Frosh, B ag

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</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/dc-attorney-general-sues-trump-inaugural-committee-for-alleged-violation-of-nonprofit-status"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/dc-attorney-general-sues-trump-inaugural-committee-for-alleged-violation-of-nonprofit-status</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DC attorney general sues Trump inaugural committee for alleged violation of nonprofit status</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Alex Henderson January 22, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On Wednesday, Karl A. Racine, attorney general for the District of Columbia, made an announcement: Racine, according to the Washington Post, is suing President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee for allegedly violating its nonprofit status.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The alleged violation, the Post’s Jonathan O’Connell reports, is that Trump’s <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">inaugural committee spent more than $1 million to book a ballroom in Trump’s Washington, D.C. hotel. </span>The committee, according to O’Connell, booked the ballroom for $175,000 a day prior to Trump’s January 2017 inauguration as president and also spent more than $300,000 in food and beverage costs — and did so “over the objections of its own event planner,” O’Connell reports.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After Trump was elected in November 2016, the committee was formed to organize events pertaining to his inauguration. But Racine alleges that the committee “abandoned this purpose and violated District (of Columbia) law when it wasted approximately $1 million of charitable funds in overpayment for the use of event space at the Trump hotel.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his complaint, Racine alleges that “these charges were unreasonable and improperly served to enrich” Trump’s businesses.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This isn’t the first time Racine, a Democrat, has brought a lawsuit against Trump.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> In an earlier lawsuit, Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh alleged that Trump violated the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution by doing business with foreign governments.</span></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">cadawaller esq</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...When it comes to corporations, who are the most aggressive Attorneys General now?</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 14px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“By far, Maura Healey in Massachusetts and Bob Ferguson in Washington state. In that grouping you would add Karl Racine in DC, <b>Brian Frosh in Maryland</b>, William Tong in Connecticut and Xavier Beccera in California.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 14px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You didn’t mention the New York Attorney General. Why not?</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 14px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Because she’s new. She is going to be equally as aggressive as her three predecessors. She may have different priorities. But remember, the new folks just took office in January of this year. There are growing pains. No one is an Attorney General until they are. It’s an enormous office with enormous power. It’s the second most powerful position in state government. It takes a little bit of a runway to get up to speed, but also to get your own people in.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 14px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Maura Healey was in the office with her predecessor Martha Coakley. She has been in the office for a long time. This is her second term.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 14px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I represent companies that have issues with state Attorneys General. I know where my plane lands. And my plane lands in Boston and Seattle a lot more than it lands in some other states.”...</font></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div><p>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Senators' <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2612021&page=1" target="_blank">letter</a> also asked Exxon to "come clean about its past denial activities," which Exxon has not done.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2006, an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/320999-heartland-exxon-clean-air-act-mtg-2006.html" target="_blank">invitation was leaked to Greenpeace</a> about a strategy meeting hosted at the DCI office.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The meeting--titled "Strategic Discussion Regarding the Clean Air Act"--was sponsored by the Exxon-funded Heartland Institute.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Numerous non-profit organizations that receiving funding from Exxon were invited, including the <a href="http://www.ALECexposed.org" target="_blank">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC) and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Just one corporation was represented—Exxon—and it dominated the room with 5 staff on the attendee list. DCI also had numerous named staff present as well as additional unnamed "field directors and staff."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the invitation, the meeting was intended to help develop an "action plan" to help push back against legislation mandating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The leaked agenda is revealing but its does not show the full picture and, with Exxon having ignored previous requests to "come clean," this is something that can result from a subpoena.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Most of the groups at the 2006 DCI strategy discussion, including ALEC and CEI, continue to fight against any action to tackle climate change. In particular, both these groups are heavily involved in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/02/barack-obamas-emissions-plan-comes-under-new-line-of-attack" target="_blank">push back </a>against the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a possible signal of things to come, the Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/attorneys-exxon-probe_us_56fab959e4b0a372181b113d" target="_blank">named ALEC</a> in his remarks during the AGs United for Clean Power press conference in March. "We want them to tell the truth so we can get down to the business of fighting climate change," said Frosh.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CMD has documented Exxon funding to ALEC in a letter to the NY Attorney General, which is available <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/11/12977/Exxon-ALEC-climate-denial-investigation-new-york" target="_blank">here</a>....</font>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/04/13092/dci-group-subpoenaed-expanding-exxon-climate-denial-investigation

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<p><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">DCI Group, a Washington DC public relations and lobbying firm, is the latest group <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/dci_usvi_subpoena.pdf" target="blank">subpoenaed</a> in an expanding investigation by state attorneys general into the funding of climate change denial by ExxonMobil, according to <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/dci_usvi_subpoena.pdf" target="blank">court filings</a> reviewed by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).</font></b>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ExxonMobil has now received separate subpoenas from both the New York and U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Attorneys' Offices. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and DCI Group have also been subpoenaed by the U.S. Virgin Islands for records relating to their role in helping ExxonMobil with climate change denial.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Seventeen state attorneys general—calling themselves "<a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/30032016/climate-change-fraud-investigation-exxon-eric-shneiderman-18-attorneys-general" target="_blank">AGs United for Clean Power</a>"</b>—held a press conference on March 29, announcing increased collaboration between the states in investigating the opposition to tackling climate change.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">"The scope of the problem we are facing, the size of the corporate entities and their alliances, the trade associations and other groups, is massive and it requires a multistate effort," <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/30032016/climate-change-fraud-investigation-exxon-eric-shneiderman-18-attorneys-general" target="_blank">said</a> New York Attorney General <span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Schneiderman.</span></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ExxonMobil has become the focus of attention from state attorneys general, after separate investigations by <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/content/Exxon-The-Road-Not-Taken%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank" target="blank">InsideClimate News</a> and the <a href="http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-arctic/" target="blank">LA Times/Columbia School of Journalism</a> revealed it had known internally about the threat of climate change for several decades. <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/content/Exxon-The-Road-Not-Taken%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank" target="_blank">InsideClimate News</a> was a finalist for a Pulitzer for its work on the story.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Those investigations uncovered internal Exxon documents, some dating back to the 1970s, proving the company knew from its own scientists about the serious dangers to the planet from continuing to burn fossil fuels.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Despite this knowledge, Exxon poured millions of dollars into climate change denial and to groups working to obstruct any action to reduce carbon pollution.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Greenpeace project Exxon Secrets, which tracks spending by ExxonMobil, has documented <a href="http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/index.php" target="_blank">over $30 million</a> in funding to U.S. climate denial groups from 1998-2014.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ExxonMobil continues to fund climate denial through groups including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). CMD has documented Exxon's grants to ALEC and that group's work to promote climate change denial in <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/11/12977/Exxon-ALEC-climate-denial-investigation-new-york" target="_blank">a letter</a> sent to the New York Attorney General in November 2015.</font></p>

<p><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">DCI Group is a DC-based public relations and lobbying firm, with a client base that has included big tobacco, the Koch-founded and Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, and several foreign governments with appalling human rights records, including Azerbaijan and the Burmese junta.</font></b>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>DCI currently works with the coal industry trade association, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). </b>The group has paid $5 million over a two-year period from 2013-2014 (most recent available data) to DCI.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CMD has a profile on DCI, which is available <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DCI_Group" target="_blank">here</a>.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Exxon has been a DCI client for many years. According to data from the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000021952" target="_blank">Center for Responsive Politics</a>, DCI has represented Exxon every year between 2005-2015 (data for 2016 is not yet available).</font></p>

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<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Although DCI and Exxon have a long history, the subpoena could reveal more about what DCI has being doing for Exxon.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Some details have leaked out over the years.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">DCI created <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tech_Central_Station" target="_blank">Tech Central Station</a></span>, a now-defunct website which promoted climate change denial and which received funding from Exxon. A bipartisan group of Senators wrote to Exxon about its funding of the website in 2006.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Senators' <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2612021&page=1" target="_blank">letter</a> also asked Exxon to "come clean about its past denial activities," which Exxon has not done.</font>

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2006, an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/320999-heartland-exxon-clean-air-act-mtg-2006.html" target="_blank">invitation was leaked to Greenpeace</a> about a strategy meeting hosted at the DCI office.</font></span>

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The meeting--titled "Strategic Discussion Regarding the Clean Air Act"--was sponsored by the Exxon-funded Heartland Institute.</font></span>

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Numerous non-profit organizations that receiving funding from Exxon were invited, including the <a href="http://www.ALECexposed.org" target="_blank">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC) and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.</font></span>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Just one corporation was represented—Exxon—and it dominated the room with 5 staff on the attendee list. DCI also had numerous named staff present as well as additional unnamed "field directors and staff."</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">According to the invitation, the meeting was intended to help develop an "action plan" to help push back against legislation mandating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The leaked agenda is revealing but its does not show the full picture and, with Exxon having ignored previous requests to "come clean," this is something that can result from a subpoena.</font>

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Most of the groups at the 2006 DCI strategy discussion, including ALEC and CEI, continue to fight against any action to tackle climate change. In particular, both these groups are heavily involved in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/02/barack-obamas-emissions-plan-comes-under-new-line-of-attack" target="_blank">push back </a>against the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.</font></span>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>As a possible signal of things to come, the Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/attorneys-exxon-probe_us_56fab959e4b0a372181b113d" target="_blank">named ALEC</a> in his remarks during the AGs United for Clean Power press conference in March</b>. "We want them to tell the truth so we can get down to the business of fighting climate change," said Frosh.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CMD has documented Exxon funding to ALEC in a letter to the NY Attorney General, which is available <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/11/12977/Exxon-ALEC-climate-denial-investigation-new-york" target="_blank">here</a>.</font></p>

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