When politicians get busted for taking bribes or awarding contracts to their supporters, it’s often a governor or a lawmaker who lands in the hot seat. But reporter Eric Lipton uncovered how corporate lobbyists are targeting another group for favors: attorneys general in states across the U.S.
Lipton’s in-depth investigation was published in the New York Times and won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism. He found evidence that companies use their vast wealth — and at times outright bribery — to influence AGs to use their legal power to sway court rulings for companies, or sometimes stop investigations of those companies altogether.
Lipton, a 1987 graduate of the University of Vermont who got his start at the student newspaper The Vermont Cynic, where he was an editor, is returning to his alma mater on Monday evening. His talk, “Lobbying in America: White Hats, State Troopers, Ski Resorts and Buckets of Money,” will feature highlights from his groundbreaking series of articles about the corporate lobbying, in industries ranging from genetically modified food companies to the rail industry to the pharmaceutical industry.
The event will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 21, at UVM Davis Center. It is free and open to the public.
An insider tip
Lipton says he was tipped off to the abuse of money and power when a Washington lobbyist was so appalled by some backroom dealing that she tipped off the New York Times.
“She had received [a request] to make a contribution of as much as $125,000 on behalf of her corporate clients. In exchange for that contribution she was going to get special access to attorneys general and the privilege to meet with him in private settings, and the spend weekends with them at these resort hotels,” says Lipton.
Attorney generals are the top law enforcement official in the state, sometimes nicknamed “the people's lawyers.” They have subpoena powers, which mean they can demand a response from corporations or private individuals.
They enforce the laws of the state; so if a state agency has an issue and they need to sue a private company then the attorney general typically handles that litigation.
“They also are in charge of consumer protection and antitrust issues,” says Lipton. “They have enormous powers and that's in fact why corporations targeted them. This really dates back a couple of decades when the state attorneys generals joined together and pursued billions of dollars from the tobacco companies.”
Lipton says he put in more than 25 open records requests in states across the country, asking to see email correspondence between lobbyists, lawyers and the attorneys general and their top staffers. He says it took months to get access to this privileged world of top law enforcement officials.
“I got nearly 10,000 pages worth of documents that came in, ultimately, that I then assembled into a narrative that helped me get visibility into this secret world,” says Lipton.
Lipton uncovered illegal activity far beyond lavish gifts: In some cases company lawyers were actually drafting legislation for the AG’s office.
“I mean, there were many times that I saw letters that were written by energy industry officials that were only missing the letterhead and signature of the attorney general,” says Lipton. These are energy industry reps whose companies contributed tens — and in some cases hundreds of thousands — of dollars to attorneys generals campaigns, he says.
“Then the attorney general simply putting it on its letterhead and signing it and sending these letters as regulatory comment letters off to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, and in some cases directly to President Obama.”
The letters were ostensibly reflecting the opinion of the state and protesting efforts by the administration to limit air pollution or climate change.
“The energy companies were essentially writing the script for these state these top law enforcement officials, and that was pretty striking to me,” he says.
Sparking questions in Vermont
After reading Lipton’s series, Seven Days reporter Paul Heinz did some of his own investigating into Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell. Heinz writes that Sorrell had met repeatedly with lobbyists representing a plaintiff’s law firm called Baron & Budd, which was trying to convince Sorrell to sue oil and gas companies.
Lipton says the firm works with the state to sue companies on behalf of the state, and then it receives a commission of any fine the companies are forced to pay.
Lipton says Heinz uncovered that “Sorrell was one of those state attorneys general that was targeted by this company that was seeking to find a state to hire them to sue companies.”
Sorrell has denied any wrongdoing. But county states attorneys have appointed an independent review to determine whether Sorrell violated any laws.
Lobbying continues
Lipton says after his series ran earlier this year, several states made waves about legislation to more closely regulate lobbying, but not much has changed.
He says legislation was proposed in Washington State, there was investigation in Missouri and Florida, and there was talk of the American Bar Association making some rule changes relative to attorneys general.
“Little of it has actually materialized. To a large extent it's gotten back to normal for the lobbyists,” Lipton says. “In fact, not much has changed.”
“The incentives here are so powerful for both sides,” he says. “The corporations, they don't want to have to pay out enormous fines.”
At the same time, Lipton says the attorneys general are viciously competing against each other in elections — races where both political parties see the offices as critical stepping stones to becoming a U.S. senator or governor.
“It's become a much more competitive race in many states, so I don't actually see this lessening in intensity. It is only going to probably increase.”
