reyes, sean ag
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baaaack
bailled from rule of law RAGA after jan 6 robo call (koch $)
piper?
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11 23 an
bipartisan committee of Utah state legislators has unanimously voted to launch an audit of Republican Attorney General Sean Reyes' office as part of an investigation into his relationship with Tim Ballard.
Utah's Legislative Audit Subcommittee — which is made up entirely of senior legislative leaders — approved the audit of Reyes on Tuesday. That vote came in the wake of a report earlier this month in which Reyes was accused of witness intimidation in the ongoing civil case against Ballard, his longtime friend accused of grooming, sexual misconduct, spiritual manipulation, and sexual harassment. Ballard is the protagonist of the 2023 box office hit film "Sound of Freedom," which is based on his real-life experience as founder of the anti-human trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad.
"We have been concerned about the governance and oversight of the AG’s Office, well before any allegations came to light raising suspicion into the relationship of the AG with Tim Ballard (Ballard), Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), and the production of the Sound of Freedom (SOF) movie," lawmakers' letter to Fox 13 read. "Given the important role that the AG plays in upholding the constitutions of the United States and the State of Utah, enforcing the law, and protecting the interests of the State of Utah and its people, environment, and resources we believe that a Legislative Audit is warranted."
Ballard has been sued by five women, who accused him of engaging in a tactic known as the "couples' ruse" in which he and other women pretended to be a couple while on sting operations to catch pedophiles. Plaintiffs argued that Ballard prompted them to engage in "tantric yoga, couples massages with escorts, and lap dancing" as part of the "couples' ruse." AG Reyes was reportedly present at several of Ballard's trysts, and allegedly gave his blessing to the "couples' ruse" as "a legitimate law enforcement tactic."
As part of the audit, the committee announced it will investigate AG Reyes' judgment in making legal and administrative decisions, his office's travel policies, what state resources were spent in support of Ballard's organization, and the "culture" of the office. In a statement, Reyes' office responded that it "welcomes" the audit.
"We are confident [lawmakers] will see what we already know: the Office of the Utah AGO does great work," the statement read. "We are proud of our personnel, leadership, and the cases we file to protect the people of Utah."
READ MORE:Utah AG says sexual assault allegations against anti-trafficking ally 'need to be taken seriously'
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https://podtail.com/en/podcast/drilled/the-anti-esg-campaign-gets-a-boost-from-raga/
no lnx
The Anti-ESG Campaign Gets a Boost from RAGA - Transcripts
June 13, 2023
Ever since the Securities and Exchange Commission announced its intention to make Environmental Social and Governance metrics actually mean something to investors, polluting industries have suddenly turned on ESG. Now that fight has a legal strategy, being carried out by the Republican Attorneys General Association.
Transcript: https://www.steno.ai/drilled/the-anti-esg-campaign-gets-a-boost-from-raga
Hello and welcome back to Drilled, I'm Amy Westervelt. We've talked before on this show about the growing backlash against taking environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, factors into consideration when it comes to investing. The watchdog group Documented first revealed last year that state treasurers were getting in on the action, kicking woke investment firms likeBlackRock out of their states. Back then I wondered when the attorneys general would show up to join the fray, and now sure enough, they are here. The Republican Attorneys General Association, RAGA, our old favorite, has come to play in the anti-ESG space. But first, a quick reminder, why all this upset about ESG all of a sudden in the first place? Good question. For a really long time, oil companies actually kind of loved ESG. It was all very loose and self-reported, and it gave them a way to unlock so-called green capital. But in 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, looked around and went, huh, there are all these different SEG ratings, and some of them seem a little scammy, and no one knows what these disclosures even really mean. These are the kinds of things it's our job to clean up. So we are going to provide formal guidance on climate risk disclosure.
And that is when you start to see corporate interests, fossil fuel companies, and right-wing politicians lose their minds over ESG. Because all of a sudden, they couldn't just write whatever they wanted to in a report, they might have to actually disclose what their real climate risks are.
Speaker 5 00:02:16
Here is Jesse Coleman withDocumented. I think that a lot of this, both the legislative side, this legal strategy, the strategy of using state treasurers to pressure asset managers into attack climate disclosure, all of this is really mostly aimed at SEC scope three emissions disclosure requirements coming, you know, supposedly coming soon
Speaker 4 00:02:43
in the next couple of months, even. Wait, sorry, I'm gonna pause to define scope three. That means how your product's actually being used, not how you're making it, which is a big deal for especially heavy polluting industries
Speaker 5 00:02:58
like oil and gas companies, for example. Yeah, yeah, it's a really big deal. Whereas ESG, having a non-standardized ESG disclosure is no big deal to a major company. The SEC coming and saying, how much carbon emissions are you really responsible for? Not just, you know, what you're claiming you're responsible for, but if you're an oil company, for example, how much carbon are you actually putting in the atmosphere from everything that you've gotten from underground? What is your real impact? And that is a really big deal. It's probably one of the biggest climate policy issues in play right now. So, you know, in my opinion, a lot of this anti-ESG stuff, which doesn't make a lot of sense on its face, you know, these state bills that have passed in some states and been introduced in a ton of states, the actual thing that those bills are gonna do, they're not gonna have a really big impact. And sort of this antitrust stuff is very similar in the sense that, you know, the claims are kind of weak and it's hard to say exactly what the impact is gonna be specifically. But at the same time, it's building up all of this pressure and it's building up all of this political inertia that is all aimed at opposing, disclosing climate emissions. And that's what this SEC rule would do when it comes out, is that it would require publicly traded companies to disclose those emissions.
So, you know, in my opinion,
that's the real goal, is to keep that from happening. You may have heard Jesse mention there the words antitrust. That is where the Republican Attorney's General Association comes into the picture. Back in June, 2021, a guy named Jason Isaac, who spearheads the Texas Public Policy Foundation's work on energy, went to a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, with an idea for a legal strategy that he thought could take ESG down.
Speaker 7 00:05:04
Documented shared audio from that meeting with us. Yes, so earlier, a couple months ago,our state affairs committee voted nine to nothing. So, broad bipartisan support, every single member voted in support to give the committee subpoena authority.
Speaker 6 00:05:16
So, they have sent out a couple months ago,
Speaker 7 00:05:24
our state some paper documents to find out where this collusion is happening. We anticipate truckloads of documents being delivered. And so, we look forward to the Texas Public Policy Foundation to going through those meticulously, because we believe that there is, and we actually partner with C. Boyden Gray, Boyden Gray Associates law firm out of Washington, D.C. Corporate collusion, liability risk for the ESG agenda to charge higher fees and rig the market. We believe that there's antitrust violations. This is really kind of geared towards our attorneys general to lay the foundation for antitrust violations on this corporate collusion. Find out the connections with the Glasgow Financial Alliance for net zero, which has over, I think, $100 trillion under managed assets in there. And there are the connections with the glad zero, this Paris Accord, which is net zero. So, I hope our committee gets a ton of paper back
Speaker 1 00:06:23
from these large financial institutions.
Speaker 7 00:06:28
Hope our committee gets in the courts and our attorneys generalaround the country filed antitrust violations.
Speaker 4 00:06:34
So, yeah, cartels colluding for decarbonization.What the hell is he talking about here?We're gonna try to answer that question right after this quick break. And we're back. So, after COP26 in Glasgow, insurers and asset managers, both formed groups focused on ESG. In both cases, these firms were saying, look, all sorts of environmental and social factors can impact our bottom line, and we would like to know what those risks might be so we can factor that into our decision-making around what to ensure and what to invest in. But according to Isaac, these firms talking to each other, issuing joint statements about what kind of information they'd like to see from companies, that's colluding to rig the market. In the wake of that 2021 ALEC meeting you heard Isaac talking at before, not only did Texas continue with the investigation Isaac mentioned, but Arizona Attorney General, Mark Bernovich, opened an investigation into ESG investing. And Raga coordinated a letter to various asset managers and politicians with more than a dozen attorneys general signed on, stating their concern that ESG investing might actually be an antitrust violation.
Speaker 5 00:08:13
Here's Jesse Coleman again. We started to see some of the bright lights of the Republican Attorneys General Association file various kinds of legal attacks on ESG issues, whether that's going directly after asset managers and asking them questions about their net zero commitments, or that's going directly after ratings agencies
Speaker 4 00:08:38
and saying that you're boycotting fossil fuels. And they seem to have coalesced around this idea of painting ESG as some sort of corporate collusion, you know, building an antitrust case. Can you explain what the thinking is there,
what they're trying to prove?
The allegation is that a lot of large asset managers get together in a shadowy cabal and they plan to collude to reduce carbon emissions. The reason these groups are alleging antitrust violations is that antitrust violations are very scary to companies. If a jury finds you guilty of an antitrust violation, it's very expensive. And it's a pretty hard bar to meet. And most experts are saying that the antitrust allegations that are coming from these people that are opposing climate policy, they probably don't have a leg to stand on, but a lot like slap suits and other kinds of legal tools that are used to silence people, just defending against the antitrust allegation is very, very expensive. So, you know, you see companies really backing away from participation in these kind of global groups that are trying to address climate emissions and trying to address investment
10:08
in the fossil fuel industry by large asset managers. In 2022, Alec once again held a meeting with a session on how to handle ESG at the state level. And again, the antitrust strategy was front and center. This time, Isaac was in the room cheering on new proponents of the strategy, including Will Hild with Consumers Research, which is funded by former Federalist Society President Leonard Leo, Paul Watkins, who used to work in the Arizona Attorney General's office and now runs an outfit called Fusion Law, advising on these sorts of strategies. Andy Puzder, former CEO of the Food Conglomerate that is home to Wendy's and Hardee's, and Catherine Gonzalez with the Heritage Foundation. Puzder kicked things off by comparing ESG investors
11:03
to, not kidding here, the Nazis. I wanna tell you, ESG investing is socialism in sheep's clothing. I mean, this is the challenge of your generation. My father's generation's challenge was the Nazis, who, by the way, were, of course, very proud socialists. The challenge of my generation was the communists, who were, of course, very committed socialists. The challenge of your generation is ESG investing, and it's more insidious than communism or the Nazis. It's the thing they're doing it. So ESG, Environmental Social and Governance. Like, how bad could that be, right? It sounds so innocuous, but it's a ruse. It's a ruse to conceal the fact that it's a direct threat to our founding principles.
11:53
It's a threat to our democracy. How bad could that be, right?
Speaker 4 00:11:55
It's a threat to our democracy.
Speaker 6 00:12:02
Hild and Watkins kept it focused on the litigation strategy. They get in rooms and they talk about they're gonna set a policy across the market. Now, it's been a while since I was in law school,
but when I was there, that was antitrust 101. And that's why you see U.S. senators saying this is potentially criminal antitrust liability.
Speaker 4 00:12:22
You see AG saying that they're going to investigate. And again,I have yet to speak with a single legal expert who thinks that this strategy could actually win in court. But like we said before, that is not necessarily the point. It's already having a chilling effect on investment firms and insurance companies in these net zero groups. And now that Republicans have control of the House, it's the focus of a series of oversight committee hearings too. The first one happened back in May and featured the attorneys general of Utah and Alabama as witnesses.
Speaker 1 00:13:00
Here's Sean Reyes, attorney general of Utah:
But ever since the signing of the Paris Agreement, there's been anopen conspiracy to bypass Congress using the power of horizontal agreements by key players in our financial system. Some of these groups are Climate Action 100, the Glasgow Alliance for Net Zero, which include the largest asset managers, banks and insurance companies globally. These horizontal organizations seek to use their collective market power over tens of trillions in assets
to force burdensome changes on American companies.
amy: The Democrats witnessed during this hearing, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs gave a great and completely non-climate related example
of where ESG can safeguard profits. The more data we as investors have, the better informed our decisions are when selecting investments over the long term. ESG is about looking at a wider range of risks and value opportunities that could have a material financial impact on investment performance. For example, if you're investing in apharmaceutical company, it's thinking about whether that company has exposure to massive lawsuits because of its role in the opioid epidemic. Our approach is to integrate material ESG factors into investment decisions along with many other considerations. We are not ignoring traditional financial factors like profitability and credit worthiness. We are integrating more data into our decisions
to give us a better idea of risk and growth prospects. Frerichs also pointed out that limiting the information investors can get about the companies they're investing in
is the exact opposite of a free market idea. This pushback is anti-free market and anti-investor. It is misleading and it is harmful. It harms retirement savers, pensioners, working people, businesses, and it harms America. This coordinated campaign is focused on ESG investing. Most people don't know what ESG is. ESG is data. ESG is simply additional information that investment professionals use to assess risk and return prospects. It is about value, not about values. In order to maximize returns, an investor must be able to manage and mitigate risk. The more data we as investors have, the better informed our decisions are when selecting investments over the long term. ESG is about looking at a wider range of risks and value opportunities.
It could have a material financial impact
on investment performance. Last week, the House Oversight Committee held its second hearing on this subject,
calling on none other than Jason Isaac himself to testify. I'm Jason Isaac. I'm the director of LifePowered, a national initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to raise America's energy IQ. And I live a high carbon lifestyle. And I think the rest of the world should too. That's why I refer to the ESG agenda as the China ESG agenda. It does very little to help Americans. It does everything to help the Chinese Communist Party. And again, making energy expensive, scarce and government controlled. This body, the United States Congress has not ratified the Paris Treaty. It is not the law of the land here in the United States, butto force an American entrepreneur to admit that his company will comply with that
is just mind blowing to me.
Whether the committee will hold a third hearing remains to be seen. I'm not sure the anti-ESG bench of experts rolls that deep. Plus, while these ideas might get folks at an ALEC meeting riled up, they're remarkably unpopular with American voters, including the majority of Republican voters. New Mexico rep Melanie Stansberry
made that point at last week's hearing. What I find particularly strange about this conversation is that over 63% of American voters actually oppose, directly oppose, any kind of government interference in investing strategies. And the vast majority of Republicans oppose it as well. And when you look at the bigger picture, when you look at what the American people are actually asking Congress to do, asking businesses in the private sector to do, almost 70% of Americans are in support of actions to address climate change,
to transition to a clean energy economy. Whether the SEC will be swayed by the antitrust argument remains to be seen.
That's it for this week. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time. Drilled is an original critical frequency production. Our producer is Sarah Ventre. Sound design, mixing, and mastering are by Peter Duff, who also wrote our original score. Our first amendment attorney is James Wheatman at the First Amendment Project. And the show is reported, written, and hosted by me, Amy Westervelt.
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https://newrepublic.com/article/172636/esg-house-oversight-conspiracy
may 11 no lnx
QANON REBOOT
Republicans Are Truly Losing Their Minds Over ESG
Right-wingers at a House Oversight Committee hearing Tuesday insisted this boring investment strategy is some kind of global conspiracy.
Steve Marshall speaks at a podium in front of the Supreme Court building.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who testified at Tuesday’s hearing on ESG, speaks to members of the press in October 2022.
On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee convened a hearing on environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, investing criteria. For over a year now, Republicans have been trying to turn this obscure three-letter acronym into a full-fledged culture war.So far, the right has expressed its complaints about ESG via a word salad whose components don’t share much of a relationship either to reality or one another. This pattern persisted on Tuesday, when the word “cabal” was used at least three times in reference to allegedly “woke” investors.
ESG criteria, in reality, refer to the broad set of data that investors look at to determine a company’s impact on the world and the impact the world might have on it. In other words, it’s not just about whether a company is “good” according to some abstract set of values. It represents another way of factoring risk exposure into investment—something financiers have been doing for centuries.
“Elites from around the globe have formed alliances to coordinate together to implement woke climate policy.”
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The two witnesses Republicans summoned to this week’s committee hearing weren’t economists or investment professionals, who might be familiar with these criteria or risk assessment in general, but attorneys general from Utah and Alabama, respectively: Sean Reyes and Steve Marshall. Whatever ESG actually means, to them and other anti-ESG crusaders, is mostly irrelevant. For those trying to understand their crusade, the hearing showed that it’s best to think of ESG as a canvas onto which the right projects its own plans and anxieties.
If you’ve heard of Marshall, it may well be because he’s spent considerable time since 2020 trying to overturn the results of that year’s presidential election, and shield other Republicans from accountability for spreading lies about it. Both he and Marshall joined fellow red states attorneys general in filing a brief with the Supreme Court supporting Trump’s claims about election fraud. Marshall, for his part, was serving as head of the Rule of Law Defense Fund that year, which sent out robocalls encouraging Trump supporters to flock to the Capitol on January 6.RLDF—whose donors include the Edison Electric Institution and the Judicial Crisis Network—is also a sister organization of the Republican Attorneys General Association, or RAGA, which Marshall was appointed chair of after continuing to deny, in 2022, that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
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Generous RAGA donors have included Koch Industries, Chevron, Exxon, Fox, andTikTok. ProPublica recently reported that companies that initially withdrew funds from RAGA over its role in the January 6 attack are back, including Amazon, Walmart, and JPMorgan Chase’s PAC. Overall, RAGA revenues jumped 68 percent in 2022.
In his testimony, Marshall—who chairs a secretive organization pushing a clandestine political agenda through undemocratic means—accused a “cabal of global elites” of being “clearly connected through various alliances” to try to force an ESG agenda onto an unwilling public.Reyes similarly accused “woke investors” like Blackrock of being part of an “organized syndicate of pressure” that is engaged in an “open conspiracy to bypass Congress.” Answering big policy questions like decarbonization, he argued, “is the role of the people’s elected representatives in a democracy—including each of you in Congress, state elected officials, and local leaders—not unelected bureaucrats or foreign governments.”
In other words, someone who’s spent the last several years attempting to overturn the results of a democratic election took to the Capitol on Tuesday to accuse an ill-defined set of actors of trying to sidestep democracy by asking companies if climate-fueled droughts, floods, and fires (for instance) might have some impact on their operations.And while claiming only to want investors to adhere to fiduciary duty, Republicans failed to mention that much of Wall Street’s wariness around investing in new fossil fuel production has nothing to do with a “woke” agenda: Before the pandemic, energy companies on the S&P 500 were underperforming every other sector on that index, and had spent a decade lagging behind as they binged cash on rapid drilling through the shale boom. Its fortunes have changed in recent years, but investors and oil and gas industry managers themselves are urging modesty on exploration and production precisely so that they can make more money.
“People don’t like men. People don’t like people with a European background, that sort of thing.”
“Elites from around the globe have formed alliances to coordinate together to implement woke climate policy,” Marshall said in his opening statement. “These schemes undermine our system of government because unelected elites are making policy decisions outside of democratic processes.” The footnote on that sentence in his pre-written testimony references Consumers Research, which is funded by millions of dollars in undisclosed donations and advised by right-wing legal guru Leonard Leo.
Republicans on the committee responded enthusiastically to this opening salvo. Wisconsin Republican Glenn Grothman asked Marshall whether “ESG” might influence decisions over who companies hire or put on corporate boards. “Right now there’s certain disfavored groups in our society,” Grothman mused. “People don’t like men. People don’t like people with a European background, that sort of thing. Could this be something where you’re encouraging businesses not to hire or promote people from certain unfavored groups.” In a moment dripping with irony, Texas Representative Pete Sessions decried “activist government making decisions on behalf of free people” in service of his larger point, supporting efforts to limit financial institutions’ decision-making power—and even what kind of data can be made available to them—in order to curb the spread of ESG.
It would be a fool’s errand to try to find much coherence in the right’s screeds against supposedly woke investors—who don’t really seem to exist. But today’s Oversight hearing might have accidentally illustrateda good rule of thumb: Whatever Republicans accuse the “ESG movement” of doing is something they’re probably already doing themselves.
Kate Aronoff @KateAronoff
Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at The New Republic.
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https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/smithfield-right-to-rescue-precedent/
no lnx
Acquittal of activists who saved dying piglets from Smithfield Foods sets 'right to rescue' precedent
Kenny Stancil and Common Dreams October 09, 2022
Opponents of factory farms and animal cruelty celebrated Saturday night when jurors acquitted two activists who were each facing up to five-and-a-half years in prison on felony burglary and theft charges stemming from the2017 removal of a pair of sick piglets from a Smithfield Foods factory farm in Utah.
The not-guilty verdict—a landmark decision establishing the legal "right to rescue" distressed animals in need of care—is "the culmination of a more than five-year pursuit that multiple agencies, including the FBI and the Utah attorney general's office,"The Intercept's Marina Bolotnikova reported.
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As Bolotnikova noted, the case "began after the activists published undercover footage revealing gruesome conditions at Smithfield, the nation's largest pork producer," in violation of Utah's 2012 ag-gag law criminalizing the collection of evidence of animal abuse and other illegal activities on factory farms.
Wayne Hsiung and Paul Picklesimer, members of theanimal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), rescued two dangerously underweight piglets, whom they named Lily and Lizzie, from Circle Four Farms in Beaver County in March 2017. The men took the piglets to receive emergency veterinary care and then transported them to an animal sanctuary in Colorado.
Cheers erupted in the courtroom on Saturday when Judge Jeffrey Wilcox announced the jury's unanimous decision to acquit both defendants following more than seven hours of deliberation.The trial had to be moved from Beaver County to neighboring Washington County after activists endured threats of violence and intimidation from local authorities, prompting a civil rights lawsuit.
"They just let a guy who walked into a factory farm and took two piglets out without the consent of Smithfield walk out of the courtroom free," Hsiung, who co-founded DxE in 2013, told reporters outside the courthouse in St. George, Utah. "If it can happen in southern Utah, it can happen anywhere."
During his closing remarks to jurors, Hsiung, a former Northwestern Law visiting professor who represented himself at trial, said: "I don't actually want you to acquit us on a legal technicality. I want you to acquit us as a matter of conscience. There's a big difference between stealing and rescue."
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If you help establish the "right to rescue," Hsiung told the jury, "companies will be a little more compassionate to creatures under their stewardship. Governments will be a little more open to animal cruelty complaints. And maybe just maybe, a baby pig like Lily won't have to starve to death on the floor of a factory farm."
"We all have a duty to be kind," said Hsiung. "And your decision today, if you make a good one, will make the world a little bit of a kinder place, even for a baby pig of a factory farm."
As DxE pointed out in a statement:
A most unlikely character witness, Rick Pitman, testified in support of the defendants Friday. Pitman is the owner of Norbest, a turkey farming company in Utah, which Hsiung and Picklesimer previously investigated and were charged for, before striking up a friendship and annual Thanksgiving turkey rescue tradition.
During cross-examination, Assistant Utah Attorney General Janise Macanas asked Pitman if Hsiung's actions had caused him financial harm. Pitman replied, 'There's a difference between stealing a turkey and rescuing a turkey who is suffering.'
The case had been criticized by legal scholars as unconstitutional and politically motivated, given Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes' possible financial ties to Smithfield.
"State and federal authorities have consistently shielded factory farms from transparency and accountability," said Matthew Strugar, an attorney who has been involved in every successful effort to overturn "ag-gag" statutes in the United States. "In nearly two decades of legal work, this case is one of the most egregious I've seen, in terms of denying defendants' constitutional right to a rigorous defense."
Although Hsiung and Picklesimer "documented dead and dying piglets in piles of feces and blood and claim the two piglets they removed were injured, sick, and starving," DxE noted, Wilcox ruled in February that "video of the rescue—and any evidence of the condition of the animals—is barred because it might arouse 'horror' in the jury."
As Bolotnikova explained Saturday, citing previous reporting by The Intercept, the FBI in August 2017 "chased the piglets across state lines and raided the sanctuary where they were living, bringing with them veterinarians who sliced off a piece of Lizzie's ear to perform a DNA test and confirm that she was the property of Smithfield Foods. (The animals were not removed from the sanctuary, and still live there to this day.)"
"Prosecutors alleged that the baby pigs, who were barely a week old when the activists removed them, were worth $42.20 each, or $84.40 in total, to Smithfield," Bolotnikova reported. "The U.S.-based pork producer is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based pork company WH Group, which reported $24 billion of revenue in 2019."
Hadar Aviram, a professor at UC Hastings Law who testified in favor of the activists, told The Intercept that "Smithfield has an enormous amount of financial interests that are wrapped up in this."
"They have an enormous amount to lose if this trial becomes public, and they cannot afford, or maybe they think they cannot afford, to give an inch to these people," said Aviram.
The pig rescue occurred during a DxE investigation to uncover whether Smithfield had followed through on its pledge to stop using two-foot by seven-foot gestation crates that make it impossible for pregnant pigs to turn around.
Hsiung, Picklesimer, and three others who pleaded out of the case discovered rows of pregnant pigs confined to such cages despite the company's promise to swear off of them. Evidence from the probe has been used in a lawsuit against Smithfield for misleading consumers, and it sparked nationwide protests against Costco,one of Smithfield's major buyers.
The animal rights activists also found "a facility packed with farrowing crates—similar to gestation crates, but with just enough additional room to fit nursing piglets—where female pigs are moved when they're ready to give birth," The Intercept noted. "The group found dead and rotting piglets inside the facility, as well as visibly ill and injured ones like Lily and Lizzie."
"A key part of the defense's case was that the piglets were on the verge of death when Hsiung and Picklesimer took them, and Smithfield routinely throws sick or dead animals away," the news outlet noted. "Had the animals remained in the company's possession, the defense argued, they would have been worthless."
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By setting a "right to rescue" precedent, the activists' major victory against a multi-billion dollar industry could have far-reaching implications.
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"This is huge. On many levels," Bolotnikova tweeted. "And it shows a hell of a lot about how out-of-touch red-state prosecutors and politicians are from the people they represent."
The U.S. Supreme Court, she added, will soon hear arguments over California's ban on gestation crates, which "were on trial in this case even though the judge didn't want them to be."
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2022
RAGA LEADERSHIP
Steve Marshall
STEVE MARSHALL
Alabama
Ashley Moody
ASHLEY MOODY
Florida
Todd Rokita
TODD ROKITA
Indiana
Daniel Cameron
DANIEL CAMERON
Kentucky
Jeff Landry
JEFF LANDRY
Louisiana
Eric Schmitt Immediate Past Chairman
ERIC SCHMITT
Missouri
Austin Knudsen Policy Chairman
AUSTIN KNUDSEN
Montana
Alan Wilson Chairman
ALAN WILSON
South Carolina
Sean Reyes
SEAN REYES
Utah
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martens
used i360?
...Red Flag # 2:At least three of the “nonprofit” groups that fomented the Big Lie that the election had been stolen and actively solicited thousands of people to turn out for the January 6 event were funded by Koch Industries or its front groups.
According to the TrumpMarch.com website, which was sponsored by Women for America First, its “Coalition Partners” for the January 6 event at the Capitol included the Rule of Law Defense Fund; the Tea Party Patriots; and Turning Point Action, among others. The TrumpMarch.com website has since been taken down but it was captured on January 2, 2021 (give it a little time to load) by the Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine.
Rule of Law Defense Fund is the dark money arm of Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), a group that is raising millions of dollars from corporate felons in order to elect the highest law enforcement officers at the state level. (See our in-depth report of January 14, 2021.) According to IRS filings made byRAGA, it has received $511,400 from Koch Industries and a subsidiary since 2014.
A division of Koch Industries, i360, has a massive voter database that some suggest is far more sophisticated than that of the Republican National Committee.The database includes phone numbers of people likely to turn out for an event of this nature. Its program, Predictive Dialer, says it can “scale call volume quickly so you aren’t let down as you ramp up your campaigns, from hundreds of outbound calls per hour to more than 100,000.” The Congressional Committees that are investigating the attack at the Capitol need to ascertain if Koch’s i360 services were used to make robo calls for the event.
As originally reported by Jamie Corey at the watchdog group, Documented, the dark money arm of RAGA made robo callsto boost turnout for the January 6 event at the Capitol. The message was as follows:
“I’m calling for the Rule of Law Defense Fund with an important message. The ‘March to Save America’ is tomorrow in Washington D.C. at the Ellipse in President’s Park between E St. and Constitution Avenue on the south side of the White House, with doors opening at 7:00 a.m. At 1:00 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 to fight to protect the integrity of our elections. For more information, visit MarchtoSaveAmerica.com. This call is paid for and authorized by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, 202-796-5838.”
Another of the Coalition Partners, Turning Point Action, Tweeted that it was “honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president.” The Tweet was first reported by DailyDot.com.
Turning Point Action is a dark money group that does not report its donors to the Federal Election Commission. However, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, its sister group, Turning Point USA, has received $610,000 from Donors Trust since 2017. (We should note that the IRS has not posted the 990 tax filings as yet for Donors Trust’s tax years of 2019 and 2020 so it is quite possible that the cash haul is far greater than $610,000.)...
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not daca?
assholery trifecta: DACA, sedition, intervenor
STEVE MARSHALL Attorney General of AlabamaEdmund G. LaCour Jr. (AL Bar No. 9182-U81L) Solicitor General Thomas A. Wilson (AL Bar No. 1494-D25C) Deputy Solicitor General STATE OF ALABAMA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 501 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36130 Telephone: (334) 242-7300 Fax: (334) 353-8400 Edmund.LaCour@AlabamaAG.gov Thomas.Wilson@AlabamaAG.gov Counsel for Proposed Defendant-Intervenor State of Alabama [additional counsel listed on signature page] UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF OREGON EUGENE DIVISION KELSEY CASCADIA ROSE JULIANA, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., Defendants. Case No. 6:15-cv-01517-AA
PROPOSED DEFENDANT-INTERVENORS: STATES OF ALABAMA, ALASKA, ARKANSAS, GEORGIA, INDIANA, KANSAS, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, MONTANA, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, SOUTH CAROLINA, TEXAS, UTAH, AND WEST VIRGINIA’S REPLY
[**RAGA leaders were also involved in :(style="background-color:#ffff66ff"):}::{Texas AG Ken Paxton's [lawsuit filed last month in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the presidential election results in the battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, claiming changes made to accommodate voters in the COVID-19 pandemic were unlawful. Among those signing on to the suit were RAGA's Hunter [okla, quit 2021] , Landry, Marshall [alabama], Moody, Reyes, Schmitt and Wilson, as well as the Republican AGs ofArkansas,Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.]]
:{:{}:
}:
{{In July 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a group of Republican Attorneys General from nine other states, includingMarshall, plus Idaho Governor Butch Otter, in threatening the Donald J. Trump administration that they would litigate if the president did not terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that had been put into place by president Barack Obama. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery, III subsequently reversed his position and withdrew his participation from the proposed suit on August 31st. Slatery went further to urge passage of the DREAM Act.[5][6] The other Attorneys General who joined in making the threats against Trump includedLawrence Wasden of Idaho, Leslie Rutledge of Arkansas, Derek Schmidt of Kansas, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Doug Peterson of Nebraska, Alan Wilson of South Carolina, and Patrick Morriseyof West Virginia.}}:
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acctable domestic terror:
sUMMARY: Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes signed on with other Republican attorneys
general to attempt to overturn the 2020 election and promote misinformation about voter
fraud.
Reyes is the executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and
former chairman of the RAGA-offshoot, the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF). The RDLF
was one of the groups behind the January 6th rally that led to a violent insurrection, even
sending robocalls to people encouraging them to go to the Capitol building to “stop the
steal.”
Sean Reyes has allied himself with anti-government extremists well before January 6th
. Reyes
has worked closely withAmerican Land Council’s Ken Ivoryand refused to prosecute Ivory
over fraud allegations. Reyes’s office additionally worked hide documents regarding an
investigation into anti-public lands idealogue Phil Lyman who previously led an illegal ATV
on federal property in support of the Bundy militia.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes Has Routinely Aligned Himself With
Extremists In His Rise Through The Ranks Of The Republican Party,
Including By Protecting Anti-Public Land Zealots And Associating With The
Insurrection-Affiliated Republican Attorneys General Association.
...
Republican National Committee Named Sean Reyes One Of Its Four “National Rising
Stars” In 2015. “After winning the election in 2014 by one of the largest margins nationwide,
Reyes was selected in 2015 by the Republican National Committee as one of its four national
rising stars.” [Utah Office Of The Attorney General, Meet Sean, accessed 07/16/21]
Sean Reyes Has Worked Closely With Anti-Public Lands Ideologues Including Ken
Ivory And Advocated For Anti-Government Zealots Cliven Bundy And Phil Lyman.
Sean Reyes’s Office Withheld Documents Investigating Phil Lyman’s Abuse Of Office.
Sean Reyes’ Office Refused To Release Documents Pertaining To An Investigation Into Phil
Lyman. “The attorney general's office delayed responding to the request, then denied it, and
refused to even explain why it had denied it. Knowing this behavior violated the law, Gehrke
then appealed to the State Records Committee. Attorney General Sean Reyes asked for a private
hearing to discuss the matter with the State Records Committee.” [Deseret Morning News,
12/16/15]
● Lyman Was Under Investigation For Giving Favorable Tax Assessments To His
Accounting Business Clients. “Last July, Robert Gehrke, a reporter for the Salt Lake
Tribune, sought records from the Utah attorney general's office (under an open records
request allowed by law) to determine whether an accusation by San Juan County
Assessor Howard Randall against San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman had been
investigated by the AG's office. The accusation was that Lyman had abused the powers
of his office by giving favorable tax assessments to his accounting business clients.”
[Deseret Morning News, 12/16/15]
Protest Leader Phil Lyman Praised Extremist Cliven Bundy, Organizing The ATV Event After
Bundy Led An Armed Militia Against The Bureau Of Land Management. “He speaks of “first
principles,” praises Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who illegally grazes his cattle on public
land, and he organized a May 10 ATV ride down a trail in Recapture Canyon, which is rich with
archaeological sites and closed to motorized travel, to try to assert some local say over public
lands. […] Lyman’s plans for a protest ride were made public shortly after the fracas at Bundy's
Bunkerville ranch, in which armed militia members faced down Bureau of Land Management
officers trying to round up Bundy’s cows.” [High Country News, 05/13/14]
Reyes Refused To Investigate Ken Ivory’s Alleged Fraud Related To The American Lands
Council.
Sean Reyes Has Worked Closely With Ken Ivory On Public Land Management Issues. “Reyes
has worked closely with U.S. Senator Mike Lee, and state legislators like Keven Stratton and
Ken Ivory to explore and prepare legal arguments or administrative/legislative fixes to return
management of public lands to state and local control.” [Sean Reyes, Public Lands, accessed
07/16/21]
In 2017, Sean Reyes Refused To Prosecute Ken Ivory Over Fraud Allegations Related To
Ivory And His Nonprofit, The American Lands Council. “The Washington, D.C.-based
Campaign for Accountability asked the Utah attorney general to investigate Rep. Ken Ivory,
...
R-West Jordan. The group said Ivory improperly used his legislative email to conduct official
business for the American Lands Council. Ivory was a founder of the nonprofit and served as
the group's president until December. He dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. […]
Last year, the Campaign for Accountability accused the lawmaker of fraud in his work with the
nonprofit. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes ultimately decided not to prosecute, after
determining Ivory wouldn't likely be convicted.” [AP, 03/16/16]
● As A Legislator, American Lands Council’s Founder Ken Ivory Was “Principally
Focused On Leveraging His Ability To Put Utah At The Forefront Of The Public
Lands Battle Into A Source Of Funding For His Nonprofit, The American Lands
Council, Which Is Now His Principal Means Of Personal Financial Support.”
“Furthermore, I think people are right to be concerned about the fact that Ivory seems to
have, for all intents and purposes, become a single issue legislator principally focused on
leveraging his ability to put Utah at the forefront of the public lands battle into a source
of funding for his nonprofit, the American Lands Council, which is now his principal
means of personal financial support. The American Lands Council is a 501(c)(4) tax
exempt nonprofit funded principally through donations by political subdivisions and
interest groups, who pay membership dues at varying levels, for the purpose of carrying
on the public lands fight. It’s principal expenses appear to be Ivory’s salary (and the
salary of a couple other employees, including, apparently, his wife) and travel expenses.
All this is distasteful.” [Utah Political Hub, 06/03/15]
The American Lands Council Was Created By Ken Ivory, A Utah Legislator, To Use “Political
Persuasion, Legislation, and Litigation” To Eliminate Federal Public Lands. “Ivory created the
American Lands Council, a tax-exempt nonprofit, in 2012, along with Elko, Nev., County
Commissioner Demar Dahl at a brief meeting at Salt Lake City International Airport. According
to its mission statement, the group ‘channels the cooperative efforts of state and local
governments, businesses, organizations, and individuals to secure and defend local control of
land access, land use, and land ownership through: I. Education; II. Political Persuasion; III.
Legislation (Local, State and National); IV. Litigation.’” [The Salt Lake Tribune, 05/19/14]
● The American Lands Council Gets Funding From Mining And Oil And Gas Interests.
“A prevailing thought among land transfer opponents holds that the significant financial
burden on states managing such large parcels of land would result in their sale to
private entities and a loss of public access. Membership in Ivory’s American Lands
Council – including mining construction companies, power companies and oil and gas
interests that stand to benefit from such a sale – lends support to the theory.” [Denver
Post, 02/24/15]
Sean Reyes Opposed The Bureau Of Land Management’s Auction Of Cliven Bundy’s
CattleWhen They Were Confiscated After Years Of Bundy Grazing His Cattle Illegally.
Sean Reyes Asked The Bureau Of Land Management To “Reconsider” Plans To Send Cattle
Seized From The Bundy Ranch To Utah For Auction. “Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox got involved
in the situation Monday, traveling to Nevada with Attorney General Sean Reyes to ask the BLM
to reconsider plans to ship seized cattle from Bundy's ranch to Utah for auction.” [Deseret
Morning News, 04/10/14
Bundy’s Cattle Were Rounded Up By The BLM After Bundy Failed To Acquire
Grazing Permits Despite Multiple Requests And Warnings. “Bundy's cattle have been
trespassing on BLM-administered lands for at least 25 years, according to the agency.
The bureau obtained a court order in 1998 requiring the rancher to remove his livestock
from public lands. Two similar orders were issued in 2013 - one in July and one in
October. Armed with a court order, the BLM has started rounding up some of the nearly
1,000 cattle Bundy has run on public lands without the required grazing permits. The
agency says he owes at least $1 million in unpaid permit fees.” [Deseret Morning News,
04/10/14]
Immediately Following The Designation Of Bears Ears As A National
Monument, Reyes Announced Plans To Sue The Obama Administration And
Applauded Trump’s Rollback.
When Bears Ears National Monument Was Designated, Sean Reyes Sued The Obama
Administration On Behalf Of The State Of Utah
In 2016, Reyes Announced Plans To Sue The Obama Administration Over The
Bears Ears Monument Designation. “The Republican attorney general of Utah says he's
going to sue over President Barack Obama's designation of the Bears Ears National Monument
that spans 1.35 million acres in the state. Attorney General Sean Reyes said in a statement
Wednesday that he's working with local officials to file a lawsuit. He said Utah also will look to
work with President-elect Donald Trump to try to curtail the monument.” [AP, 12/28/16]
Sean Reyes Defended The Trump Administration Monument Reductions Of Bears Ears And
Grand Staircase Escalante In Court. “Today, Reyes is vigorously defending in federal court
President Trump’s shrinking of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante Monuments in
Utah. This is a critical decision that affects millions of acres of public land in our state and will
set precedent for future designations.” [Sean Reyes, Public Lands, accessed 07/16/21]
Sean Reyes Supports Uranium Mining Around The Grand Canyon.
Sean Reyes Filed An Amicus Brief Supporting Efforts To Allow Uranium Mining Around
The Grand Canyon. “Arizona officials continue to support a federal court battle to allow new
uranium mining operations on a million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon. […] So Arizona,
along with several other states, joined the National Mining Association in its efforts to overturn
the federal government’s order. […] The U.S. District Court for Arizona upheld the order in
2014, and the mining association appealed. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes filed an amicus
brief last November on behalf of Utah, Montana, Nevada and Arizona in support of the mining
association in National Mining Association v. Jewell.” [Inside Tuscan Business, 09/28/15]
Sean Reyes Perpetuated Lies About Election Fraud Leading Up To The
January 6th Insurrection.
Sean Reyes Was Among The Attorneys General That Attempted To Overturn The 2020 Election.
p 23
December 9, 2020: Utah Attorney General (AG) Sean Reyes Joined Texas’ Baseless Lawsuit To
Overturn Election Results In States That Trump Lost. “Amici curiae are the States of Missouri,
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West
Virginia. [...] Sean D. Reyes Attorney General STATE OF UTAH.” [Amicus Brief of Missouri et al.,
State of Texas v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania et al., 12/09/20]
● Gov. Herbert And Governor-Elect Cox Condemned Reyes’s Action As A Waste Of
Taxpayer Money. “Utah’s Republican governor and governor-elect condemned Attorney
General Sean Reyes’ decision Wednesday to join a court brief supporting a lawsuit in the
U.S. Supreme Court challenging election results in Pennsylvania and other states that
President Donald Trump lost. Gov. Gary Herbert and Gov.-elect Spencer Cox said in a
joint statement that Reyes, also a Republican, did not consult them before signing onto
the amicus brief, ‘so we don’t know what his motivation is.’ […] This is an unwise use of
taxpayers’ money,” Herbert and Cox said.” [Deseret News, 12/09/20]
Reyes Even Traveled To Nevada And Alleged Voting Irregulates, But Didn’t Provide Evidence
Sean Reyes Spent A Weekend In Nevada To Review “Alleged Voting Irregularities” In The
States Election After It Voted For Joe Biden In The 2020 Election. “After spending the
weekend in Nevada reviewing alleged voting irregularities, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes
says there are legitimate concerns that need to be examined and possibly remedied.” [Deseret
News, 11/09/20]
Reyes Said He Found “Evidence.” ”‘There is evidence of voting irregularities that may have
resulted in improper votes being counted or proper votes being rejected. How many? Will they
make a difference? These are the answers we are seeking,’ he said in a prepared statement
Monday in response to a request for an interview.” [Deseret News, 11/09/20]
● Reyes Did Not Describe The Evidence He Allegedly Found. “Reyes’ statement did not
cite any specific incidents of alleged ballot counting abuse. Multiple national news
outlets called the presidential election for Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden on
Saturday. According to a running tabulation of votes reported Thursday morning by the
Associated Press, Biden received 77.2 million votes to Trump’s 72.1 million, and Biden
holds an Electoral College lead of 290-217.” [Deseret News, 11/12/20]
Reyes Is On The Executive Committee For The Republican Attorney Generals
Association (RAGA) And Was Recently Chairman Of The Rule Of Law Defense
Fund, Both Of Which Were Tied To Robocalls That Promoted The Rally Behind
The Capitol Riot.
Sean Reyes Is On The Executive Committee For The Republican Attorneys General
Association (RAGA). [“Executive Committee,” Republican Attorneys General Association,
accessed 01/26/20]
Reyes Was Also Former Chairman Of The Rule Of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), Only
Stepping Down From The Position In November 2020. “Reyes is the former chairman of the
RLDF, which is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. He was replaced in November by Alabama Attorney
General Steve Marshall.” [Julie Jag, “Utah A.G. Sean Reyes denies involvement in robocalls
encouraging ‘patriots’ to attend rally at U.S. Capitol,” The Salt Lake Tribune, 01/10/21]
RLDF, An “Offshoot” Of RAGA, Was One Of The Groups Behind The Rally That Led To The
Capitol Riot. “The leader of a Republican attorneys general group sought to distance his
organization from Wednesday’s deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President
Donald Trump, saying staffers’ decision to be involved in a rally before the riot wasn’t
authorized.
The Rule of Law Defense Fund, an offshoot of the Republican Attorneys General
Association, was listed as a participant in the ‘March to Save America’ gathering in Washington
that turned into a violent raid on the Capitol after Trump and other addressed the crowd,
according to an archived web link for organizers of the event which has since been taken
down.” [Erik Larsen, “Republican AGs Deny Backing D.C. Rally That Led to Riot,” Bloomberg,
01/08/21]
● RAGA And RLDF Share Funding, Staff, And Office Space. “While Carr is the
chairman of RAGA, he is not directly associated with the RLDL [sic]. However, the
groups share funding, staff and office space in Washington, according to NBC News.”
[Adrianne M. Haney, “Georgia AG distances himself from group that sent robocalls
urging Trump supporters march to Capitol,” 11 Alive, 01/09/21]
The Rule Of Law Defense Fund Sent Out Robocalls Calling On People To March On The
Capitol Building To “Stop The Steal” On January 6th
. “The recorded message urged people to
attend a rally that turned into a deadly riot at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on
Wednesday. The Rule of Law Defense Fund, a policy arm of the Republican Attorneys General
Association, sent out the calls, which said, “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 to fight to
protect the integrity of our elections.”” [Salt Lake Tribune, 01/10/21]
● Reyes Denies Having Any Involvement In The Robocalls Or Organizing The January
6th Protests. “Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes distanced himself from robocalls sent
out by a Republican attorneys general group he recently led after a state legislator
tweeted the source of the calls was “concerning.” […] “A.G. Reyes was not involved in
organizing the rally in Washington, D.C.,” a statement from the Utah Attorney General’s
Office said.” [Salt Lake Tribune, 01/10/21]
18
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wiki
sean David Reyes is an American lawyer and politician who has been the Attorney General of Utah since 2013. Appointed to the office by Governor Gary Herbert following the resignation of John Swallow, Reyes was subsequently reelected. Reyes is a member of the Republican Party and has served as a county, state, and national delegate for the Republican Party and a member of the Utah Republican Party's State Central Committee.
- Early life and education
- 2Career before time as Utah attorney general
- 3Utah Attorney General
- 4Personal life
- 5See also
- 6Electoral history
- 7References
- 8External links
Early life and education[
Reyes was raised in the Los Angeles area. His father was an immigrant from the Philippines of both Filipino and Spanish descent. His mother was of Native Hawaiian and Japanese descent.[1] He is a cousin of former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay.[2]
Reyes earned his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1994.[1] He graduated from University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 1997.[1][3]
Career before time as Utah attorney general[
Reyes spent 14 years working at Utah's largest law firm, Parsons Behle & Latimer,[4] where he became the first person of color to become a partner.[5] He practiced commercial litigation and employment law.[3] He later became general counsel for eTAGz, a Springville, Utah-based media and technology company[6] that aimed to develop products for embedding digital files on packaging.[4] He was also a partner and co-founder of the venture capital firm Accelerate Ventures,[7] a state small claims court judge,[8] and president of the Minority Bar Association.[8]
Utah Attorney General[
Elections[
Reyes ran for attorney general of Utah in 2012 against John Swallow. He lost the primary election by a margin of 68 to 32 percent.[9] After Swallow resigned amid scandal in December 2013,[4] Reyes was selected by the Utah Republican Party State Central Committee as one of three candidates to fill the vacancy (on December 14, 2013), and Governor Gary Herbert appointed Reyes to the position (on December 23, 2013).[10]
Because of Utah's election laws, Reyes had to run in the 2014 Utah elections to be elected to finish out the remainder of Swallow's term.[11] He won with 63.06 percent of the vote over his Democratic challenger, Charles A. Stormont, and Libertarian candidate Andrew McCullough.[12]
In 2016, members of the Latter Day Church of Christ, a Mormon fundamentalist denomination, donated to Reyes' campaign for attorney general individually and through Washakie Renewable Energy, a business partially owned by members of the LDCC. Reyes' representatives indicated in response to these reports that the contributions had been placed in escrow.[13]
In 2020, Reyes ran for a third term. He was challenged for the Republican nomination by Utah County Attorney David Leavitt,[14] but won the Republican renomination in the July 2020 primary election with 54.04% of the vote.[15] In the November 2020 general election, Reyes was reelected, defeating Democratic nominee Greg Skordas.[16]
During the 2020 presidential election, Reyes was an elector. Unable to serve because of COVID-19 self-quarantine,[17] Mia Love was nominated as a replacement elector.[18]
Tenure[
As attorney general, Reyes frequently joined other Republican state attorneys general who sued the Obama administration on various issues, ranging from federal lands use to transgender rights.[7]
Immediately after taking office, Reyes appealed U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby's ruling that struck down Amendment 3, the state's same-sex marriage ban.[19] The estimated $2 million price tag in appealing Shelby's ruling was criticized by The Advocate, Daily Kos, and ThinkProgress.[20][21][22] In response, Reyes stated, "We're willing to spend whatever it takes to protect the laws and the will of the people" and that "everyone benefits from appealing the case."[23] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the district court's ruling; Reyes petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review, but the court denied his request to hear the case.[24]
In 2020, after the New York Attorney General sued the National Rifle Association,asserting that Wayne LaPierre and other NRA officials unlawfully misappropriated NRA funds for personal expenses and self-enrichment, Reyes joined Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge in filing an amicus brief challenging the New York suit. Reyes asserted that the New York AG was discriminating against the NRA.[25]
Trump support[
Reyes is a vocal and longtime supporter of Donald Trump.[26] In late-January 2017, Reyes was named as a top candidate for the chairmanship of theFederal Trade Commission by officials in the Trump administration.[27] He praised Trump in a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention,[26] and Trump endorsed him in his 2020 primary.[16]Reyes was also named Utah state co-chairman of Trump's reelection campaign.[26] In September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reyes appeared in the front row of an indoor Trump rally in Nevada, without social distancing from other attendees and without wearing a face mask, garnering criticism.[28]
Unsuccessful attempt to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat[
In November 2020, Reyes took several days leave to go to Nevada in a bid to bolster the Trump campaign's claims of purported voter fraud in neighboring Nevada. Reyes claimed that "voting irregularities" occurred but never provided any evidence for this claim.[25][29] Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford noted that there was no evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 Nevada elections, stated that Reyes had not returned his telephone calls or text messages, and termed his conduct "disrespectful" to Nevada.[25][29] A number of Utah officials, as well as the United Utah Party, criticized Reyes for baselessly undermining faith in the democratic process without evidence.[29]
In December 2020, Reyes joined a group of 16 other Republican state attorneys general in a failed lawsuit to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. His participation in the suit was criticized by the outgoing Utah Governor, Gary Herbert, and his successor, Lieutenant Governor and Governor-elect Spencer Cox.[30][31] Utahns created a petition calling for Reyes's recall.[32][33] The suit, which attempted to invoke the U.S. Supreme Court's original jurisdiction, was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, against Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, four swing states in which Joe Biden defeated Trump. The suit repeated Trump's false and disproven claims that the election was marred by widespread voter fraud. Such assertions by Trump and his allies had already been rejected in other state and federal courts.
Paxton asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the states' 62 electoral votes, allowing Trump to be declared the winner.[34][35][36][37][38][39] Legal experts stated that the suit was meritless.[40][41] Election law expert Rick Hasen described the lawsuit as "the dumbest case I've ever seen filed on an emergency basis at the Supreme Court."[42][43] Nebraska Republican SenatorBen Sasse said the situation of Paxton initiating the lawsuit "looks like a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt"; at the time he brought the suit, Paxton was facing a federal securities fraud charge and allegations of abuse of office allegations).[44] On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court quickly rejected the suit which Reyes had joined, in an unsigned opinion.[45]
Personal life[
Reyes and his wife Saysha have six children.[46][47]
A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Reyes was a bishop in Salt Lake City for five years in his early career.[1]
Reyes' father is a Spanish-Filipino immigrant and his mother is of Japanese-Hawaiian descent.[48]
See also[
Electoral history
...
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phillwy st:
yale Law School has dominated much of the news over the past month, but unfortunately for the once-vaunted institution, this seems to be one rare exception to the time-tested adage “there’s no such thing as bad press.”
On March 10, Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Kristen Waggoner and American Humanist Associationattorney Monica Miller went to Yale Law School to discuss Ms. Waggoner’s recent U.S. Supreme Court victory on campus free speech. They were greeted by a mob of nearly 120 law students who showed up to hurl insults and disrupt a legal panel discussion about remedies for First Amendment violations on college campuses.
Ultimately, Ms. Waggoner and her fellow female panelist had to be escorted away from the event by Yale police. It wasn’t safe for them to leave on their own.[not true? wfb bs?]
The incident has evoked public criticism from across the ideological and political spectrum. Those considered left of center, like esteemed law professor Erwin Chemerinsky (Berkley Law) and Chancellor Howard Gillman (UC Irvine), along with those considered right of center, like the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, have spoken out to denounce this unsettling instance of cancel culture.
And now, you can add to the list of critics a group of over 1,400 Americans, including many Philadelphia Statement signatories, who signed a letter to Dean Heather Gerken of Yale Law School on April 7, urging her administration to take tangible steps to address the rapidly deteriorating culture of free speech and civility on campus. This letter represents one more example of those across the political divide finding common ground to support free speech.
Notable signatories on the letter include five current governors, 24 state attorneys general, U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, and several members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Other public figures include Ben Carson, Jordan B. Peterson, Dr. Robert George, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dr. Kevin Roberts (President, Heritage Foundation), Elise Westhoff (President, Philanthropy Roundtable), Governor Scott Walker (President, Young America’s Foundation), Dr. Peter W. Wood (President, National Association of Scholars), and Eli Lehrer (President, R Street Institute).
“Dean Gerken, we urge you to take concrete action to correct the course of Yale Law School,” the letter states. “Our nation desperately needs the next generation of attorneys, legislators, judges, and Supreme Court justices to be marked by the character and values that undergird the American legal profession and a free society. These include, at the very least, respect for the right to freedom of speech, a commitment to living peacefully with one another despite differences, and esteem for truly open dialogue and debate.”
The signatories also note that students targeted Ms. Waggoner based on the discredited word of the morally bankrupt Southern Poverty Law Center—whose rhetoric has previously inspired unruly and violent behavior on and off campuses throughout the U.S.
The letter ends by calling upon Dean Gerken to take steps to cultivate a free speech culture at Yale Law School, take appropriate disciplinary action consistent with Yale’s free speech policies against the students involved in the inappropriate and dangerous incident, and correct or retract Yale Law School’s previous statements that downplayed the students’ unruly and threatening behavior.
You can read and sign the letter here.
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student/activist suppression, not 1st
an ah 4 22
since its formation 29 years ago in 1993, the far-right Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has consistently fought against gay rights — often equating anti-gay discrimination with religious freedom. When Kristen Waggoner, legal counsel for ADF, spoke at Yale University on March 10, about 120 students protested her appearance. And in Utah, two well-known Republicans — Sen. Mike Lee and State Attorney General Sean Reyes — have added their names to a letter demanding punishment for Yale students who protested:(style="background-color:#ff9900ff"):}::{ **the March 10 event.
Salt Lake Tribune reporter Bryan Schott explains, “More than half of the school’s students signed an open letter critical of the decision by the Federalist Society to invite Waggoner to speak and condemned the presence of armed police at the protest. Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken said the protest was ‘unacceptable’ behavior from the students, but they had not violated the school’s free speech policy.”
Co-founded by Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, the ADF (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund) represents a far-right form of White evangelical Christian fundamentalism and is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“In addition to Lee and Reyes,” Schott reports, “Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, several U.S. House of Representatives members, five governors, and more than two dozen other state attorneys general also signed on. The letter was drafted by the same group responsible for the Philadelphia Statement, a document that decries the persistence of ‘cancel culture’ in American society. More than 1400 people signed the letter to Yale.”
The letter reads, “Instead of engaging with the panelists, a shocking number of Yale Law students hurled constant insults and obscenities at them.” But according to Schott, “The letter’s depiction of the event is primarily based on an initial report from the conservative Washington Free Beacon. That reporting has been credibly debunked by other publications, multiple videos and the school’s official account of the incident.”
Some of the debunking came from Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern. On March 18, Stern reported, “The students made their point at the very start of the event and walked out before the conversation began. Their exercise in free speech, however rowdy or distasteful, did not prevent the panelists from expressing their views. And their demonstration did not — contrary to the Free Beacon’s reporting — require administrators to summon the police.”
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bs
utah Attorney General Sean Reyes Hails SCOTUS Decision to Halt EPA Clean Power Plan
February 10, 2016
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan while litigation continues in the D.C. circuit court, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes today lauded the decision as a major victory for the bipartisan coalition of 29 states and state agencies:
The @EPA rule is a complex power grab of epic proportions. #utpol #TCOT
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“While the stay is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will eventually rule against the EPA, I believe the decision recognizes the dramatic impact the rule would have on our state,” said Reyes. “We all want better air quality and a healthy environment for our families and future generations, but not by bypassing Congress, violating the Clean Air Act and ignoring meaningful input by the states.”
The coalition challenged the EPA’s power plan on October 23, 2015, the day it was published. The states argue the EPA exceeded its authority by double regulating coal-fired power plants and forcing states to fundamentally shift their energy resources away from coal-fired generation.
Reyes added, “The EPA rule is complex but what it represents is simple; a power grab of epic proportions. This is one of the largest overreaches ever by the agency and, if left in place, would drastically expand its jurisdiction beyond the fence line and outside the scope of the Clean Air Act.It may be touted as cooperative federalism, but there is nothing cooperative about it. It is coercive, offensive to notions of federalism, and will drastically increase energy costs and put thousands of already suffering Americans out of work. We can embrace a future that includes robust alternative clean energy sources without killing the coal industry.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Attorney General Reyes is available for comment.Approximately 80 percent of the electricity generated in Utah comes from coal. In 2014, the Office of Natural Resources Revenue reported that the coal produced on Federal lands totaled over $570.8 million in sales and generated royalty revenues in excess of $41.1 million.
ABOUT UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL SEAN REYES
The Honorable Sean D. Reyes is the 21st Attorney General and first ethnic minority elected statewide in Utah. Reyes has received wide praise for regaining public trust and successfully handling many of the most important cases in the state’s history. He has been lauded by legislators from both sides of the aisle for his work ethic and legal acumen, and won praise from the Governor and his Cabinet for increased excellence and transparency in the office. In 2015, Reyes was selected in 2015 by the Republican National Committee as one of its four national rising stars. seanreyes.com
Contacts
for Utah Attorney General Reyes
Lee Rech, 801-556-8423
lee@lbrcommunications.com
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http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/07/18/watchdog-group-sues-utah-ag-withholding-raga-documents/
AG REYES REFUSES TO RELEASE RECORDS RELATING TO HIS DEALINGS WITH THE REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL ASSOCIATION’S CORPORATE CASH-FOR-INFLUENCE OPERATION
SALT LAKE CITY – The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) filed suit in District Court yesterday against the Utah Office of Attorney General for its refusal to turn over emails and other documents concerning Attorney General Sean Reyes’ dealings with the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and its partner organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) in violation of Utah’s Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA).
RAGA and RLDF are cash-for-influence organizations that promote and coordinate actions by Republican attorneys general at the behest of its corporate members in the energy, telecom, financial, pharmaceutical, and other sectors. RAGA allows member companies to pay a premium of up to $125,000 for the privilege of holding private briefings with AGs and their staff, and RAGA events give corporate CEOs and lobbyists numerous opportunities to rub elbows with AGs during informal sessions and leisure activities, like golfing, rifle shooting, skiing, and kayaking.
The Center for Media and Democracy, a nationally recognized watchdog that leads investigations into corporate influence in our democracy, is represented pro bono in the lawsuit by David Reymann, a prominent First Amendment and media lawyer located in Salt Lake City.
“Attorney General Reyes dealings with RAGA and RLDF, including events he and his staff have attended in their official capacities, involve important matters of public policy and the conduct of the public’s business,” said Arn Pearson, general counsel for CMD.
When CMD filed an open records request for AG Reyes’ correspondence with RAGA and RLDF in March 2017, it received just 19 documents, which failed to include at least 13 interactions that CMD already knew about. On administrative appeal, the Office of Attorney General took the position that all its interactions with RAGA and RLDF “involve unofficial political/campaign activities” and are therefore not public business.
However, RLDF has coordinated legal briefs and official letters for Reyes, including one letter denouncing climate fraud investigations, and Reyes and at least two of his staff have attended at least six RAGA national meetings.
“It is disingenuous for Reyes to hide his activity by pretending that it is all related to some future political campaign,” Pearson said. “It’s all the more troublesome because RAGA mixes public policy and political fundraising in the same events.”
Last year, CMD’s reporting revealed that Reyes and Parker attended RAGA’s 2015 Summer National Meeting, at which fossil fuel giants Murray Energy and Southern Co. paid for private meetings with Republican AGs to discuss their opposition to President Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Two weeks later, Reyes signed Utah onto a lawsuit to block the plan.
In addition, Reyes spoke on an issue panel at RAGA’s February 2017 National Meeting, Reyes was a featured speaker at the opening and closing luncheons of RLDF’s Senior Staff Retreat in April 2016, and Reyes’ chief of staff, Parker Douglas, moderated a panel at that staff retreat as well.
“The issue of dark money and influence from RAGA and RLDF is troubling and should be of concern to all Utahns, and the AG’s refusal to comply with the GRAMA request just feeds the appearance of impropriety,” said Joshua Kanter, founder and board chair for the Alliance for a Better Utah.
CMD’s suit argues that the Attorney General’s Office has unlawfully withheld its RAGA/RLDF-related records, and seeks a thorough search of both official and private email accounts used by Reyes and his staff.
“The public has a right to know what special interests are seeking to influence our state’s top law enforcement officer, and whether they have been successful,” said attorney David Reymann.
Find a fully copy of CMD’s suit filed today here.
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https://www.kunr.org/local-stories/2022-01-07/big-lie-feeds-off-western-extremism
...Many of the Republicans pushing Trump’s lies have close ties to anti-government extremists in the West.
Accountable.US, a left-leaning watchdog group, released a report Thursday connecting the insurrection with earlier conflicts over ranching and mining on federal lands, beginning with the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s.
“The anti-public lands movement is a breeding ground for this type of animosity that helped supercharge the events of January 6 and contribute to them,” Accountable spokesperson Karl Frisch said.
Frisch says far-right politicians like Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert,Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar were primed for the insurrection by their previous involvement with anti-government extremists.
In December 2020, Reyes signed an amicus brief in support of a Supreme Court case seeking to have votes thrown out in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. He is also the former chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, one of the sponsors of the so-called March To Save America that took place just before protesters stormed the Capitol.
The fund also sponsored robocalls urging Trump supporters to “march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal” in the days before the insurrection. After the day’s attack turned deadly, Reyes sought to distance himself from the group.
Years earlier, as the Accountable report details, Reyes intervened on behalf of Cliven Bundy when the government planned to auction the radical rancher’s cattle in Utah to help pay down the $1 million in grazing fees he refused to pay. Bundy and his sons gained a large following among the far-right after they organized a series of armed standoffs with federal agents in Nevada and Oregon.
Frisch predicts the growth of right-wing radicalism will continue in the leadup to midterm elections later this year.
“Because these two movements are so intertwined, I think we’re likely to see more of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, advocates like Lyngar support abolishing the Electoral College and eliminating the filibuster, which would allow Democrats to pass federal voter protections. He told the crowd on Thursday it was up to voters to put pressure on lawmakers for those changes to be adopted....
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big lie coup
Utah A.G. in Nevada to help Trump challenge electionhttps://www.deseret.com › utah › 2020/11 › donald-tru...
Nov 6, 2020 — Fresh off a reelection victory, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes is in Nevada today working on lawsuits challenging alleged voting ...
What Utah AG Sean Reyes says about his weekend in Nevadahttps://www.deseret.com › utah › 2020/11 › donald-tru...
Nov 9, 2020 — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says there are legitimate voter irregularities in the presidential election that need to be examined and ...
Robert Gehrke: Sean Reyes puts Donald Trump before his ...https://www.sltrib.com › ... › Politics › News
Dec 9, 2020 — Attorney General Sean Reyes put the state of Utah behind an effort to wipe out the votes of more than 80 million Americans.
Utah AG Reyes claims 'compromised' election process, will ...https://www.fox13now.com › news › local-news › utah...
Nov 6, 2020 — SALT LAKE CITY — Fresh off being reelected as Utah's Attorney General, Sean Reyes says he will be taking personal leave time to help support ...
Utah's attorney general to aid Trump campaign lawsuitshttps://apnews.com › article › donald-trump-lawsuits-ut...
Nov 6, 2020 — SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah's newly reelected attorney general said Friday he is taking personal leave time to help support President Donald ...
Press Release: Sean Reyes abandons Utah for Trumphttps://betterutah.org › press-release-sean-reyes-abando...
Nov 6, 2020 — Salt Lake City, UT – On Friday, November 6, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes tweeted unfounded allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election ...
Hundreds of Utahns urge AG Sean Reyes to apologize for ...https://kutv.com › news › local › hundreds-of-utahns-u...
Dec 15, 2020 — More than 1000 Utahns are calling on Attorney General Sean Reyes to publicly apologize or resign for involving the state in a lawsuit to ...
Missing: lie | Must include: lie
Utah AG Reyes says he's preparing to support 'compromised ...https://kutv.com › news › local › utah-ag-reyes-says-he...
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced Friday he is preparing to support litigation related to the "compromised election process" in ...
Westerners condemn the 'big lie' - KUNRhttps://www.kunr.org › local-stories › big-lie-feeds-off-...
Jan 7, 2022 — An armed mob supporting former president Donald Trump broke into the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress's certification of Electoral ...
Fil-Am Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announces ...https://www.asianjournal.com › usa › dateline-usa › fil-...
Nov 6, 2020 — Since election night, Trump and his campaign have amped up claims of election fraud and called for ballot counting to be stopped despite there ...
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raga bs
Sean Reyes is the 21st Attorney General for the State of Utah. In what has been coined a landslide victory, General Reyes received over 60 percent of the vote in the 2014 general election. On January 5, 2014, at age 42, Reyes took the oath of office once again under officiator and Utah Supreme Court Associate Justice Thomas R. Lee. During his culturally diverse inauguration ceremony and speech, Reyes reaffirmed the Utah Attorney General’s Office (“AGO”) focus on returning to being a law office and not a political one; and on legal excellence, professionalism, and the AGO’s priority to defend the citizens, businesses and laws of Utah.
_RESTORING PUBLIC TRUST
_In just one year, Reyes has won back confidence in his office from leaders in politics, education, business, law and, most importantly, from Utah citizens. In the first months of his administration, by commissioning outside investigations and audits to shine a light on even the possibility of misconduct in the AGO, streamline budgets and expenditures, and improve infrastructure and client satisfaction, Reyes quickly reestablished credibility at the highest ranks of the office with an outstanding 90 percent client satisfaction audit result last fall.
_WIDE SPREAD SUPPORT
_The AGO, under the Reyes Administration, has the support of mayors, councilmen and commissioners state wide and critical law enforcement relationships have been repaired with sheriffs, police chiefs and federal partners like ICE and the DEA. Among his peers in the legal community, Reyes has been applauded by county attorneys, judges and lawyers for focusing his office on the Rule of Law and not political agendas or special interests.
_CASES OF NATIONAL INTEREST
_At the time of his first inauguration, several cases of national interest, including those regarding the definition of marriage, polygamy and immigration were awaiting his direction and leadership. While very emotional and potentially divisive in nature, Reyes has approached each case with the same sense of dignity, professionalism, exceptionalism, duty and respect that won him numerous awards and recognitions throughout his legal career. Along with many upgrades to infrastructure, technology and efficiencies to make his legal teams even better, he organized a Constitutional Law Section to support the Utah AGO with many of the critical issues it has already faced and is likely to face in the
near future.
_POLITICAL SERVICE AT ALL LEVELS
_In addition to his legal career and volunteer service, Reyes has been very involved in Utah politics. He has served as a county, state and national delegate for the Republican Party and a member of the State Central Committee (the governing body of the Utah Republican Party). He served several terms as a leader in his local precinct and was appointed by Governor John M. Huntsman and re-appointed by Governor Gary R. Herbert to serve as one of the youngest members of the prestigious Third District Judicial Nominating Commission. He spent several years on a National Congressional Commission started by President George W. Bush. Appointed by Congress and the President of the United States, Reyes conducted public hearings throughout the country to advise the Administration and Congress on Latino issues, including a National Museum of the American Latino.
_FAMILY MATTERS
_Reyes and his wife, Saysha, currently live in Cottonwood Heights and are the proud parents of 6 children between the ages of 4 and 16. In his free time, he enjoys playing morning basketball, coaching his kids in youth football, baseball, basketball, volleyball and soccer, taking walks or doing anything with Saysha, watching Sports Center, attending and speaking at Comic Cons, as well as cooking, shooting guns and watching mixed martial arts (now that his fighting
days are over).
==
semi- off bs
https://www.seanreyes.com/
no lnx
lots of big pro pix
Meet Sean
Sean Reyes is the 21st Attorney General
for the State of Utah
Proven Leadership
Sean D. Reyes has served as Utah’s 21st Attorney General and the state’s top law enforcement officer since 2013. He graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University and earned hislaw degree with honors from U.C. Berkeley.
Attorney General Reyes litigated and tried cases for nearly 14 years at a prominent Utah law firm, representing global clients including many from the technology sector. Later, he served as General Counsel for a technology and media company based in Utah’s Silicon Slopes and was a partner in a venture fund helping to invest in and run various technology businesses.
Recognized in 2008 as the American Bar Association’s first-ever National Outstanding Young Lawyer, Reyes was selected from thousands of his contemporaries.
Reyes is a global expert in combating human trafficking, prosecuting some of the most significant cases in the western United States.In 2014, he garnered international attention as an undercover operative in Columbia on one of the largest sex trafficking operations on record, helping to liberate over 120 children in a single day.He has continued this work at the invitation of a number of countries, advocating for the most vulnerable. Domestically, he has led many more investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking cases. These have included labor trafficking, sex trafficking, child pornography, illegal adoptions and other types of forced exploitation.
In January 2016, the Utah Attorney General’s Office in collaboration with the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI), the Utah State Office of Education, the Utah Anti-Bullying Coalition and the Utah State Legislature launched the statewide SafeUT Crisis Text and Tip line. By harnessing the use of app technology and education to provide confidential counseling services, Utah’s youth stay healthy and safe in schools. SafeUT has saved many children’s lives in addition to preventing school threats.
Reyes has used his interest and background in technology to help bring innovation to the forefront of trafficking in persons, drug crimes and white-collar crimes. His pioneering work in Rapid DNA, Live Time AI aggregation and virtual reality simulations are helping revolutionize law enforcement in the United States. The utilization of AI in response to child abduction cases shorten searches from days to hours and hours to seconds. Due to these cutting-edge protocols, experts in the field predict many more children will be rescued. Additionally, applications of AI have the potential to shorten response times to all incidents including opioid epidemic clusters, active shootings, natural disasters, lockdowns and wildfires.
Attorney General Reyes regularly speaks, testifies before and consults with government bodies and private sector companies and associations about innovation, regulation and ethics. Attorney General Reyes founded and hosts an annual innovation conference in Silicon Valley bringing tech founders, lawmakers and regulators together to showcase and discuss tech policy including IOT, UAV, robotics, autonomous vehicles, video gaming, VR and AI innovation.
Since his appointment, the cooperative success with the DEA has expanded to include active participation and support of the DEA 360 program. The collaborative efforts have created a force multiplier effect through DEA 360 and the Utah Opioid Task Force, addressing and combating the affliction of opioid abuse. He continues to fight tirelessly to educate and reduce opioid related deaths. Most recently, Reyes was cast as narrator and host of a new A&E series, “Addiction Unplugged,” a timely follow-doc that travels from city to city taking a compelling look inside the world of addiction and recovery. The first season aired in August 2019 with a second season slated for 2020.
Awards & Recognition
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has received numerous other awards for innovation, excellence and service to his state, his country and the world. Some of the industries that have recognized him include: technology, law, law enforcement, education, real estate, direct sales, construction, assisted living, etc.
The following is a partial list of honors that Reyes has achieved over the past two decades:
Utah Best of State Award, Utah Best of State Commission, 2015 to 2020 (for six consecutive years)
AG Reyes honored as Best Elected Official for State, Best Victim Advocate and 10 other Best of State Awards for AG Office Personnel, Programs or Affiliates
Leadership Recognition, Masonic Temple, Salt Lake City, 2020
For protecting the State of Utah and serving its people
Commendation, Veterans of Foreign Wars, (2019, 2015)
In recognition of the AG's undying support of veterans and their families for events at the White House, VA Innovation, Honor Flights, Utah at East Program, Operation Teddy Bear, Navy Seal Foundation among other veteran-related campaigns
Distinguished Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America Great Salt Lake Council, 2019
For Eagle Scouts of over 25 years achieving extraordinary national-level recognition, fame or eminence; granted to Reyes for distinction within the field of law and politics
Award of Merit, Fraternal Order of Police Utah Lodge, 2018
Awarded for continued advocacy and support for the law enforcement community in Utah and nationally, for dedication to fallen law officers and their families, for training and protecting members of law enforcement throughout the entire state
Leadership Award, Alliance Defending Freedom, 2018
For leadership and advocacy in protecting families, children and freedom
AV Preeminent Rating (5.0/5.0) for over 10 years, Martindale Hubbel
Highest possible peer reviewed rating on legal, success, ethics and professionalism made anonymously and confidentially by Utah and U.S. lawyers
Leadership Recognition, North Ogden Kiwanis, 2017
Presented for service and representing the Kiwanis values while defending the State of Utah and communities like North Ogden
Public Servant Award, International Leadership Foundation, 2017
For a career dedicated to service, leadership, integrity, and mentoring generations to live the American Dream and for preeminent accomplishment in business, law and public service
Best Brief U.S. Supreme Court, National Association of Attorneys General, 2016
Coveted distinction among all other AG Offices in the nation
Distinguished Service Award, Operation Underground Railroad, 2016
For being a powerful local and global voice to raise awareness in the fight against human trafficking, child sexual abuse, child pornography, exploitation and all forms of modern day slavery; for bravery in the field and a powerful advocate for victims
National Service Award, Boy Scouts of America, 2016
For leadership, excellence and service to BSA, a tireless advocate for youth and development of young people and a commitment to serving the Hispanic and other minority communities in BSA
Liberator Award, Marriott Foundation, 2016
For heroism in life threatening circumstances to rescue children from the bonds of sex trafficking
Leadership Award, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, 2015-2016
For leadership in protecting American youth and the greater community by promoting safe driving, better parental communication and for filming PSAs in English and Spanish for national use
Rotary International Recognition, Utah Rotary Chapters, 2016
Special recognition for efforts to protect children and particularly those trapped in modern day slavery
Public Official of the Year Finalist Award, Weyrich Foundation, 2015
Recognized for public service and commitment to conservative values
Humanitarian Service Award, Republic of Mexico, 2015
Honored for rescuing children from the horrors of human trafficking, for training Mexican law enforcement and working with them to fight trafficking in the United States and Mexico
National Republican Rising Star, Republican National Committee, 2015
Named one of four national rising stars for the RNC
Honorary Sheriff Leadership Award, Utah Sheriff's Association, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015
For leadership and service to law enforcement and support of Sheriffs in Utah and their mission to protect and serve counties throughout Utah
Daniels Fund Ethics Award, Daniels Fund, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015
Finalist for recognition as an agency by nationally acclaimed non-partisan organization; award based on ethics and integrity, honesty, respect for people, loyalty and reliability, entrepreneurial spirit, patriotism and dedication to community and a commitment to excellence
Meritorious Service Recognition, Utah Narcotics Officers Association, 2014
For support and service to officers and agencies whose mission is to combat illicit drug crimes in Utah
Distinguished Service Award, Accelerate Ventures, 2013
For service to the start-up and technology sector through companies affiliated with Accelurate Ventures
Stands with Israel Award, 2012
For policy, business and political support of the nation of Israel
Top National Business Leader Award, Asian American Business Leaders, 2010
Honoring the nation's most influential and accomplished Asian American leaders in business
Outstanding Young Lawyer for the Nation, American Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, 2007
Inaugural recipient of highest national award for a young lawyer. One lawyer selected a year among all young lawyers throughout America for excellence in legal skills, integrity, professionalism, leadership and service to bar, community and country
Distinguished Alumni Service Award, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, 2008
Youngest honoree in university history of highest award for service
Utah Young Lawyer of the Year, Utah State Bar, Salt Lake City, Utah 2006
Recognized for legal excellence, leadership, professionalism, service to the bar and service to the community at large
Outstanding 50 Asian Professionals in America Award, Asian American Business Development Center, New York, New York, 2008
Selected along with a number of Fortune 500 executives and recognized in New York Times; first Utahn selected for award
Utah Legal Elite, Utah Business Magazine, Salt Lake City, Utah 2005-2013
Eight years in annual ranking of Top Lawyers in Utah for litigation, employment law and in-house categories
National Top Lawyers, NationalAsian Pacific American Bar Association, Boston, 2009
Selected as one of the Nation’s Top Lawyers under the age of Forty
National Partnering Award, American Bar Association, Honolulu, Hawaii 2006
Given to Utah Minority Bar Association for service programs
Special Merit Award, Utah State Bar, Laguna, California, 2006
For Utah Minority Bar Association programs and First 50 Minority Lawyer celebration under his tenure
Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2009-2010
Regional recognition for excellence in legal practice by peer review.
Enlightened 50, Greg Warnock and Community Foundation of Utah, 2011
Part of inaugural class of fifty honored for social entrepreneurism
40 Under 40, Utah Business Magazine, Salt Lake City, Utah 2006
Selected as one of Utah’s most influential Business Leaders under the age of Forty
Utah’s Twenty Most Influential Hispanics in Business, Business Connect Magazine, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008
Selected as one of Utah’s most influential business leaders
Asian Business Professional of the Year, Asian Chamber of Commerce, Salt Lake City Utah, 2008
Award for success in business and service to the community
Utah Young Lawyer of the Year Award , Utah State Bar, Salt Lake City Utah, 2005
Award for leadership, excellence, professionalism and service in the practice of law
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