brenna bird A G

---

gov kim reynolds coattails

her staff all u chic law school, got judge gigs from reynolds?

koch fertil monopoly

steve king COS

Unfortunately, Brenna Bird fails this standard. Iowa’s attorney general, who formerly worked for Rep. Steve King, has been aggressively making her name in GOP circles since being narrowly elected in 2022, repeatedly suing the Biden administration. Hardly a week goes by when her public relations people aren’t heralding a new lawsuit. Donald Trump has even practically anointed her a future governor.

---

employee dir oddly not on off website?

employees

===

fedsoc BS

In November 2022, Iowans elected Brenna Bird to be their next Attorney General – the first Republican to hold the office since 1979.

Before taking office as Iowa Attorney General in January 2023, Brenna served as a prosecutor for six years, first as the Fremont County Attorney and then since 2018 as the Guthrie County Attorney. She was elected by her fellow county attorneys to leadership roles with the Iowa County Attorney Association, most recently serving as the Association's President.

Brenna has also engaged in the private practice of law, worked in the Iowa Governor’s Office and the U.S. House of Representatives, and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa College of Law.

Born and raised on an Iowa farm where she was homeschooled, Brenna graduated from Drake University and went on to receive her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as symposium editor of the school’s law journal. In addition to her law studies, Brenna also helped entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South Side start their own businesses.

She lives on the family farm in rural Dexter with her husband Bob, an Iraq war veteran, and their son. She is a member of All Saints Church.

===

gazette

todd

this week, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird made a strong case against politics in the courtroom by appearing at Donald Trump’s New York trial on a trip paid for by her largest campaign donor.

There Bird was, in a New York courtroom. Behind Trump along with some of his other political allies. She wore a bright red jacket. Couldn’t miss her.

“What we need to do is get politics out of the courtroom and let President Trump get back on the campaign trail,” Bird said at a news conference during a break in the trial, according to Radio Iowa. “Let the American people decide who the next leader of the free world will be and politics has absolutely no place in this courtroom or any other.”

That’s the President Trump who has vowed to prosecute his political enemies if elected.

So, here was Iowa’s top state prosecutor in a New York courtroom attacking other state prosecutors for charging Trump with falsifying business documents to cover up an affair with an adult film star and keep voters from finding out about it. In New York City, the financial capital of the world, falsifying business records is frowned upon.

Trump? Fraud? That can’t be right.

Her trip was paid for by the political arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association. The association’s RAGA super PAC donated $2 million to Bird’s campaign during the 2022 cycle.

It was unseemly. But we live in unseemly times.

Trump’s Monday entourage didn’t show up because they love the guy. They came to bash the prosecution because Trump cannot. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is under a gag order precluding him from ripping the judge, prosecutor and witnesses. But the Republican politicians were free to bash the case and grind Trump’s axes all they wanted.

Maybe Bird believes New York prosecutors are purely political because she is. You’re never more than a few days away from another politically motivated lawsuit joined by Bird assailing the Biden administration.

Environmental protection is among Bird’s favorite targets. This week, she signed on to a lawsuit to scrap higher fuel efficiency standards for heavy duty vehicles. It might push companies to use electrical vehicles that won’t need ethanol. To the ramparts!

She’s joined legal action to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing tailpipe emissions rules, hopped aboard a lawsuit aimed at EPA coal plant emission limits and attacked extending Clean Water Act protections to scores of wetlands.

Bird is among red states suing to stop Title IX sex discrimination protection from covering LGBTQ students. She went after the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives over rules governing pistol braces.

She signed onto a letter warning Walgreens and CVS to not send abortion medications by mail and lent Iowa’s support to a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. And, of course, Bird has stopped using victim compensation fund dollars to pay for emergency contraception for rape victims in Iowa.

So, Bird has no compunction about bringing politics into court, so long as it’s her brand of politics. But this is what voters wanted when they gave us the Bird.

*(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com

Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com

Copy article link

---

CMD

group Linked to Anti-Abortion Activist Leonard Leo Was Top Funder of Republican AG Campaigns in 2022

By David Armiak

February 2nd, 2023

Campaign Finance, Democracy, Elections, Featured Investigations, Koch, News, RAGA

A group tied to the influential anti-abortion activist Leonard Leo gave $3 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) in the fourth quarter, making it the largest contributor to the organization in 2022, according to an analysis of IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

The Concord Fund, a dark money group affiliated with the Trump “judge whisperer” and Federalist Society board co-chair, also made a $1-million contribution to RAGA in the first quarter, bringing its total for the year to $4 million.

This again makes The Concord Fund RAGA’s largest funder in 2022, continuing a trend that began in 2020 and was repeated in 2021.

Leo’s increasing influence on local legal landscapes comes as the fight over reproductive rights moves to the states following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial decision last summer overturning Roe v. Wade.

The largest known financial backer of Leo’s political network is Barre Seid, the Chicago electronics manufacturer who contributed $1.65 billion to his Marble Freedom Trust in 2020, which, in turn, passed along $16.5 million to The Concord Fund, The New York Times reported.

RAGA pays Leo’s Creative Response Concepts—rebranded as CRC Advisors—$7,500 per month for “consulting,” according to 2022 IRS filings.

With its $1.5 million in contributions, the Institute for Legal Reform was the second largest donor to RAGA in 2022, CMD found. This affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focuses on advancing business-friendly legal reforms such as making class-action lawsuits more difficult to file and defending business interests in court.

A Koch Industries contribution of $755,000 and Altria’s $500,000 donation rounded out the top four 2022 donors to RAGA.

Charles Koch, the billionaire CEO of Koch Industries, has not only heavily financed RAGA over the years—both personally and through his companies—he is also a key contractor for the organization. RAGA continues to subscribe to i360, “Koch’s data mine,” for $4,000 a month, 2022 IRS filings show.

RAGA’s post-general report and year-end report indicate that the organization raised a total of $8.3 million in the fourth quarter, bringing its total revenues to $21.7 million for the year and $34.5 million for the midterm election cycle.

In the fourth quarter, the next largest contributions behind The Concord Fund’s $3 million came from the Rule of Law Defense Fund ($400,000), RAGA’s 501(c)(4) advocacy arm; billionaire real estate tycoon Steve Wynn ($300,000); and GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein‘s Fair Courts America ($250,100).

Together with its affiliates, the Rule of Law Defense Fund and the Center for Law and Policy, RAGA runs a cash-for-influence operation that coordinates the official actions of Republican state attorneys general and sells its corporate funders access to those AGs and their staff.

IFrame Content

RAGA Spends Big on Elections, Funnels $1.9 Million to Georgia Governor's Leadership Committee

RAGA spent more than $16 million in the final weeks before the November 2022 elections, bringing its cycle spending total to $36.6 million. In October and November, most of that went to independent expenditures for state AG races, including close to $6.5 million for TV ads, $1.3 million for direct mail and text messages, and $773,000 for digital advertising.

In an unusual move, RAGA also disclosed contributing $1.9 million to the Georgians First Leadership Committee set up by Georgia’s GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, the post-general report shows.

Kemp won a second term in November by again defeating Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.

RAGA's next largest campaign donation in the fourth quarter was for $800,000 to the Bird for Iowa AG race. Brenna Bird (R) narrowly defeated longtime incumbent Tom Miller (D), winning 50.8% of the vote to oust her predecessor from an almost 40-year run as the country's longest-serving attorney general.

The Iowa race clearly proved to be a top priority for RAGA, which disclosed spending a total of $2 million in 2022 to elect Bird, CMD calculated.

RAGA's other campaign contributions in the fourth quarter went to Louisiana candidate for AG Liz Murrill ($5,000); South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson ($3,500), who won reelection to his fourth term in November; and Kentucky candidate for AG Russell Coleman ($2,000).

Both the Louisiana and Kentucky AG races are ongoing, with the election in Louisiana taking place on October 14 this year, and the Kentucky election following on November 7.

About David Armiak

David Armiak is research director and an investigative journalist with the Center for Media and Democracy. David joined CMD in 2015, has conducted extensive investigations on dark money, corporate corruption, and right-wing networks, and is responsible for filing and analyzing hundreds of public records requests every year. David has a strong research interest in social movements and political power, and has delivered many talks on the subject. He has a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and anthropology from Boston University and a Master's degree in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

All articles by David Armiak

---

table no lnx

Republican AG Pay-to-Play Group Raises $4.9 Million in Second Quarter - EXPOSEDbyCMD

Republican AG Pay-to-Play Group Raises $4.9 Million in Second Quarter

By David Armiak | July 19th, 2022

Campaign Finance, Democracy, Elections, Featured Investigations, Koch, News, RAGA

Editor’s Note: On July 20, 2022, RAGA’s deputy executive director Johnny Koremenos notified CMD that the $300 contribution from Philanthropy Roundtable highlighted in this story was refunded.

The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) raised $4.9 million in the second quarter of this year, according to a report filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Friday. RAGA‘s haul is $300,000 less than in the second quarter of 2018 and slightly exceeds the $4.8 million the group raised during the first quarter of 2022.

RAGA spun its fundraising figures by giving Fox Business an exclusive, claiming that it “broke another fundraising record.” But the $6.3 million figure it gave for the quarter was “across all entities,” and since 2022 IRS filings for RAGA’s sister organizations the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) and the Center for Law and Policy (CLP) will not be publicly available until November 2023 at the earliest, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) cannot verify the claim.

RAGA accepts unlimited contributions from corporations, individuals, and special interest groups such as Koch Industries, Altria, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, primarily to fund the campaigns of Republican candidates for attorneys general. Together with its affiliates RLDF and CLP, it runs a cash-for-influence operation that coordinates the official actions of Republican state attorneys general and sells its corporate funders access to those AGs and their staff.

RAGA’s largest contribution in the second quarter, $200,000, went to Brenna Bird, the Republican candidate for attorney general in Iowa, who faces an uphill battle to unseat the longest-serving state AG in the country, Tom Miller (D).

In a surprising move, RAGA gave $15,200 to Georgia AG Chris Carr’s reelection campaign. Although Carr is a Republican, he resigned as RAGA’s national chair in 2021 over the selection of Peter Bisbee to replace Adam Piper as RAGA’s executive director, citing “a significant difference of opinion… as to the direction this organization should take going forward” and “vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6.”

Bisbee formerly led RLDF and, in the days prior to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, he was responsible for sending out robocalls encouraging supporters to “march to the Capitol and call on Congress to stop the steal.” His selection also led to an exodus of longtime RAGA staff members, CMD reported.

Raul Labrador, the Republican candidate for attorney general in Idaho, was the only other individual to receive RAGA funding in the second quarter, accepting $5,000 for his campaign, the report discloses.

RAGA hopes to build on the 28 state offices held by Republican attorneys general through “seven-figure investments to flip seats in Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada, and to retain the attorney general office in Arizona,” according to Fox Business.

Corporations Attending Latest RAGA Fundraiser Contribute $1.2 Million

Over the weekend, 18 companies were scheduled to attend a major RAGA fundraising event at a luxury resort in Florida, CNBC reported. Of those companies, 10 gave a total of $1.2 million to RAGA in the second quarter, CMD found.

Leading the pack was the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), which gave another $500,000 in addition to the $255,000 it contributed in the first quarter. An affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ILR focuses on advancing business-friendly legal reforms such as making class-action lawsuits more difficult to file and defending business interests in court.

Following the ILR, Centene Management Company, a Missouri-based healthcare company, was the next largest RAGA donor, with a $350,000 contribution in the second quarter.

The consumer wellness company Melaleuca, which has given RAGA $260,000 so far this year, is also a leading donor expected to attend the gathering. In addition, each of the following companies scheduled to attend has already hit or topped the $100,000 mark in 2022: Anheuser-Busch ($105,000), Anthem ($100,000), Comcast ($130,000), and General Motors ($100,000).

BNSF Railway and Ronald Cameron Round Out Top Five

BNSF Railway Company and Ronald Cameron, CEO of the Mountaire Corporation, each gave $150,000, making them among the top five second-quarter donors to RAGA.

Cameron is a top donor to the Koch political network. His company paid $65 million in 2021 to settle a class action lawsuit and agreed to make $140 million in investments in wastewater treatment facilities mandated by the state, CMD reported. In addition, he was the 14th largest donor to super PACs in 2021, CMD found.

RAGA Accepts Another Illegal Donation

In February, Popular Info reported that RAGA accepted an illegal donation of $50,000 from Children’s Health Defense, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s anti-vax propaganda outfit.

According to IRS rules, “a section 501(c)(3) organization may not make a contribution to a political organization described in section 527 (such as a candidate committee, political party committee or political action committee (PAC).” As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense admitted the donation was illegal, but claimed that “they paid $50K to get access to Republican AGs to brief them on ‘health policy issues.'”

RAGA, a 527 registered group, refunded the $50,000 the day after the Popular Info report, its first quarter filing confirms.

Now, RAGA’s latest filing shows that it received an illegal donation of $300 from the Philanthropy Roundtable, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit chaired by Bradley Foundation President Richard Graber. The Philanthropy Roundtable was established with funding from the Institute for Educational Affairs in the 1970s to help facilitate and coordinate conservative grant-making and foundations.

...

Chamber Institute for Legal Reform	$505,000
Centene Management Company, LLC	$350,000
Melaleuca	$260,000
BNSF Railway Company	$150,000
Cameron, Ronald	$150,000
Comcast Corporation	$130,000
ATandT Services	$125,000
David Nutt and Assoc PC	$125,000
Aetna	$125,000
Consovoy McCarthy PLLC	$105,560
Anheuser-Busch COS	$105,000
Pfizer	$100,560
General Motors	$100,000
Anthem	$100,000
Altria Client Services	$100,000
U-Haul International	$75,000
Exxon Mobil Corporation	$75,000
The Anschutz Corporation	$75,000
Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina	$62,500
National Shooting Sports Foundation	$50,200

===

BLOOMBERG

Feb. 9, 2024,

Koch Industries’ Fertilizer Plant Purchase Sparks Antitrust Plea

Danielle Kaye

Reporter

Search by Topic

Search by Company

Koch’s $3.6 billion deal prompts lawmaker letter to DOJ, FTC
Iowa Democrats flag potential harm to workers, farmers

Iowa state lawmakers are highlighting potential harm to workers from Koch Industries Inc.‘s $3.6 billion acquisition of a fertilizer plant in the state.

All 36 Democratic state representatives this week called on the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department, and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (R) to examine how the purchase could further entrench Koch’s market power, posing the risk of not only higher fertilizer prices but also job losses.

Their plea could be buoyed by the federal agencies’ new focus on labor markets when assessing deals. The federal government has scrutinized consolidation in the agricultural industry, and particularly probed how mergers and acquisitions affect labor markets.

“They’re definitely paying more attention to labor market effects of mergers and other types of business behavior that might be anticompetitive,” said Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School who advised the DOJ’s Antitrust Division on labor issues last year. “If this is the type of merger that would reduce the number of employers in a labor market, like a city or rural area in which people commute, then it would definitely be a concern to the FTC and DOJ.”

This week, the FTC condemned Microsoft Corp.‘s plans to cut 1,900 jobs from its video game division following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. The DOJ has also opened an investigation into the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center over alleged abuse of its labor market dominance, according to reporting from the Capitol Forum, following a complaint filed by unions last summer.

President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order to bolster competition specifically identifies concentrated market power in agricultural input industries—including fertilizer—as a threat to farmers’ livelihoods, suggesting the letter from state lawmakers could capture regulators’ attention.

Labor and Monopoly

Along with questions about short and long-term fertilizer costs for farmers, Iowa Democrats say Koch has yet to disclose whether the roughly 250 fertilizer plant workers could risk losing their jobs as a result of the acquisition.

Consolidation in agriculture is “squeezing farmers, it’s suppressing workers, and consumers are having to pay the most they ever have for groceries,” said Iowa State Rep. J.D. Scholten (D), who spearheaded a letter to the agencies on Feb. 5. “We as a society need to start judging some of these mergers.”

The labor movement “goes hand in hand with the anti-monopoly movement,” Scholten said. A federal probe would put a “huge spotlight” on the fertilizer deal, he added.

Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School focused on antitrust law, said federal antitrust enforcers are more aggressively scrutinizing mergers over labor impacts. But regulators must distinguish job losses resulting from violations of antitrust law from those that constitute lawful elimination of duplication in the wake of a merger or acquisition.

“When the government says it’s opening up an investigation, that doesn’t mean it’s made up its mind—it means it wants more information,” Hovenkamp said, referring to the potential for federal agencies to probe the Koch deal.

$3.6 Billion Purchase

Koch Industries subsidiary Koch Ag & Energy Solutions announced in December its purchase of the Iowa Fertilizer Company plant in the town of Wever from Dutch chemical company OCI Global. Koch, the second-largest private company in the US, is one of five companies that dominate the US fertilizer market, according to Mordor Intelligence.

Koch Fertilizer spokesperson Greg Lemon said the acquisition is “consistent with the significant investments we have made in our business to increase production, improve reliability, and expand our customers’ access to the products and services they need.”

The FTC and DOJ under the Biden administration have focused on labor market impacts, a departure from past decades of a narrower focus on consumer welfare. New merger guidelines finalized by the agencies in December include, for the first time, the effect of corporate mergers on workers. The FTC’s proposed updates to its merger review process also require standard disclosures from deal-making companies on how their workers will be affected.

Iowa State Rep. Megan Srinivas (D) said the antitrust agencies’ focus on investigating labor impacts “coincides nicely” with the potential harm to workers lawmakers have identified in connection with the Koch acquisition. A key motivation for the letter was to ensure job opportunities for the Iowa workforce, she said.

In their letter, the Iowa lawmakers argued workers, farmers, consumers, and taxpayers could all be harmed by concentration of market power resulting from Koch’s fertilizer acquisition.

DOJ and FTC spokespeople confirmed both agencies received the lawmakers’ letter but declined to comment on whether they intend to take action.

The Iowa Fertilizer Company plant Koch plans to acquire was built with more than $100 million in state tax subsidies and additional federal tax benefits, according to news reports and government announcements. When the project was announced in 2012, state officials said it would promote competition against companies like Koch and benefit local farmers. Srinivas linked lawmakers’ push for an antitrust investigation to the plant’s reliance on taxpayer dollars.

“We owe it to our constituents and Iowans that we decide whether the previous tax incentives will now unfortunately be undermined in their intent,” Srinivas said.

Agriculture and environmental groups also urged the FTC and DOJ to investigate the deal in a letter to the agencies in January.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Kaye in Washington at dkaye@bloombergindustry.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anna Yukhananov at ayukhananov@bloombergindustry.com; Michael Smallberg at msmallberg@bloombergindustry.com

===}:

OFF BS INTEGRITY

Election Fraud and Misconduct

The prosecution of election misconduct is the exclusive responsibility of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office under Iowa Code Chapter 39A.

If you believe you have information about a violation of Iowa Code Chapter 39A, report it to the local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction to conduct an investigation.

As part of its duty to prosecute election crimes, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has provided local law enforcement agencies with instructions on the manner in which they are to contact the Iowa Attorney General’s Office regarding criminal violations of Iowa Code Chapter 39A.

General questions concerning election issues and procedures should be directed to the local County Auditor or the Iowa Secretary of State.

The Attorney General’s Office is prohibited from providing legal advice to members of the general public.

---

an 7 24

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed an amicus brief Wednesday calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s challenge of former President Donald Trump’s prosecution in the New York hush-money trial.

Bailey, a Missouri Republican, filed a lawsuit earlier in July against the state of New York, seeking to lift the gag order imposed on Trump during the trial where he was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign season.

The lawsuit seeks to delay sentencing for Trump’s conviction in the case until after the November election, where the former president faces a rematch with President Joe Biden.

While Trump was found guilty in the New York criminal trial, the Supreme Court ruled in July that U.S. presidents have full immunity from criminal charges for official “core constitutional” acts while in office, but not for unofficial acts. The decision sent Trump’s election interference case, where he stands accused of scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential results, back to the lower courts.

The Missouri lawsuit, filed one day after the ruling on presidential immunity, claims the state of New York violated Missourians’ First Amendment rights by issuing a gag order in Trump’s criminal case and preventing voters from hearing the views of a presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

“This lawfare is poisonous to American democracy,” Bailey wrote in the lawsuit. “The American people ought to be able to participate in a presidential election free from New York’s interference. Any gag order and sentence should be stayed until after the election.”

Bird and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a brief supporting the Missouri lawsuit on Wednesday. Joined by Alaska and Montana, the state attorneys general argued that Trump is the “target of a prosecution by a New York County district attorney” in the hush-money case.

In a news release, Bird claimed New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, has used the trial for political gain, citing a New York Times article on his statements about Trump.

“As a prosecutor, I know that politics has no place in criminal prosecutions,” Bird said. “I am calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case against New York’s political prosecution, gag order, and sentencing of President Trump that interfere with the presidential election. We must protect free and fair elections and the rule of law.”

The sentencing in the New York case has been delayed until Sept. 18 by New York Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw the case, so the court has time to hear arguments about how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision impacts state-level convictions.

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and X.

---

The Quad-City TimesWhere your story lives

no lnx

Capitol Notebook: New York Times responds to Iowa AG Brenna Bird over allegations of Hamas ties

LEE-GAZETTE DES MOINES BUREAU Dec 7, 2023 1

Watch Now: Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird speaks at anti-abortion rally one year post-Dobbs, in June, 2023.

The New York Times responded to a letter from Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s questioning whether freelance journalists who worked with the organization had ties to Hamas.

In a letter on Wednesday, the Times' director of communications Charlie Stadtlander called the claims “inflammatory allegations based on false assumptions and debunked social media posts.”

Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird

Bird

On Monday, Bird and 13 other attorneys general sent a letter to the Times, Associated Press, Reuters and CNN arguing the news organizations may have provided “material support to terrorists” by paying for photographs from journalists that had been alleged to have ties to Hamas.

The attorneys general cited a report from HonestReporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog, which questioned whether freelance photojournalists for the organizations had advance knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

People are also reading…

Police identify woman killed by crash Monday afternoon northwest of Davenport

An early look at Davenport's plans for Main Street Landing

NEW DETAILS: John Deere announces another 345 layoffs at Waterloo facilities

Review: Lainey Wilson sings in the rain Sunday at the John Deere Classic

“You should ensure that you are taking all necessary steps to prevent your organizations’ from contracting with members of terror organizations,” Bird wrote in the letter.

The Times has denied it had any knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack. Stadtlander reiterated in the letter that "the only connection The New York Times has to Hamas is that we report on the organization fearlessly and at times at great risk."

He pointed to later statements from HonestReporting, which said it did not have evidence that any journalist was embedded with Hamas and was satisfied with the explanations from the media outlets.

"I realize that the purveyors of disinformation online have widely and recklessly spread the lie of “embedded journalists,'" Stadtlander wrote. "But it does real harm when public officials embrace such falsehoods and give them credibility."

---

*[BLEEDING HEARTLAND

Herb Strentz](https://www.bleedingheartland.com/author/herb-strentz/) was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.*

Attorney General Brenna Bird continues to ignore her critics, doubling down on actions that have drawn criticism. Unfortunately for Iowans, she’s picked a bad model to imitate.

This shoot-yourself-in-the-foot strategy had worked so well for Donald Trump that Bird seems to figure, “Why not give it a try?”

And she’ll likely continue that style, despite the unanimous verdict(s) against Trump in the one trial he has not managed to delay.

Bird’s approach follows Trump’s often quoted line from an Iowa campaign rally in January 2016. He used a New York City scenario to explain his anticipated success at the polls: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

He maintained that bravado in the wake of being one found guilty not of one minor felony, but of 34 related counts of falsifying his business records “to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.”

So, if you fret about friends or family who remain devoted to Trump despite your concerns, that underscores Trump’s confidence in his followers. Likewise, if you find fault with Bird, prepare for more of the same.

Bird has yet to rebut criticism of her comments at Trump’s trial locale in New York City. Minutes after the guilty verdicts were announced, she posted on X/Twitter,

Today is a dark day in American history.

Case in point why politics should have absolutely no place in prosecutions.

The American people, not a court, should decide who the next leader of the free world will be. President @realDonaldTrump deserves better.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds promptly called the unanimous verdicts a “sham.”

In line with his consistent refusal to hold Trump accountable, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley recently characterized the case against the former president as a “political lynching.” The outcome in New York was quite unlike the verdict Grassleyand 42 other GOP senators rendered after Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection in January 2021.

Bird showed up at the Manhattan courthouse to support Trump while he faced felony charges over efforts to cover up some moral indiscretions. She bashed those who believe no one should be above the law, and elected officials should be held accountable.

Iowa’s attorney general asserted that Trump’s legal problems in New York, Florida, D.C. and Georgia are all about politics, which, she declared, has no place in the courtroom. Others have noted the hypocrisyof her words and actions. Politically motivated cases were at the heart of Bird’s campaign to unseat Democrat Tom Miller in 2022. Back then she vowed, “I have news for [President] Joe Biden when I’m attorney general: I’ll see you in court.”

A “RAP SHEET” FOR BIRD

In addition to promising lawsuits against the Biden administration, Bird (who was the Guthrie County attorney) campaigned against Miller for supposedly being soft on crime and not being the equivalent of a county attorney for all of Iowa.

To that end, she enlisted the endorsementsof 71 of Iowa’s 99 county sheriffs. Miller, she complained, spent little time in county law enforcement.

Miller served a total of 40 years as Iowa attorney general, a nationwide record for state attorneys general.

If Bird had paid more attention to what the Iowa attorney general is supposed to do, she might have read 175 words describing the office’s primary responsibilities.

The attorney general is the State of Iowa’s chief legal officer. The attorney general has general charge, supervision and direction of the state’s legal business. The attorney general is elected every four years.

The Office of the Attorney General provides legal advice and representation to most of the state’s major departments, boards, commissions, authorities, officials and institutions. The office further represents the State of Iowa in state administrative law and Iowa District Court matters, the Iowa Court of Appeals, the Iowa Supreme Court, lower federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The attorney general’s legal and support staff provide day-to-day advice to state officials and agencies. State government is a very large and complex enterprise, doing everything from providing human services, to building roads, to protecting citizens from incompetent licensed professionals and protecting the environment. Legal issues often arise in the context of the state’s work. The office guides, mediates, negotiates, drafts legal documents, and performs a wide range of other legal services to assist state agencies in fulfilling the important work of state government.

No mention of county criminal prosecutions there. Those duties are followed by a 38-word “In addition” reference to lesser chores, including six words on criminal prosecutions.

Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Todd Dorman detailed Bird’s “rap sheet” on putting divisive MAGA (Make America Great Again) priorities ahead of AG duties. He pointed out:

Maybe Bird believes New York prosecutors are purely political because she is. You’re never more than a few days away from another politically motivated lawsuit joined by Bird assailing the Biden administration.

Environmental protection is among Bird’s favorite targets. This week [May 14], she signed on to a lawsuit to scrap higher fuel efficiency standards for heavy duty vehicles. It might push companies to use electrical vehicles that won’t need ethanol. To the ramparts! […]

Bird is among red states suing to stop Title IX sex discrimination protection from covering LGBTQ students. […]

And, of course, Bird has stopped using victim compensation fund dollars to pay for emergency contraception for rape victims in Iowa.

So, Bird has no compunction about bringing politics into court, so long as it’s her brand of politics.

MAGA AND RAGA

Bird’s New York mission provided yet another target for her critics. There’s some poetic irony in that her dedication to Trump’s MAGA movement includes being an activist in the Republican Attorneys General Association. RAGA promotes the 27 Republican attorneys general around the country, who have filed the numerous multi-state lawsuits against the Biden administration.

RAGA reportedly paid for Bird’s travel expenses to New York, and a RAGA Political Action Committee contributed $2 million to Bird’s 2022 campaign.

Elie Mystal’s column for The Nation described the RAGA agenda as “a hatred of reproductive rights, a love of guns, and an obsession with prosecuting the LGBTQ community.”

That characterization pretty much sums up recent legislative sessions in Iowa. Reynolds and her legislative lemmings rubber-stamped a national MAGA, states’ rights agenda, including attacks on public schools. That agenda would change our national motto designed in 1776 and adopted by Congress in 1782: E Pluribus Unum – “out of many, one” to Ex Uno Multi — “out of one, many.”

This post was initially conceived to compare Bird’s record with that of her predecessors. But Bird’s record to date is so troubling that drawing such a contrast wasn’t worth the time.

SOME PRAISEWORTHY IOWA AGs

Nevertheless, the careers of at least two former attorneys general warrant mention.

One was Samuel Allen Rice, a Republican who served as Iowa’s second attorney general from 1856 to 1861. He was a Civil War colonel in the 33rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was then a Brigadier General when mortally wounded in the April 30, 1864, battle at Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas. He died in Iowa on July 6, 1864.

He is worth noting here because today’s divisiveness is likened to that of the Civil War and the struggle between union and states’ rights forces. Also while General Rice is among those we honor on Memorial Day, reports of Trump calling fallen service members “losers” and “suckers” still are haunting.

Another worth mentioning is Leo Arthur Hoegh, who was Iowa’s 25th AG from 1953 to 1955, then governor from 1955 to 1957. He lost his 1956 re-election bid because he saw a need to raise taxes to jump start needed improvements in Iowa public schools and roads. That alienated GOP conservatives and “handed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Herschel C. Loveless an issue to exploit,” according to Wikipedia.

That outcome 68 years ago called to mind the work of Iowa’s current legislature in seeking acclaim for cutting taxes and hoarding a budget surplus while schools, health care, and other dire needs go begging. Our state had trouble doing the right thing back then, too.

As Dorman wrote, the majority of voters “gave us the Bird” in November 2022.

It will take a few Novembers to remedy that damage.

In the meantime, if you’re in Manhattan and think Trump may be in town, it’s best to avoid Fifth Avenue.

---

:{*:{Top photo of former President Donald Trump with Attorney General Brenna Bird was originally posted on Bird’s campaign Facebook page.}:

Tags: Brenna Bird, Commentary, Crime, Donald Trump, History, Tom Miller

About the Author(s)

Herb Strentz

1 Comment

#### I am waiting with intense interest...

…to see what Brenna Bird will do in regard to that recent oopsie chemical spill by an Iowa farm co-op that killed fifty miles of river in Iowa (the East Nishnabotna), plus more miles of that river in Missouri. The hundreds of thousands of dead fish have been assigned a monetary value by the Iowa DNR. But I’m wondering if all the killed frogs, mussels, snakes, turtles, etc. etc. etc. might turn out to be a gigantic dead freebie.

Given Bird’s track record, it will also be interesting to see how long it takes her to make up her mind about what to do. And it will be interesting to compare what Iowa does to what Missouri does, because Missouri is not happy about Iowa generously sharing our fish-kill tradition.

PrairieFan Fri 31 May 12:55 AM

---

7 24

Brenna Bird (née Findley) is an American lawyer and politician from Iowa. A member of the Republican Party, she is the incumbent Iowa Attorney General.

Biography

Early life

Bird grew up on a farm near Dexter, Iowa. She earned her bachelor's degree from Drake University and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 2001.^[2]

Career

In the 2010 elections, Bird ran for Attorney General of Iowa. She lost to incumbent Tom Miller by 11 percent.^[3] She considered running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2014 elections, but opted against running.^[4] Bird served as counsel to Governor Terry Branstad and became county attorney for Guthrie County, Iowa in 2018.^[5] In 2019, a jury ruled that Branstad and Bird had discriminated against an employee because of his sexual orientation, and awarded him $1.5 million,^[6] but the verdict was overturned by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2021.^[7]

She ran against Miller in the 2022 Iowa Attorney General election.^[8] She narrowly defeated Miller, who had served ten four-year terms as attorney general.^[9][10]

On April 9, 2023, Bird's office ordered a pause in the state's practice of paying for emergency contraception or abortions for rape victims.^[11]

Personal life

Bird lives with her husband, Bob Bird,^[12] and their son on her family farm in southeastern Guthrie County.^[13] Bird is a member of the All Saints Church.^[14]

---

here's who paid for Iowa AG Brenna Bird's trip to NYC for Donald Trump's hush money trial

Galen Bacharier

Des Moines Register

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird's trip to New York City on Monday to attend Donald Trump's trial was at the invitation of the Republican Attorneys General Association.

A spokesperson for Bird's campaign told the Des Moines Register that the group invited attorneys general, including Bird, "to go to Manhattan and show support for President Trump." The group also covered the trip's expenses.

On Monday, Bird was seen entering the courthouse behind Trump along with a gaggle of his supporters. Her office confirmed she attended, and a spokesperson said no taxpayer money had been used to fund her travel.

Bird repeated that sentiment Tuesday at a press conference in Ankeny, where she announced a lawsuit against California-based electric truck requirements. She did not give details on how the trip was funded or if she was invited — details later provided by a spokesperson.

"No taxpayer funds were used, and I went to New York to show my support for President Trump and to witness what was going on there, in that courtroom in Manhattan," Bird told reporters.

In a news conference outside the courthouse Monday, Bird said she traveled from Iowa to represent the state's support for the former president as he stands trial in a hush money case.

"We need him back as our president leading our country again," Bird said. "My background is as a prosecutor, and what I saw in that courtroom today is a travesty. Politics has no place in a court of law.

"They try to charge him with all these ridiculous things that include a star witness who is a perjurer, disbarred, convicted of lying," Bird added. "It tells us the state we are in this country right now."

The chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, Rita Hart, criticized the appearance, saying "Iowans deserve an attorney general that's focused on serving her constituents — not her political ambitions."

In his January victory speech for the Iowa caucuses, Trump said of Bird, "she's going to be your governor someday."

The Republican Attorneys General Association has been embroiled in political controversy in the past.

Before the Jan. 6, 2020, insurrection in Washington, D.C., the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, sent a robocall inviting people to march to the U.S. Capitol.

The robocall said: "The march to save America is tomorrow in Washington, D.C. … At (1 p.m.) we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal. We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue the fight to protect the integrity of our election."

*Brianne Pfannenstiel contributed reporting.

*Galen Bacharier covers the Statehouse & politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.co m or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier

---

op ed

first, the good news: Most Americans trust juries.

Now, the bad news: Iowa’s attorney general apparently isn’t one of them.

Brenna Bird joined a bunch of other Republican politicians at the New York trial of Donald Trump this week and immediately pronounced it a farce. “Politics has no place in a court of law,” she said.

On Monday, Bird took leave of her duties in Iowa to be in New York to be part of the Trump entourage seeking to torpedo the proceedings there. Among her fellow travelers: U.S. Sens. J.D. Vance and Tommy Tuberville.

Iowans who value the rule of law ought to be disgusted. I confess my bias: I tend to believe Trump is probably guilty of falsifying business records. But I’m an opinion columnist, not an officer of the court. And I will reserve final judgment until a jury decides whether the prosecution has proved its case. I also will continue to wait to see whether the jury’s judgment is affirmed by the appellate court Trump surely will go to if he loses.

I will trust their judgment. They’re closest to the case. I’m not.

Brenna Bird is skipping all that. She’s already proclaimed, without a doubt, that Trump is the victim.

These aren’t the actions of a prosecutor who believes in juries and the legal process. They’re the actions of a politician.

This isn’t to say the legal system is above reproach, of course. Plenty of people have been wronged by the court system, but rich men who live in country clubs aren’t generally among them. They have the money to hire clever lawyers to help them steer clear of consequences. Often, they succeed.

In that vein, Democrats have complained about the federal judge overseeing the criminal indictment in Florida accusing Trump of absconding with secret government documents. Some of the complaints have centered on technical, legal questions; others simply grouse about a “Trump judge” seeking to shield him from accountability.

The former is the argument of a lawyer, the latter is politics.

Now consider what Bird said in a statement: “Biden and his far-left allies will stop at nothing to silence President Trump’s voice and keep him off the campaign trail by keeping him tied up in court … It is wrong, it is election interference, and our country deserves better.”

This kind of analysis won’t get Bird published in a law review, but it might get her on Fox News. Or, as a colleague of mine, Dave Busiek points out, it might earn her an appointment in a new Trump administration, should Trump win in November.

It could be worse. Bird’s allies have attacked the families of the New York judge and prosecutor. Tuberville even complained about the “supposedly American citizens in that courtroom.” Some took this as an attack on the jury.

If Iowa’s top law enforcement officer objected to those attacks, I haven’t seen it.

At the outset of this article, I noted the good news that Americans trust juries. It’s true. A poll last year released by the National Center for State Courts said 61% of Americans expressed some or a great deal of confidence in state courts. That’s actually higher than it has been in recent years. (The Trump case in New York is being heard in a state court.)

More encouraging is the idea that people who have actually served on juries have an even higher opinion of the court system than the general public. An Ipsos survey last year “found that jurors were far more likely than the general public to trust those in the criminal justice system, such as judges at the federal, state, and Supreme Court level, attorneys, nonlegal staff members and law enforcement,” a New York Times article said.

There’s a reason for that.

“If you’re sitting on a jury, even for a day or two, you get a window into a very serious and focused environment,” Stephen Adler, a former legal reporter and Reuters editor who wrote a book on the jury system, said in the Times article. “Having that actual contact makes people, regardless of their preconceived notions, feel better about every actor in the process, all the way up to the judges.”

This is why I trust juries. Inside courtrooms, the participants are usually serious. Outside of courtrooms, our politics rarely is.

Since being elected, Bird has done the job in a vastly different manner than her predecessor. Can you imagine Tom Miller trying to undermine a criminal trial in another state? Of course not. Miller used to frustrate Democrats because he wasn’t more political. Now, Bird has turned the job on its head.

In 2022, Brenna Bird barely defeated Miller. Gov. Kim Reynolds’ strength at the top of the ticket undoubtedly carried her over the line. Reynolds won by 18 points, Bird by less than two points. She didn’t even measure up to most of the other Republican statewide candidates.

Bird’s attacks on Biden and her unquestioning support for Trump will surely help her with Republican base voters, and if she remains in Iowa, she’ll need that support given her relatively weak win two years ago. Still, I would like to think for the rest of us, it will have the opposite effect.

Brenna Bird was right about one thing Monday: Politics has no place in a court of law. Iowa voters should tell her that. It’s a quaint notion in these days of MAGA-fied politics, but we deserve a real prosecutor as our state’s attorney general, not a politician who may well have her eye on the next job, rather than serving the best interests of Iowans.

This column was originally published by Ed Tibbetts’ Along the Mississippi newsletter on Substack. It is republished here through the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative.

---

january 3, 2023

Iowa Attorney General-elect Bird Announces Chief Deputy Sam Langholz

DES MOINES -- Iowa Attorney General-elect Brenna Bird today announced her first senior staff appointment. The new Attorney General has selected Sam Langholz, a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law with deep Iowa roots, to serve as her Chief Deputy Attorney General upon taking office. Langholz currently serves as Assistant Solicitor General and Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa.

“I am very excited to have Sam join my team,” Bird said. “Sam’s depth of experience, passion for Iowa, and commitment to public service made his appointment an easy decision. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Sam over many years and I know we share the same vision for the Attorney General’s office. As Chief Deputy, Sam will lead our legal team as we fight back against the radical Biden agenda, engage and support our law enforcement partners, advocate for crime victims, protect the rights of Iowans, and defend the rule of law.”

“Being selected to serve as Chief Deputy Attorney General is an honor,” Langholz said, “and I can’t wait to get to work with the Attorney General-elect to implement her vision for the Attorney General’s office. I share Brenna’s commitment to building the best legal team possible to serve Iowans. On Day One in January, we will be ready to get to work. I want to thank Brenna for her confidence in me, and I look forward to engaging with my colleagues in the Attorney General’s office and the legal and law enforcement communities across Iowa in the weeks and months to come.”

Additional senior staff appointments will be announced in the coming weeks.

About Sam Langholz

*Langholz has served in state government for the past twelve years. As Assistant Solicitor General and Assistant Attorney General, he manages the State’s civil appeals and defends the State in constitutional and other complex litigation before the Iowa Supreme Court, Eighth Circuit, and Supreme Court of the United States. He previously served as Governor Kim Reynolds's Senior Legal Counsel and Special Advisor and as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Administrative Hearings Division in the Department of Inspections and Appeals. Langholz's service started when he was appointed by Governor Terry Branstad, and unanimously confirmed by the State Senate, as Iowa’s State Public Defender.

Langholz began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for Judge Steven M. Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and in private practice with a Des Moines law firm. He has held a number leadership roles with the Iowa State Bar Association and was the founding president of the Iowa Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society.

Langholz graduated first in his class and with highest distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in May 2008. While in law school, he served as a managing editor of the Iowa Law Review, and he worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa and in the Muscatine County Attorney's Office. Before law school, he spent three years working in the U.S. House of Representatives for then-House Majority Whip Roy Blunt.

He received his Bachelor of Arts in Politics in June 2002 from Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia, where he graduated magna cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Langholz grew up in Clear Lake and now lives in Ankeny with his wife and two children.*

---

no lnx

The Quad-City Times

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, ’01, Appoints Eric Wessan, ’19, Solicitor General

Iowa Attorney General-elect Bird Announces Additional Senior Staff Positions

January 3, 2023 *EIN Presswire

Iowa Attorney General-elect Brenna Bird today announced new members of her senior team. Bird named Solicitor General Eric Wessan, Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation Stan Thompson, Assistant Attorney General for Victim Services John Gish, and Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Dan Breitbarth to serve in the attorney general’s office.

“I’m excited about the incredible team we’re forming of talented individuals to serve the people of Iowa,” said Bird. “Our team is composed of critical-thinkers, who bring with them a wealth of diverse legal experience and shared vision of service. Together, our team will work tirelessly to get criminals off the streets, seek justice for victims of crime, and uphold the rule of law.”

Additional senior staff appointments will be announced in the coming weeks.

Eric Wessan

Eric Wessan will serve as Solicitor General, leading the State’s representation in the United States Supreme Court, Iowa Supreme Court, and other state and federal appellate courts. He'll play a critical role in Attorney General-elect Bird's efforts to push back against the Biden Administration and defend all of Iowa’s statutes.

Eric Wessan is an attorney with King & Spalding LLP in Chicago, where he practices complex civil litigation and appeals. He serves on the Board of the Chicago Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and as Chair of the Chicago Young Lawyers Chapter. He was previously a law clerk for Judge James Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge John F. Kness of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Before his legal career, Wessan worked as Vice Consul of Policy & Communication for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, getting to know Iowa well as he observed the Iowa Caucus campaigns on the ground. Wessan received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Chicago.

Attorney General Bird Leads Letter Opposing Biden Administration Radical Environmental Scheme for Development Projects

DES MOINES- Today, Attorney General Bird led a coalition of 24 states in a letter opposing a proposed Biden Administration rule that will illegally mandate social, environmental, and race-based regulations for infrastructure projects and stop development in its tracks.

The Biden Administration’s woke environmental scheme is part of its larger radical climate change plan. With the new rule in effect, Americans will pay more for energy; face delays for projects such as new housing, power plants, roads, and bridges; and even have to cancel projects due to significant price hikes and delays.

This Biden Administration rule not only eliminates the common-sense Trump-era reforms that made development easier, but it goes even further than before. The new rule imposes expensive red-tape regulations for project developers and sets an illegal double standard. With the new rule in effect, projects that align with the Biden Administration’s radical climate change agenda will be favored, while projects that use traditional energy sources will face stricter regulations.

“The Biden Administration will stop at nothing to force its woke climate agenda on the rest of America,” said Attorney General Bird. “Environmental activists shouldn’t dictate how or when we can build a home or bridge. This rule is nothing more than another illegal power grab. And if left unchecked, the new rule will devastate important, job-creating infrastructure projects.”

A coalition of 17 governors, including Governor Kim Reynolds, also wrote to oppose the rule.

The proposed rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act and federal law requiring that significant legislation go through Congress, rather than unelected bureaucrats. // CHEVRON DERFERENCE DEREGULATION

Iowa led the letter joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Read the full letter here

ref 18 pp

...tember 29, 2023 Council on Environmental Quality 730 Jackson Place NW Washington, DC 20503 Re: Reconsideration of Council on Environmental Quality National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations Revisions Phase Two (Docket ID CEQ– 2023–0003) The Attorneys General of Iowa and the 23 undersigned States respectfully submit these comments in response to the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Revisions of the National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA) Implementing Regulations Revisions Phase Two (Proposed Rule).1 C

EQ’s Proposed Rule serves as a dramatic example of federal and administrative overreach. Rather than serve its long-term goals of collecting information about large development projects, the Proposed Rule injects major substantive considerations into the NEPA process. In doing so, the Proposed Rule turns NEPA on its head, and turns it farther away from the effective reform process started in 2020. This radical and illegal climate power grab goes far beyond CEQ’s delegated authority. Congress passed NEPA to achieve laudable goals: to reduce delays and promote better decision-making consistent with national environmental policy.2 Tasked with NEPA’s

...

p 13?

other requirements,” by contrast, will leave an agency unsure of when it has considered enough factors in its analysis. That uncertainty will lead to front-end delays and back-end litigation risk. How can a court determine whether an NGO plaintiff is correct that the agency didn’t consider enough of these “other requirements” in its initial planning? And even if a court adjudicated that issue, the guidance is vague enough that other courts in other jurisdictions could come to conflicting outcomes. Such a regulatory patchwork stands to create real harm, particularly given the lack of certainty for the Proposed Rule’s consistent application.

Similarly, references in the Proposed Rule to “meaningful” public engagement and public participation introduce a fuzzy, unpredictable, un-analyzable element into the NEPA process. The 2020 CEQ regulatory revision was largely motivated by a desire to streamline and simplify what had grown over the decades since NEPA’s enactment into a sprawling, byzantine, insiders’ game. Project reviews were taking too long, taking up too many pages, sprawling into subject areas beyond what Congress intended, and slowing down or deterring needed permits and other actions.

Many, if not most, supporters of the NEPA amendments in the recent FRA intended to similarly streamline the process, as evidence by those amendments’ adoption of key aspects of the 2020 rule. But CEQ here is adding or restoring (from the original 1978 regulations) elements that will cause longer, broader-ranging reviews and less legal certainty. The Proposed Rule is therefore in tension not only with the original statute, but also with Congress’s intent in amending NEPA earlier this year.

respectfully submitted,

Brenna Bird

Attorney General of Iowa

Steve Marshall

Attorney General of Alabama

Treg Taylor

Attorney General of Alaska

Tim Griffin

Attorney General of Arkansas

Ashley Moody

Attorney General of Florida

Chris Carr

Attorney General of Georgia

Raúl R. Labrador

Attorney General of Idaho

Theodore E. Rokita

Attorney General of Indiana

Kris Kobach

Attorney General of Kansas

Jeff Landry

Attorney General of Louisiana

Andrew T. Bailey

Attorney General of Missouri

Lynn Fitch

Attorney General of

Mississippi

Austin Knudsen

Attorney General of Montana

Mike Hilgers

Nebraska Attorney General

Drew Wrigley

Attorney General of North

Dakota

Dave Yost

Attorney General of Ohio

Gentner Drummond

Attorney General of Oklahoma

Alan Wilson

Attorney General of South

Carolina

Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General

Ken Paxton

Attorney General of Texas

Sean D. Reyes

Attorney General of Utah

Jason Miyares

Attorney General of Virginia

Patrick Morrisey

Attorney General of West

Virginia

Bridget Hill

Attorney General of Wyoming

For More Information:

Alyssa Brouillet | Press Secretary

(515) 823-9112

alyssa.brouillet@ag.iowa.gov

« Back

---

September 25, 2023

Attorney General Bird Meets with Iowans in all 99 Counties

BIRD DISCUSSES TOP ISSUES SHE HEARS FROM IOWANS ACROSS THE STATE

September 22, 2023

Iowa Attorney General’s Office Concludes Pleasant Hill Police Officer Acted with Legal Justification in Shooting

DES MOINES- In a report issued today, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has concluded that the August 12, 2023, fatal shooting of Bradley Van Heeswyk by a Pleasant Hill police officer was “legally justified." The Attorney General’s conclusion was based on a review and investigation by the Iowa Division of...

September 14, 2023

Deputy Attorney General David Faith Appointed District Judge

DES MOINES- Wednesday, Governor Kim Reynolds announced Deputy Attorney General David Faith’s appointment as a district judge in Judicial Election District 5A. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released the following statement in response: “I am so proud of Deputy Attorney General David Faith for his appointment as a district judge...

September 14, 2023

Attorney General Bird Response to Fatal Shooting of Algona Police Officer

DES MOINES- Wednesday evening, Algona police officer Kevin Cram was fatally shot and killed in the line of duty. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released the following statement in response: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of law enforcement hero Kevin Cram last night in Algona. Officer Cram...

September 13, 2023

Attorney General Brenna Bird Sues Over Misleading Door-to-Door Stem Cell Therapy Treatments

DES MOINES– Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today sued Biologics Health, LLC, Summit Partners Group, LLC, Rylee Meek, and Scott Thomas for allegedly engaging in fraudulent door-to-door stem cell therapy treatments. The lawsuit challenges the defendants’ false advertisement of stem cell therapies and misleading claims regarding the effectiveness of their...

September 12, 2023

Attorney General Bird Announces Back to School Reminders

DES MOINES- As students head back to school, Attorney General Bird reminds Iowans to follow school safety laws. “School safety is every Iowan’s responsibility,” said Attorney General Bird. “As a mom, I know that there is nothing more important than keeping our kids safe. And when we drop our children...

September 1, 2023

Attorney General Bird Joins Bipartisan Coalition of 42 Attorneys General Urging SCOTUS to Protect Veterans’ Rights

DES MOINES— Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorneys general urging the Supreme Court to protect veterans’ rights by ruling in favor of James Rudisill in Rudisill v. McDonough. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) denied Rudisill full use of his more beneficial Post-9/11 GI...

---

r blumenthal supports, ~ alito clarence

current fbi aGENT? 2X DIPPING?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Tuesday in favor of decorated Army veteranJames Rudisill in a case that questioned whether the federal government could limit college money for veterans who’d earned benefits under more than one version of the GI Bill.

The case could unlock greater educational benefits for veterans nationwide who, like Rudisill, had earned college benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill, which covers tuition, and the newer, more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill, which pays for tuition, fees, housing and books. Federal law allows veterans to tap both plans up to a maximum of 48 months.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were the two dissenters in the case, which challenged a federal Department of Veterans Affairs decision against Rudisill.

Rudisill, a Virginia resident, was represented pro bono by a team of lawyers that included Chicago attorney Misha Tseytlin of the law firm Troutman Pepper.

“This fight was for all military veterans who, like me, were denied what they were promised after their service to our country,” Rudisill said, who has been pursuing his case since 2015. “It has been humbling to represent the veterans’ community, and I am so grateful for my legal team and the court’s decision here.”

---

cool with cops shooting ppl?

...

august 30, 2023|Attorney General Brenna Bird Files Appeal to Defend Election Integrity{nl}DES MOINES- Today, Attorney General Brenna Bird released the following statement regarding the State’s appeal of a Polk County District Court’s decision exempting some voting materials from the Iowa English Language Reaffirmation Act: “We are appealing the District Court’s decision against the Secretary of State’s office to protect election integrity...{nl}Read More|

...

Attorney General Bird Appoints Chief Deputy Leif Olson](https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom/attorney-general-bird-appoints-chief-deputy-leif-olson/)

DES MOINES– Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced her appointment of Leif Olson as Chief Deputy Attorney General. Olson is a graduate of Trinity University and the University of Chicago School of Law. He recently served as Chief of the Special Litigation Division of the Texas Attorney General’s office...

Read More (https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom/attorney-general-bird-appoints-chief-deputy-leif-olson/)

...

tobacco and poioid monery

===Newsroom - Page 13

August 9, 2023

Chief Deputy Sam Langholz Appointed to Iowa Court of Appeals

DES MOINES— Today, Governor Kim Reynolds announced Chief Deputy Sam Langholz’s appointment to the Iowa Court of Appeals. Attorney General Bird released the following statement in response: “I am so proud of Chief Deputy Sam Langholz for his appointment to the Iowa Court of Appeals. Sam has a keen legal...

August 9, 2023

Attorney General Bird Calls on Congress to Pass the EATS Act

DES MOINES— Today, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led 16 states in a letter to U.S. Congressional leadership, urging the passage of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (“EATS”) Act. The bill prevents California from regulating farmers and ranchers across the country by preserving states’ authority to regulate agriculture within their...

August 7, 2023

Attorney General Bird Sues EPA for Failure to Implement Sale of Year-Round E15 Gasoline

DES MOINES— Today, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird sued the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) for failing to fulfill Governor Kim Reynolds’ request to allow the sale of year-round E15 gasoline. On April 28, 2022, a bipartisan coalition of governors, led by Governor Kim Reynolds, asked the EPA to...

July 25, 2023

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Heartbeat Law Appeal

DES MOINES- Today, the Iowa Supreme Court agreed to hear Attorney General Brenna Bird's appeal of the district court’s order to halt enforcement of Iowa’s Heartbeat Law. Attorney General Bird released the following statement in response: “I am glad that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear our appeal. I...

July 21, 2023

Attorney General Brenna Bird Files Appeal to Reinstate Heartbeat Law

DES MOINES- Today, Attorney General Brenna Bird filed an application for interlocutory appeal with the Iowa Supreme Court to reinstate Iowa’s Heartbeat Law. The appeal challenges the temporary injunction granted by the Polk County District Court on Monday that blocked the Heartbeat Law from protecting unborn life. The Iowa Supreme...

June 30, 2023

Attorney General Bird Response to Supreme Court Halting President Biden's Student Debt Cancellation Plan

DES MOINES—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released the following statement today after the United States Supreme Court's decision to halt President Biden's student debt cancellation plan. “We took President Biden to Court to protect Iowans’ hard-earned money and won. Today’s Supreme Court win stops Biden’s illegal mass student debt cancellation...

June 20, 2023

Attorney General Bird to Co-host Dobbs Donation Drive Supporting Women and Children Across the Nation

DES MOINES- Attorney General Bird today announced that she is co-hosting a multistate donation drive to support more than 60 pregnancy centers across the U.S. from June 20 to June 24. The drive was created in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade....

June 16, 2023

Attorney General Bird Response to Iowa Supreme Court Heartbeat Law Decision

DES MOINES—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released the following statement today after the Iowa Supreme Court's decision not to rule on the Heartbeat law case based on merits. “I am disappointed that the Iowa Supreme Court today did not decide the Heartbeat law case. Due to the tie, the district...

June 8, 2023

Attorney General Bird Announces Distribution of $141 Million Settlement to Iowans and Americans Deceived by TurboTax

DES MOINES– Attorney General Bird announced that Iowans who were scammed by TurboTax’s owner, Intuit, into paying for free tax services began receiving checks from a $141 million multistate settlement announced in May 2022. Approximately 4.4 million Americans will receive checks in the mail from the multistate settlement. Iowa will...

June 7, 2023

Attorney General Bird Announces $102.5 Million Settlement to Increase Availability of Opioid Treatments

DES MOINES— Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced that Iowa and a coalition of 41 other states negotiated a nationwide $102.5 million settlement with Indivior Inc., manufacturer of the opioid addiction treatment drug Suboxone. Iowa will receive over $1 million from the settlement. The Suboxone medicine originated as a tablet...

---

archive no lnx pix

Bleeding Heartland

An independent website about Iowa politics

About FAQ Highlights Newsletters Wildflower Wednesday Audio + Video

Brenna Bird

State Representative Sami Scheetz (official photo, 2023)

Assault on women's autonomy leaves Iowans with a choice

Monday, Jul 1 2024Sami Scheetz3 Comments

Sami Scheetz represents Iowa House district 78, covering part of Cedar Rapids.

In a few short weeks, my wife and I will welcome a baby girl into our family. It’s the best feeling in the world. It’s also terrifying: as a father, I’m faced with the prospect that I’ll raise a daughter in a state where she has less freedom than her grandmother enjoyed.

Yet that’s exactly what an extreme, partisan majority on Iowa’s Supreme Court decided last week. Four unelected judges substituted their will for the will of the people of Iowa to let Governor Kim Reynolds’ and the Republican legislature’s near-total abortion ban take effect.

Like so many Iowans, I’m heartbroken, upset, and angry over the June 28 decision. I’ve heard from constituents who are wondering whether Iowa is the best place to raise their families—especially in light of Attorney General Brenna Bird’s recent appearance with extremists who vow to ban IVF treatments and contraception next, and her promise that “there is work left to be done” on this issue.

Official Iowa Supreme Court photo (2022)

Two remarkable dissents highlight flaws in Iowa abortion ruling

Sunday, Jun 30 2024Laura Belin3 Comments

“Nothing promotes life like a forced hysterectomy preventing a woman from ever becoming pregnant again because she could not terminate a doomed pregnancy under the medical emergency exception,” wrote Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen near the end of her dissenting opinion in Planned Parenthood v Reynolds VI.

In that case, four Iowa Supreme Court justices ruled on June 28 that the state can enforce a near-total abortion ban (House File 732) while litigation proceeds in lower court. Reversing a Polk County District Court ruling, the majority determined the plaintiffs were not likely to succeed in showing the ban violates pregnant Iowans’ due process rights. The majority also declared that abortion restrictions are subject to “rational basis” review, which will make it far easier for the government to defend the law against the plaintiffs’ other constitutional claims.

Writing in dissent, the chief justice illuminated the suffering that will follow from this “giant step backward” for Iowa women. An equally remarkable opinion by Justice Edward Mansfield—the author of the 2022 decision that overturned Iowa’s abortion rights precedent—warned that the majority’s new approach to abortion cases “disserves the people of Iowa and their constitution.”

Anti-abortion advocates at the March for Life rally in the state capitol on June 22, 2024

The fate of Iowa's abortion ban

Wednesday, Jun 26 2024John Kearney0 Comments

John Kearney is a retired philosophy professor who taught at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has lived in Waterloo, Iowa for the past six years.

U. S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the conservative majority in the landmark 2022 Dobbs case (which overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent), concluded his opinion by saying:

“In my judgment, on the issue of abortion, the Constitution is nether pro-life nor pro-choice. The Constitution is neutral, and this Court must be scrupulously neutral. The Court today properly heeds the constitutional principle of judicial neutrality and returns the issue of abortion to the people and their elected representatives in the democratic process.”

The legal controversy over Iowa’s near-total abortion ban (House File 732) focuses on whether a “rational basis” or an “undue burden” review of abortion regulations should hold sway. (The Iowa Supreme Court will soon rule on the state’s appeal of a lower court injunction that has blocked the law’s enforcement.)

U.S. Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) and Randy Feenstra (IA-04)

Underwhelming wins for Miller-Meeks, Feenstra in GOP primaries

Wednesday, Jun 5 2024Laura Belin1 Comment

The president of the Congressional Leadership Fund (the main super-PAC aligned with U.S. House Republicans) congratulated U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks on her “resounding victory” in the June 4 primary to represent Iowa’s first district.

U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra hailed the “clear message” from fourth district voters, saying he was “humbled by the strong support for our campaign.”

They can spin, but they can’t hide.

Pulling 55 to 60 percent of the vote against an underfunded, first-time candidate is anything but a “resounding” or “strong” performance for a member of Congress.

We need to accept outcomes we dislike

Monday, Jun 3 2024Randy Evans4 Comments

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

Most people go through life never stepping foot inside a courtroom. Most people, that is, except for attorneys, judges, journalists, the few of us chosen to be jurors, and an even more select group, those who are accused of crimes.

If I were talking now with my dear parents, may they rest in peace, I would quickly assure them that my many days spent in courtrooms have been in a professional capacity, not as a defendant trying to avoid the slammer.

As a reporter and later as the boss of reporters, I have had an up-close vantage point to watch our court system as it works. I claim no special expertise. But 50 years in a ringside seat on the judiciary have given me perspective worth sharing.

Donald Trump with Brenna Bird on Iowa caucus night 2024

Brenna Bird outdoes critics in building a case against her

Thursday, May 30 2024Herb Strentz1 Comment

Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.

Attorney General Brenna Bird continues to ignore her critics, doubling down on actions that have drawn criticism. Unfortunately for Iowans, she’s picked a bad model to imitate.

This shoot-yourself-in-the-foot strategy had worked so well for Donald Trump that Bird seems to figure, “Why not give it a try?”

And she’ll likely continue that style, despite the unanimous verdict(s) against Trump in the one trial he has not managed to delay.

Members of Escucha Mi Voz Iowa march against Senate File 2340 in Iowa City on May 1

New Iowa law flouts U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause

Sunday, May 19 2024Rick Morain2 Comments

Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

Where does your primary loyalty lie: as a citizen of America, or as a citizen of Iowa?

Probably seems like a meaningless question. But around the nation, more and more states these days are enacting laws in opposition to those of the federal government, placing the loyalty question front and center. And a growing number of U.S. residents are declaring a preference to honor their state laws above those of the United States.

ORIGINS OF THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE

In terms of settled law, there’s no real dispute: federal law outranks state law. The U.S. Constitution leaves no doubt. Article VI, Clause 2 (the “Supremacy Clause”), reads as follows:

2019 photo by Daniel Constante (Shutterstock)

Trapped in the Political Upside Down

Saturday, May 18 2024Bruce Lear0 Comments

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com

Starting in 2016, Netflix streamed Stranger Things, a horror, science fiction series set in a small Indiana town with tweens and teens as main characters. In its four seasons, the audience travels to the “Upside Down,” an alternate universe where bizarre replaces normal.

It’s fun fiction.

But in real life, we have veered into the “Political Upside Down.”

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird speaks to reporters about Donald Trump's criminal trial on May 13. Cropped from a photo posted on Bird's political Facebook page

Brenna Bird and RAGA are masters of projection

Wednesday, May 15 2024Laura Belin5 Comments

“What I saw in that courtroom today is a travesty,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told reporters in New York City on May 13. She was speaking outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is being tried for allegedly “falsifying business records to conceal hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.”

The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) organized the trip and paid for Bird’s travel to Manhattan, a spokesperson for Bird’s campaign told reporters after the attorney general declined to answer that question directly.

Ed Tibbetts highlighted Bird’s disrespect for the legal system when she declared the case “a scam and a sham.” Dave Busiek ridiculed Bird’s hypocrisy after she denounced the prosecution’s witness Michael Cohen (“a perjurer, disbarred, convicted of lying”) “without any apparent sense of irony that she’s appearing on behalf of Donald Trump, who lies as easily and frequently as the rest of us breathe.”

It’s also worth noting that Trump loyalists like Bird and RAGA have no room to point fingers about political prosecutions or “election interference.”

What Iowa lawmakers approved (and cut) in state's $8.9 billion budget

Thursday, Apr 25 2024Robin Opsahl1 Comment

Robin Opsahl covers the state legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this article first appeared.

In their final days of the 2024 legislative session, Iowa lawmakers approved $8.9 billion in state spending for the upcoming year, financing the state government and public services. Most of those decisions now await a thumbs up or down from the governor.

Appropriations bills included funding for topics discussed often this session, like increasing pay for Iowa judges, as well as spending cuts to Area Education Agencies (AEAs), the provider of special education and other school support services in Iowa.

Budget bills can also include policy components. This year, language restricting on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the state’s public universities was passed as part of the education spending bill.

Iowa Supreme Court Justice Dana Oxley listens during oral arguments on April 11, 2024. Photo by Lily Smith/Des Moines Register (pool).

What to know about the Iowa Supreme Court's next big abortion case

Wednesday, Apr 17 2024Laura Belin0 Comments

For the sixth time in the past decade, an abortion-related case is pending before the Iowa Supreme Court.

The only certainty is that the court will issue some majority opinion in the latest iteration of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v Reynolds. All seven justices participated in the April 11 oral arguments.

The law at issue, adopted during a special legislative session last July, is almost identical to the near-total abortion ban at the center of last year’s case. But after Justice Dana Oxley recused herself from the 2023 litigation, the other justices split 3-3, leaving a permanent injunction on the 2018 abortion ban in place.

In all likelihood, the Iowa Supreme Court will decide before the end of June whether to lift the temporary injunction on the new abortion ban. Normally, it’s not advisable to guess how any justice will rule following oral arguments. We can draw more inferences here, because all seven justices have written or joined opinions that are relevant to the current case.

This post is designed to help readers understand the legal context and key arguments for each side.

Iowans must stand with victims during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Wednesday, Apr 10 2024Rob Sand1 Comment

State Auditor Rob Sand speaks at a public town hall in Onawa (Monona County) on May 22, 2023. Photo provided by State Auditor’s office.

Rob Sand is Iowa’s state auditor.

Lots of topics get swept under the rug because they’re not comfortable for us to confront. Sometimes we’d rather pretend the problems don’t exist or couldn’t happen in a place like Iowa. But they do, and it can happen anywhere—even in our great state. It is our obligation to confront them in order to solve them.

I’ve always spoken out on behalf of victims of sexual violence. From my time as a prosecutor putting or keeping rapists and pedophiles behind bars, to voting against taxpayer-funded settlements that bail out perpetrators of egregious sexual harassment in my role as a member of the State Appeal Board now that I’m state auditor.

Iowa House Democrats strangely quiet on eminent domain bill

Friday, Mar 29 2024Laura Belin5 Comments

Protester’s sign against a pillar in the state capitol on February 27 (photo by Laura Belin)

What’s the opposite of “loud and proud”?

Iowa House Democrats unanimously voted for the chamber’s latest attempt to address the concerns of landowners along the path of Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline. But not a single Democrat spoke during the March 28 floor debate.

The unusual tactic allowed the bill’s Republican advocates to take full credit for defending property rights against powerful corporate interests—an extremely popular position.

It was a missed opportunity to share a Democratic vision for fair land use policies and acknowledge the progressive constituencies that oppose the pipeline for various reasons.

What were these government officials thinking?

Wednesday, Mar 20 2024Randy Evans2 Comments

State Senator Dan Dawson presents Senate File 2349, regarding defense subpoenas, during floor debate on February 27. Screenshot from official video.

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

What were they thinking? That is a question I ask myself a lot lately.

Those were the first words out of my mouth when the Manhattan district attorney had to postpone Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial on the alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels — the delay necessitated because government lawyers had dropped the ball.

I muttered those words during several days of court hearings in Georgia into Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis’ affair with a subordinate prosecutor — the one she chose to lead the criminal case against Trump and a dozen other defendants for trying to undo that state’s 2020 presidential election results.

And those words come to mind about bills the Iowa legislature is considering that would affect criminal cases like those brought against state university athletes for their online wagers on sporting events.

Will Koch avoid paying millions in fertilizer plant taxes?

Wednesday, Mar 20 2024Scott Syroka2 Comments

Scott Syroka is a former Johnston city council member.

It’s unclear whether Koch Industries would avoid paying utility replacement taxes worth millions of dollars every year if it acquires OCI Global’s Iowa Fertilizer Company plant in Wever (Lee County).

According to Chuck Vandenberg’s February reporting for the Pen City Current, the Iowa Fertilizer Company plant’s current owner, OCI Global, paid between $2 to 3 million in utility replacement taxes in 2023 alone.

To understand why it’s unknown whether Koch Industries would be required to pay these taxes if it acquires the plant, we must look back in the history books.

After deregulation spread across the country in the 1980s, including in the electric and natural gas industries, the Iowa legislature responded in 1998 by passing Senate File 2146, the Property Tax Replacement and Statewide Property Tax Act.

Brenna Bird warns YouTube to stop ‘targeting pro-life messages’

Wednesday, Mar 6 2024Clark Kauffman2 Comments

Screenshot from Alliance Defending Freedom video opposing medication abortion

Clark Kauffman is deputy editor at Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this article first appeared.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading a multi-state effort in demanding that YouTube remove specific abortion-related information from its site.

Bird and fifteen other Republican attorneys general wrote to YouTube this week and demanded that it remove or revise what Bird calls a “dangerous and misleading” label attached to a video that pertains to chemical abortion pills.

The label, Bird says, is “targeting pro-life messages” and contains inaccurate information that jeopardizes women’s health.

Adventures in misleading headlines

Wednesday, Feb 28 2024

Laura Belin14 Comments

Some Iowa news headlines misrepresented an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on February 27, which resolved a long-running lawsuit over Iowa’s 2021 law banning schools from requiring masks.

“Federal appeals court upholds Iowa law banning school mask mandates,” read the headline on a Cedar Rapids Gazette story, also published in some of the Lee Newspapers.

KCRG-TV’s version (carried by other television stations with the same owner) was titled “Federal appeals court upholds Iowa ban on mask mandates.”

“Appeals court upholds law banning mask mandates in schools,” read the headline on Iowa Capital Dispatch, a website that allows Iowa newspapers to republish its reporting at no charge.

The framing closely tracked written statements from Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird, who hailed the Eighth Circuit decision.

There was just one problem: the appeals court did not “uphold” the law.

Pay attention to how officials talk—and how they act

Monday, Feb 12 2024Randy Evans4 Comments

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird receives an award from the Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association in December 2023. Photo first published on the Attorney General’s official Facebook page.

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

Voters have busy lives—families to care for, jobs demanding their attention, bills to worry about.

So, they can be forgiven if they do not closely track their government leaders’ statements and actions. Sometimes voters may find discrepancies between what politicians say and what they do.

Here is one example:

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird was in the news last week asking Congress to replenish a federal program, the Victims of Crime Act, which assists crime victims in a variety of ways.

A cautionary note for Iowa Democrats who attended a GOP caucus

Sunday, Jan 28 2024Laura Belin0 Comments

From left: Carolyn Jenison, Angelo Thorne, and Tanya Keith attend a Republican precinct caucus in Des Moines on January 15 after changing their party registrations. Photo by Tanya Keith published with permission.

The Iowa Democratic Party will soon send “presidential preference cards” to registered Democrats who would like to vote by mail for Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, or “uncommitted.” Voters will have until February 19 to request the cards, and will need to return them by March 5 (or with a March 5 postmark).

One group of Iowa Democrats should not attempt to vote by mail, however: those who switched parties in order to attend a Republican precinct caucus on January 15.

Summit Carbon investors seek to sew up Republican support

Tuesday, Jan 16 2024Nancy Dugan2 Comments

Continental Resources executive chairman Harold Hamm, center right, is surrounded by Summit representatives during a December 21, 2023 hearing of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. From left to right are Summit Carbon’s general counsel Jess Vilsack; Summit Carbon CEO Lee Blank; Summit Carbon COO James “Jimmy” Powell (seated in the row behind the others); North Dakota Petroleum Council president Ron Ness; Hamm; and Summit Agricultural Group CEO Justin Kirchhoff. (Photo by Kyle Martin, published with permission)

Nancy Dugan lives in Altoona, Iowa and has worked as an online editor for the past 12 years.

While billionaire wildcatter and Summit Carbon Solutions investor Harold Hamm appears to be hedging his bets, Bruce Rastetter, founder of Summit Agricultural Group, which launched the CO2 pipeline project, announced his support for Donald Trump during a Bloomberg News roundtable on January 13 in Des Moines. A Summit Agricultural Group news release also announced the endorsement, which came just two days before Trump’s decisive caucus victory in Iowa.

Meanwhile, Trump lambasted former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a vocal opponent of using eminent domain to build the Summit Carbon pipeline, in a January 13 post on his Truth Social platform. Trump declared Ramaswamy “not MAGA” and accused him of using “deceitful campaign tricks.” It was the first time the front-runner publicly criticized Ramaswamy, who ended his campaign and endorsed Trump immediately following the Iowa caucuses on January 15.

Best of Bleeding Heartland's original reporting in 2023

Sunday, Jan 7 2024Laura Belin2 Comments

Before Iowa politics kicks into high gear with a new legislative session and the caucuses, I want to highlight the investigative reporting, in-depth analysis, and accountability journalism published first or exclusively on this site last year.

Some newspapers, websites, and newsletters put their best original work behind a paywall for subscribers, or limit access to a set number of free articles a month. I’m committed to keeping all Bleeding Heartland content available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay. That includes nearly 500 articles and commentaries from 2023 alone, and thousands more posts in archives going back to 2007.

To receive links to everything recently published here via email, subscribe to the free Evening Heartland newsletter. I also have a free Substack, which is part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Subscribers receive occasional cross-posts from Bleeding Heartland, as well as audio files and recaps for every episode of KHOI Radio’s “Capitol Week,” a 30-minute show about Iowa politics co-hosted by Dennis Hart and me.

I’m grateful to all readers, but especially to tipsters. Please reach out with story ideas that may be worth pursuing in 2024.

Court blocks Iowa's "staggeringly broad" book bans, teaching restrictions

Sunday, Dec 31 2023Laura Belin9 Comments

UPDATE: Attorney General Brenna Bird filed notice of appeal to the Eighth Circuit on January 12. Original post follows.

The state of Iowa cannot enforce key parts of a new law that sought to ban books depicting sex acts from schools and prohibit instruction “relating to gender identity and sexual orientation” from kindergarten through sixth grade.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher issued a preliminary injunction on December 29, putting what he called “staggeringly broad” provisions on hold while two federal lawsuits challenging Senate File 496 proceed. The judge found the book bans “unlikely to satisfy the First Amendment under any standard of scrutiny,” and the teaching restrictions “void for vagueness under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

However, the state may continue to enforce a provision requiring school administrators to inform parents or guardians if a student seeks an “accommodation that is intended to affirm the student’s gender identity.” Judge Locher found the LGBTQ students who are plaintiffs in one case lack standing to challenge that provision, since “they are all already ‘out’ to their families and therefore not affected in a concrete way” by it.

Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird quickly criticized the court’s decision. But neither engaged with the legal issues at hand.

Trump and Iowa Republicans imperil democracy

Friday, Nov 24 2023Herb Strentz10 Comments

If you’re looking for something to quench your thirst for a measure of hope in our democracy, don’t turn to Iowa caucus news for a figurative drink. That well is polluted—to put it mildly—perhaps poisoned, to take a more worrisome view. Given the nature of the campaigns, it looks like the January 15 Iowa Republican caucuses will only make things worse. We may have to hope for redemption of democracy in the November 2024 election.

What’s at stake: the earth’s mightiest nation may have a major-party presidential nominee facing 91 federal or state criminal charges across five indictments. For Donald Trump’s supporters, that rap sheet is not only not disqualifying—it generates more sympathy for the candidate and boos for media coverage of his baggage.

What Kim Taylor's voter fraud case tells us about Donald Trump's big lie

Tuesday, Nov 21 2023Laura Belin1 Comment

Federal courthouse Northern District of Iowa, photo by Tony Webster, creative commons license and available at Wikimedia Commons

Kim Taylor could face years in prison after a federal jury convicted her on November 21 of 52 counts of voter fraud, voter registration fraud, or giving false information in registering or voting. Over the course of a six-day trial, prosecutors presented evidence Taylor forged signatures on voter registration forms, absentee ballot request forms, and absentee ballots in order to secure votes for her husband in the 2020 election. Prosecutors identified Jeremy Taylor, a Republican who previously served in the Iowa House and is now a Woodbury County supervisor, as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.

The jury found Kim Taylor helped cast dozens of fraudulent ballots—a large number, but small in comparison to the 45,700 ballots cast in Woodbury County in 2020, not to mention the 1.7 million ballots cast across Iowa.

Which raises an obvious question for all Republicans who have expressly or tacitly endorsed Donald Trump’s sweeping claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” or stolen from him.

Secrecy about state licensing decisions won't protect Iowa consumers

Wednesday, Oct 25 2023Randy Evans1 Comment

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

The rationale behind Iowa’s professional licensing laws is simple: People in certain professions and skilled occupations are required to hold state licenses to work in Iowa. The purpose is to ensure they meet the minimum standard of training and skill necessary to serve consumers safely and effectively.

But a state policy change leads me to wonder whether government officials have lost sight of their obligation to act in the best interests of the public. If officials follow through with the new policy in the coming months, then state legislators should step in next year and correct this ill-conceived decision—and concerned citizens should encourage their lawmakers stick up for the public.

Summit Carbon hearings: Who's behind the curtain?

Thursday, Sep 21 2023Nancy Dugan2 Comments

Nancy Dugan lives in Altoona, Iowa and has worked as an online editor for the past 12 years.

Last week, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley denied a request from three counties in the state to investigate Summit Carbon Solutions’ investors. A new statute in North Dakota, which went into effect on August 1, tightens restrictions on foreign ownership of land in that state, among other measures.

But Summit Carbon Solutions, LLC as it exists today was formed in Delaware in 2021, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s database of business entities. (That database shows the Summit Carbon Solutions, LLC created in Iowa in 2020 as “inactive.”) Wrigley explained in a recent letter to county commissioners that the effective date of the new legislation means “this office is unable to conduct a civil review of the company.”

Wrigley’s argument underscores one of the more disturbing aspects of the Summit Carbon matter, which is the false premise that state and local governments are powerless to regulate a Delaware LLC whose ownership structure remains largely a mystery, and whose own legal arguments identify the pipeline it proposes to build as a security threat.

Brenna Bird, do the right thing

Wednesday, Sep 6 2023Mitch Henry1 Comment

Mitch Henry chairs the Iowa Unity Coalition.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is appealing a judge’s decision that cleared the way for election officials to offer non-English voting materials to the public.

Under Polk County District Court Judge Scott Rosenberg’s June 28 ruling, Iowa counties are allowed, at their discretion, to provide citizens with voting materials (including ballots, voter-registration forms, and absentee ballot request forms) in languages other than English. The decision dissolved a 15-year-old injunction that had blocked Iowa counties from printing the forms in other languages. Former U.S. Representative Steve King was among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against then Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro, which led to the injunction in 2008.

The court’s recent ruling stemmed from a lawsuit the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa filed in 2021 to challenge the state’s application of the English Language Reaffirmation Act to election materials.

Attorney calls for Iowa Utilities Board investigation

Sunday, Aug 20 2023Nancy Dugan1 Comment

Nancy Dugan lives in Altoona, Iowa and has worked as an online editor for the past 12 years.

Late in the afternoon on Friday, August 18, attorney Anna Ryon filed a Motion to Stay Proceedings on behalf of Kerry Mulvania Hirth with the Iowa Utilities Board (Summit Carbon Solutions, LLC, IUB docket number HLP-2021-0001).

In the motion, Ryon asserts that Board staff “improperly coerced Ms. Hirth into relinquishing her right to participate in this proceeding that was granted by the Board on July 19, 2023.” Items 12 to 15 of the motion are reproduced in full below:

Iowa AG warns Fortune 100 companies over race-based policies

Friday, Jul 14 2023Sam Stockard1 Comment

Sam Stockard and Anita Wadhwani report for the Tennessee Lookout, which is is part of the States Newsroom network. This article first appeared at Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is among a coalition warning the nation’s largest companies—many of which have diversity and equity programs—they could face legal action for using race-based policies.

A July 13 letter from Bird and twelve other attorneys general put Fortune 100 companies on notice they could be hit with legal action for violating the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, which put an end to using race as a basis for admitting students to college. The attorneys general are targeting hiring and contracting too.

Brenna Bird's free PR via a child ID program and two utility companies

Wednesday, May 24 2023Ian Miller3 Comments

Ian Miller is the author of The Scything Handbook (New Society Publishers, 2016). His writing has appeared in Mother Earth News, the apparently-now-defunct Permaculture Magazine and Seed Savers Exchange publications. He is a former semi-professional musician, having recorded and toured with numerous bands. Originally from Dubuque, he has lived in San Francisco and Austria and now resides in Decorah with his wife and two children.

On Thursday, May 18, I received an email from the Decorah Community School District’s superintendent. He wrote:

He included what appeared to be copy from a press release provided by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office:

Seven bad policies Iowa Republicans slipped into budget bills

Monday, May 22 2023Laura Belin2 Comments

Second in a series on under-covered stories from the Iowa legislature’s 2023 session.

During the seven years of the Iowa GOP trifecta, the majority party has often enacted significant public policy through eleventh-hour appropriations bills. Just before adjourning in 2019, Republicans amended spending bills to change the judicial selection process, restrict medical care for transgender Iowans on Medicaid, and block Planned Parenthood from receiving sex education grants.

A lengthy amendment to a budget bill approved in the closing hours of the 2020 session made it harder for Iowans to vote by mail and sought to restrict some companies from bidding on electric transmission lines projects.

The Iowa Supreme Court sent the legislature a message in March, blocking the 2020 provision on transmission lines, on the grounds that it was likely passed through unconstitutional “logrolling.”

Republican legislators weren’t pleased with the ruling known as LS Power, but seem to have adapted to it. This year’s “standings” appropriations bill was relatively short and focused on spending and code corrections—a far cry from the usual “Christmas tree” featuring unrelated policy items from lawmakers’ wish lists.

Nevertheless, many surprises lurked in other bills that allocated spending for fiscal year 2024, which begins on July 1.

This post focuses on seven provisions that appeared in budget bill amendments published shortly before Iowa House or Senate debate. Most of this policy language never appeared in a stand-alone bill, allowing Republicans to avoid the scrutiny that comes with subcommittee and committee discussions. Democratic legislators had little time to review the proposed budgets before votes on final passage, which mostly fell along party lines.

New Iowa law will politicize criminal prosecutions

Wednesday, Apr 19 2023Thomas Laehn0 Comments

Dr. Thomas Laehn is the Greene County attorney and the only Libertarian to hold an elective partisan office in Iowa. The Des Moines Register published an earlier version of this commentary.

After virtually no meaningful debate and only a single, relatively inconsequential amendment, both chambers of our Republican-controlled legislature approved Governor Kim Reynolds’ massive state government reorganization plan (Senate File 514) within a two-week period. Reynolds signed the bill on April 4.

Unsurprisingly, the new law—which originated in the executive branch—will transfer significant power from the legislature to the governor. Sadly, in both Washington, DC and Des Moines, our legislators (regardless of their party affiliation) have regularly displayed far greater loyalty to their party than to the constitutional system of separated powers to which they swore their allegiance upon assuming office.

While I am thus entirely unsurprised by our Republican legislators’ abdication of their constitutional responsibilities, I am deeply disappointed at their willingness to subvert the local administration of justice in our state in the process. Ironically, the political party that has always claimed to defend local government against those who would otherwise centralize power is systematically stripping our local elected officials—including our county auditors, school boards, and county attorneys—of their discretion.

A week to celebrate accountability in Iowa

Monday, Apr 17 2023Randy Evans0 Comments

Randy Evans can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

Last week was one to savor. But it also was a week to reflect on how far we still need to travel to have true citizen engagement in our state and local governments.

First, some savoring.

The Iowa League of Women Voters honored me and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, the nonprofit, nonpartisan education and advocacy organization I lead. The annual Defending Democracy Award means so much—knowing it comes from the organizational descendants of the women who pushed for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote and who rallied in countless places across America, including right here in Bloomfield (Davis County), to make that happen.

Iowa Supreme Court rejects governor's attempt to dismiss open records claims

Friday, Apr 14 2023Laura Belin4 Comments

The Iowa Supreme Court has allowed an open records lawsuit against Governor Kim Reynolds to proceed. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice David May, the court said concerns about executive privilege or non-justiciable political questions did not prevent plaintiffs from pursuing a claim that the governor’s office violated the open records law, known as Iowa Code Chapter 22, by failing to provide public records in a timely manner.

The court also confirmed that government officials and entities cannot sidestep the law’s requirements by ignoring records requests for an extended period. In addition, the decision clarified that electronic records (like other kinds of public records) must be produced within a reasonable time frame.

Iowa AG halted Plan B, abortion payments for sexual assault victims

Friday, Apr 7 2023Laura Belin0 Comments

The Iowa Attorney General’s office is not currently covering the cost of emergency contraception or abortions for Iowans who are victims of rape or sexual assault, Natalie Krebs reported for Iowa Public Radio on April 7.

Iowa law requires the state’s victim compensation fund to pay for a sexual assault victim’s medical examination “for the purpose of gathering evidence,” as well as any treatment “for the purpose of preventing venereal disease.” Under longtime Attorney General Tom Miller, that fund also covered the cost of abortion services or Plan B, medication that prevents ovulation and therefore pregnancy if administered soon enough following unprotected sex.

In a statement provided to Iowa Public Radio, spokesperson Alyssa Brouillet said Attorney General Brenna Bird “is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds” as part of a broader review of victim assistance programs. Payment of “pending claims will be delayed” until Bird completes her review.

Walgreens assures Iowa AG it won't dispense abortion medication here

Friday, Mar 3 2023Laura Belin2 Comments

The major pharmacy chain Walgreens has informed Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird that the company will not dispense a drug commonly used for medication abortions and miscarriage care in the state. Walgreens operates 72 stores in Iowa, according to the company’s website.

Last month, Bird and other Republican attorneys general co-signed a letter warning Walgreens that “federal law expressly prohibits using the mail to send or receive any drug that will ‘be used or applied for producing abortion.’”

Alice Miranda Ollstein reported for Politico on March 2 that Walgreens “has since responded to all the officials, assuring them that they will not dispense abortion pills either by mail or at their brick-and-mortar locations in those states.”

Iowa leaders could learn from a rural school district's openness

Tuesday, Feb 21 2023Randy Evans0 Comments

Randy Evans can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

An interesting study in contrasts is playing out right now in Iowa.

One example comes from the Davis County Community Schools in Bloomfield. It is the 96th-largest of Iowa’s 328 public districts, with an enrollment of 1,150 students.

The other example comes from the Iowa legislature and Governor Kim Reynolds.

The Davis County school board is wrestling with an incredibly difficult decision—whether to hold classes four days a week instead of the traditional five-day-a-week schedule.

Brenna Bird quietly pursues extreme anti-abortion agenda

Friday, Feb 10 2023Laura Belin2 Comments

The Iowa Attorney General’s office has issued statements touting several legal actions by Attorney General Brenna Bird, seeking to block various federal regulations.

But when Bird joined a multi-state effort on February 10 to cut off access nationwide to mifepristone, a widely used drug for medication abortions and treatment of first-trimester miscarriages, her office did not announce the decision. Nor has it publicized letters Bird and other Republican attorneys general signed this month, warning at least three corporations about policies or practices related to abortion.

Communications staff for Bird and Governor Kim Reynolds did not respond to Bleeding Heartland’s inquiries about the legal moves. Bird has long said she is “pro-life,” and immediately after taking office pledged to “defend Iowa’s statutes, especially those protecting innocent unborn babies.” But Iowa law permits abortions up to 20 weeks and does not restrict the use of mifepristone.

Iowa House votes to protect speech from frivolous lawsuits

Thursday, Feb 9 2023Laura Belin0 Comments

UPDATE: Although an Iowa Senate Judiciary subcommittee recommended passage of this bill, the full Judiciary Committee did not take it up before the legislature’s second “funnel” deadline on March 31. That means the bill won’t advance this year. Original post follows.

Iowa House members voted overwhelmingly on February 9 to make it easier to counter lawsuits filed in order to chill speech.

House File 177 would create a path for expedited dismissal of meritless claims stemming from exercise of the constitutionally-protected “right of freedom of speech or of the press, the right to assemble or petition, or the right of association […] on a matter of public concern.” Such cases are sometimes called “strategic lawsuits against public participation” (SLAPP), because the plaintiffs’ goal may be primarily to discourage speech or media coverage, rather than to prevail in court.

The Republican floor manager, State Representative Steven Holt, said passing an anti-SLAPP law became a priority for him after the Carroll Times Herald was sued over coverage of a local police officer who had relationships with teenage girls. Holt noted that even though the libel lawsuit was not successful, the newspaper “was left with over $100,000 in debt and nearly went out of business.”

Holt said the bill was about “protecting our small-town newspapers and media outlets.” Democratic State Representative Megan Srinivas also spoke in favor of the bill, saying it was critical to protect journalists, especially those working in small communities.

Governor's plan would gut independence of Iowa Consumer Advocate

Thursday, Feb 2 2023Laura Belin2 Comments

First in a series analyzing Governor Kim Reynolds’ plan to restructure state government.

Attorney General Brenna Bird would gain direct control over the office charged with representing Iowa consumers on issues related to utilities, under Governor Kim Reynolds’ proposed restructuring of state government.

House Study Bill 126, which lays out the governor’s plan over more than 1,500 pages, contains several provisions undermining the independence of the Office of Consumer Advocate. Iowa House State Government Committee chair Jane Bloomingdale introduced the legislation on February 1.

The Office of Consumer Advocate’s mission is to represent consumers on issues relating to gas and electric utilities and telecommunications services, “with the goal of maintaining safe, reliable, reasonably-priced, and nondiscriminatory utility services.” Much of the office’s work involves matters before the Iowa Utilities Board, which regulates the state’s investor-owned utilities, Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy.

Page1 Page2 Page3 … Page6 Next »

Become a Sustaining Member Support using Venmo Support using Patreon Support using Paypal Readers can support independent journalism and help cover reporting costs, such as public records requests, by contributing here. However, Bleeding Heartland discourages donations from Iowa elected officials, candidates, or paid campaign staffers and consultants.

brenna bird A G

RAGA Spends Big on Elections, Funnels $1.9 Million to Georgia Governor's Leadership Committee

About David Armiak

Koch Industries’ Fertilizer Plant Purchase Sparks Antitrust Plea

Related Stories

Search by Topic

Search by Company

Labor and Monopoly

$3.6 Billion Purchase

Election Fraud and Misconduct

A “RAP SHEET” FOR BIRD

MAGA AND RAGA

SOME PRAISEWORTHY IOWA AGs

About the Author(s)

1 Comment

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

here's who paid for Iowa AG Brenna Bird's trip to NYC for Donald Trump's hush money trial

Iowa Attorney General-elect Bird Announces Chief Deputy Sam Langholz

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, ’01, Appoints Eric Wessan, ’19, Solicitor General

Iowa Attorney General-elect Bird Announces Additional Senior Staff Positions

TOP STORIES

Biden Strikes Defiant Tone in Bumbling Press Conference with Political Future at Stake

Newsom’s Unease with Numbers

The Alice Munro Controversy

Attorney General Bird Leads Letter Opposing Biden Administration Radical Environmental Scheme for Development Projects

For More Information:

Brenna Bird