Government Accountability & Oversight’s (and Virginia Citizen) Christopher Horner and the free-market public policy group Competitive Enterprise Institute today sued Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond, aims to:
- Reconcile contradictory positions of the Office of Attorney General (OAG) regarding its claim to an activist donor that OAG has the legal authority to bring on board a Special Assistant Attorney General (SAAG) who is actually employed by that donor.
- Obtain records underlying that claim, and any relating to OAG’s review and determination of ethical matters inherent in entering the unprecedented, highly-conflicted arrangement which OAG sought in writing on September 15, 2017. OAG claims it has none.
In a recent report, Horner and CEI detailed Virginia’s effort to join an extensive campaign using AG offices, in coordination with major contributors and activist pressure groups, to enforce a policy agenda that the American people already rejected through the democratic process. View the report, “Law Enforcement for Rent” and extensive appendix of source documents.
“This donor-funded scheme of law enforcement for hire, using public office to expend resources not appropriated or approved by the AGs’ legislatures, raises conflict, statutory and significant constitutional issues as well as ethics concerns. These serious concerns should be the subject of prompt and serious legislative oversight,” said Horner.
EXHIBIT 1 Horner CEI VA OAG legal ethiccs determinations request
EXHIBIT 2 VA NYU SAAG application
EXHIBIT 3 Horner CEI VA AG SAAG authority and broader ethics determinations request