Billionaire Buys Attorneys General

March 7, 2018

In October 2017, The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law announced the establishment of a fellow program in which several states would receive “special assistant attorneys” to work on clean energy, climate change and environmental issues.

This program is funded by Michael Bloomberg, who is no friend to the energy industry. He has given millions to organizations who have put men and women out of work and ruined communities in rural America.

So Power The Future is curious about this program. Very curious. Here’s an ideological billionaire philanthropist who gets to embed an attorney into a supposedly UNBIASED government office.

If a pharmaceutical company offered the FDA an attorney, it would raise a red flag. If a defense contractor said, “Hey, we’re going to pay for you to have an extra set of hands to move things along”? Red. Flag. “This new Department of Agriculture attorney paid for by the Fertilizer Industry of America.” Very. Red. Flag.

To whom are these fellows beholden: the attorneys general of the states where they work, NYU Law School who placed them, or Michael Bloomberg who pays them? And why does an ideological group get to place individuals in government with the sole purpose of advancing an ideology?

If the radical environmental movement has no problem with this blatant conflict of interest, then Power The Future will raise funds to embed attorneys at the Department of Energy.

Today Power The Future sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Attorneys General of the following states participating in this program: Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico, Washington & Washington, D.C. We asked for the following information:

(1) records reflecting the identity of the fellow(s) selected to serve in the attorney general office

(2) records indicating the salary and compensation of such fellows

(3) copies of the resumes, letters of references, and applications submitted by the fellows selected

(4) emails exchanged between the selected fellow(s) and the agency personnel handling their hiring between October 1st, 2017 and present.

There was a time people cried out against “dark money” and “big money” in Government. This program raises so many concerns, and Power The Future will be paying very close attention to these fellows and their actions. Stay posted.