It came to light last year that a handful of rich left-wing donors led by Michael Bloomberg have collaborated with New York University Law School to recruit, place and pay for lawyers in attorney generals’ offices around the United States.
These lawyers, compensated outside the executive structure of state government, are embedded in state governments to pursue lawsuits that fit Bloomberg’s liberal agenda.
In particular, they are directed to bring lawsuits against oil companies and others based on “climate change.”
Bloomberg’s scheme is corrupt, poses inevitable conflicts of interest, and in some states is flatly illegal.
This video by the Clear Energy Alliance presents a good summary of the scandal:
A group called Energy Policy Advocates requested documents relating to this scheme from the office of Minnesota’s Attorney General, Keith Ellison. EPA’s requests were made pursuant to Minnesota’s broad Government Data Practices Act.
The requests were narrowly tailored to ask for documents relating to 1) correspondence between the AG’s office and a plaintiffs’ law firm, and 2) correspondence between the AG’s Office and a specific individual in another state who was recruiting attorneys general to join Bloomberg’s scheme.
The Minnesota Attorney General replied that there are no such documents, or, if there are, they are privileged and will not be produced.
So EPA sued, represented by a brand new public interest law firm called the Upper Midwest Law Center [UMLC]. (Disclosure: I am on the UMLC’s board of directors.) UMLC’s Complaint is here.
That Complaint was filed today, and my friend Doug Seaton of the UMLC gave a press conference this morning, which you can watch here.
I believe a number of news stories about the lawsuit will be forthcoming. The first that I am aware of is in the Star Tribune.
The Strib’s story, mediocre at best, is most notable because it flushes out Keith Ellison’s admission that Minnesota is indeed participating in the Bloomberg scam.
Ellison didn’t have much choice: there is a Linked In page by a lawyer who wrote:
I am off on a new adventure as a Fellow with the NYU School of Law’s State Impact Center. I will be embedded with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office as an Environmental Litigator and Special Assistant Attorney General.
So much for any claim that there are no documents linking the Minnesota Attorney General to Bloomberg’s corrupt scheme unless this was all arranged via smoke signals.
In some states, privately funded and agenda-driven “special assistant attorneys general” might only be unethical. Here in Minnesota, they are quite clearly illegal under Minn. Stat. Sec. 8.06, which says:
Except as herein stated, no additional counsel shall be employed and the legal business of the state shall be performed exclusively by the attorney general and the attorney general’s assistants.
Ellison claims his Bloomberg connection is legal based on a theory that we learned of for the first time when he was asked for comment by the Star Tribune.
His assertion–that a general statute relating to employee exchanges between government agencies and private industry covers the case–is ridiculous.
He has been caught red-handed. Or, as Clear Energy Alliance’s Mark Mathis would say, green-handed.
It is time to shine the light of day on the secret, corrupt, and in some cases, illegal relationships among billionaire Democratic Party donors and elected officials like Keith Ellison.
Read more at PowerLine
Liberals use tactics that they would be outraged if used by conservatives. What would liberal’s reaction be if a billionaire paid the salaries of policemen specially hired to round up illegal aliens and turn them over for deportation. The level of outrage would be incredible but this concept is exactly what is being practiced when AG’s hire Bloomberg’s lawyers. In the case of the lawyers, they have been hired to go after energy companies that have done no wrong in the areas where they are being sued. In the case if illegal aliens they are in reality criminals because they are here because they broke our laws.
Good to see that this story (finally) is getting more attention. As far as I’m concerned, the next phase is to start hi-lighting the many dubious practices being used by the activist Environmental NGO’s who have long been abusing their privileges (as well)…
This whole green scheme is going to blow up so fast so hard that these lying greens will not know what hit them..
How can this possibly be legal? These people are not accountable to elected officials and work for the goals of their employer, but under color of law.
Embedding lawyers to purse a bought and paid for agenda is a serious breach of public trust . .
1. The sleeze bag lawyers are conflicted and they know it . They cannot serve their lobbiest pay master and tax payers . The lawyers should be disbarred .
1. People have a reasonable expectation government employees are there to purse the public interest not not some bought and paid for lobbyist agenda .
2. Was the public told paid lobbyists had access to the personal files and records of the public and other employees ? NO
3. The entire employment recruiting process was circumvented to facilitate the plants .
4. These lawyers would have access to in camera deliberations and be in a position to leak confidential information to their corrupt bag men .
5 . The clowns that “hired ” these lawyers should be fired . What other lobby group have bought their way into these city government departments . It is highly unlikely these were the first .
This is a fraud on tax payers and the worst kind of rich A Hole buying people .
You are right on Amber.
Also once one of these embedded people get in they make sure that new hires are also on board with the political agenda.
Universities and major Foundations follow suit.
The people who worm their way up in a foundation get to control the funds and guess who benefits. The greenies and eco-tard groups. IMO.
So sad that Amber’s expectations appear naive. Amber is anything but! Government agencies no longer serve “US” . They look after
themselves. Government agencies need funds, and government employees know it. Carbon taxes fuel a subversive movement, Socialism.
It is time that the Bloomberg’s organization starts being the target of law suits. The claim that energy companies are responsible for damages is wrong for many reasons. However, a claim that Bloomberg is harming the energy companies via both unethical and in some cases illegal means is obviously very true. What these companies need to do is sue Bloomberg. They are entitled to a settle big enough to leave Bloomberg penniless.
Their theme song should be MONEY THAT’S WHAT I WANT by Brett Strong