Exclusive: Arizona Legislature Threatens to Sue National Association of Attorneys General over ESG Investments
“Consider this letter a litigation hold notice,” Republican leadership in the Arizona legislature told National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) executive director Brian Kane after Breitbart News revealed the group’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investments. In the letter exclusively obtained by Breitbart News, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R) and House Speaker Ben Toma (R) describe NAAG’s maladministration of public funds in contravention to Arizona law. “At this point, litigation is reasonably likely between us,” the letter says, threatening a lawsuit. “It appears that NAAG has been operating outside the lines, and the result is millions in public money lost on ESG investments, foreign stocks, and trips to Europe, while millions still sit in the hands of an unaccountable bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” it continues. “This situation is unacceptable and not consistent with Arizona law,” the letter says. “It is time that Arizona’s laws and regulations start applying to NAAG and that this unaccountable slush fund activity stop now.” “This is a commonsense move to protect everyday people in Arizona from the worst kind of self-serving government bureaucracy that puts its own interests, its own vacations, and its own left-wing goals ahead of everyday people,” Petersen told Breitbart News. “NAAG is flaunting Arizona’s limits and restrictions on public monies, and it must stop.” Chief among the complaints for the Arizonans is that “NAAG has amassed over $250 million in assets from public enforcement settlements, which include Arizona public monies.” As the Internal Revenue Service has deemed NAAG an instrument of the states, the Arizona legislators say it is subject to “duties and liabilities set forth under Arizona law for custodians of public monies.” “Public monies cannot be appropriated without legislative authorization, and that investments must comply with Arizona law,” the letter declares, citing statute. Reports show “NAAG lost at least $37 million last year on a panoply of investments in things like private equity and foreign stocks. Likewise, it has been reported that NAAG utilized assets from public settlements to secretly support ESG-linked investments and to fly Attorneys General and their families on European holidays.” NAAG has been the subject to much scrutiny from Republican attorneys general for its left-wing political priorities. Some of those priorities include environmental, social, and governance practices that “destroy shareholder value in pursuit of faddish ideological aims, often without proper disclosure to investors,” according to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R). Some goals of ESG include forcing economic and social change by cutting American fossil fuel production in order to promote the climate change agenda and forcing racial quotas on the boards of companies.
These priorities have seen attorneys general disassociate from the organization. But with the revelation of tangible public-fund investment into left-wing social priorities, some state leaders are looking at the prospect of suing for the return of their taxpayers’ dollars. “Preserve all documents and other potentially relevant information within the possession of NAAG and NAAG staff, including communications, contracts, corporate governance documentation, financial records, and investment documentation,” the Grand Canyon State Republicans warn Kane. “NAAG is a distinct legal entity under the laws of Washington, D.C. and it is the actions of NAAG itself and NAAG staff that is the core issue here, particularly as to your financial dealings.” Read the letter here: AZ Legislature Hold Notice ... by Breitbart News Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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References:
- https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/30/exclusive-naag-invests-taxpayer-money-in-esg/
- https://www.breitbart.com/terms-of-use/
- https://www.breitbart.com/privacy-policy/
- https://www.scribd.com/document/628794265/AZ-Legislature-Hold-Notice-to-NAAG#from_embed
- https://www.scribd.com/publisher/298980670/Breitbart-News#from_embed
- https://www.breitbart.com/author/bthies/
