5.6 million from Bloomberg's nonprofit, hires mid-career lawyers as "research fellows" before providing them to state AGs where they assist in pursuing "progressive" policy goals through the courts. | ||
===2020 Feb | ===2020 Feb 16 - [https://insidesources.com/bloomberg-privately-funds-attorneys-in-state-ag-offices-while-running-for-president/ Bloomberg Privately Funds Attorneys in State AG Offices While Running for President]=== | ||
* | *Michael Bloomberg’s billions aren’t just buying ads. In at least two Super Tuesday states, his money funds private lawyers working inside attorneys general offices, advancing his political agenda on the environment. | ||
*Massachusetts and Minnesota, whose Democratic voters will go to the polls on Super Tuesday, are among at least 10 states where activist attorneys are working for the state AGs offices but are paid through the Impact Center. Their mission is to promote state legal action to advance Bloomberg’s political views, such as lawsuits against energy companies. | |||
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===2018 Nov 06 - [https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-ags-for-rent-1541549567 State AGs for Rent]=== | ===2018 Nov 06 - [https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-ags-for-rent-1541549567 State AGs for Rent]=== | ||
*Subscription site | |||
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=== | ==Minnesota== | ||
* | ===2022 Apr 04 - [https://climatelitigationwatch.org/minnesota-ag-race-becomes-interesting-thanks-to-participation-in-bloomberg-saags-scheme/ Minnesota AG Race Becomes Interesting Thanks to Participation in Bloomberg “SAAGs” Scheme]=== | ||
*Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, a bit less popular now in that rather chaotic state than four years ago, has three Republicans vying for their party’s nomination to take him on. Apparently all of them are committed, if elected, to firing the “Special Assistant Attorneys General” provided Ellison by billionaire climate activist Michael Bloomberg | |||
*Lots of links in this article to investigate! | |||
===2022 Feb 10 - [https://eidclimate.org/minnesota-considers-legislation-to-block-attorney-general-from-accepting-bloomberg-attorneys/ MINNESOTA CONSIDERS LEGISLATION TO BLOCK ATTORNEY GENERAL FROM ACCEPTING BLOOMBERG ATTORNEYS]=== | |||
*As EID Climate has noted before, Attorney General Keith Ellison currently employees two Special Assistant Attorneys General (SAAGs) who are not Minnesota state government employees, but rather have been placed in the Ellison’s office by the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU Law School, which also pays their salaries. The center was started in 2017 thanks to a $5.6 million grant from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the arrangement has drawn intense criticism for allowing privately-funded organizations to gain a foothold in taxpayer-funded state government offices to carry out particular agenda. | |||
===2021 Jan 07 - [https://www.startribune.com/agenda-dollars-are-buying-state-government-jobs/600015808/ Agenda dollars are buying state government jobs]=== | |||
*Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison appealed to Bloomberg's priorities in his application to NYU, even hinting at investigating energy companies if he was given some privately paid for hired help. Minnesota's AG office landed not one but two of these full-time Bloomberg staffers. They are paid by NYU not the state of Minnesota. According to a Fox News report, NYU files "biweekly reports on its activities" with Bloomberg Philanthropies. | |||
*Bloomberg must be pleased with his Minnesota investment. According to a June 24, 2020, Star Tribune article, his two lawyers filed a lawsuit against several oil companies and refiners hoping to replicate Minnesota's first-in-the-nation tobacco litigation that made a Minnesota law firm's partners into mega-millionaires. | |||
===2020 Feb 16 - [https://insidesources.com/bloomberg-privately-funds-attorneys-in-state-ag-offices-while-running-for-president/ Bloomberg Privately Funds Attorneys in State AG Offices While Running for President]=== | |||
*Michael Bloomberg’s billions aren’t just buying ads. In at least two Super Tuesday states, his money funds private lawyers working inside attorneys general offices, advancing his political agenda on the environment. | |||
*Massachusetts and Minnesota, whose Democratic voters will go to the polls on Super Tuesday, are among at least 10 states where activist attorneys are working for the state AGs offices but are paid through the Impact Center. Their mission is to promote state legal action to advance Bloomberg’s political views, such as lawsuits against energy companies. | |||
==Virginia== | |||
===2022 Apr 20 - [https://climatelitigationwatch.org/climate-foia-public-prevails-court-orders-virginia-ag-office-to-comply-with-the-law-re-bloomberg-docs/ Climate FOIA: Public Prevails, Court Orders Virginia AG Office to Comply With the Law Re Bloomberg Docs]=== | |||
*Long dragged-out case, filed in 2018, takes major step toward educating further on Bloomberg “SAAGs” scheme, and aborted (by phone) Virginia AG participation | |||
*Virginia citizen Christopher Horner and the free-market public policy group Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) prevailed yet again yesterday in their lawsuit against Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. | |||
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edits