Republican Attorneys General Association

Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) is a Washington-based association of Republican Attorneys General. The association was created out of "concerns arising out of the industry-wide lawsuits that seek to promote public policy changes via the courthouse rather than the statehouse," and out of a desire to stop those with "a wish list for future mass state lawsuits-car rental companies, pharmaceutical firms, makers of lead paint and gun manufacturers."[1]

RAGA receives funding from major corporations, which can be a considered a conflict of interest since some these corporations have, or are, suspected of criminal wrong-doing. Examples of potential conflicts of interests include:

• Microsoft Corporation donated $10,000 to Raga while being sued for antitrust violations by the Justice Department and 19 states. [2][3].

• SBC Communications Inc. donated $35,000 while its acquisition of Ameritech Corp. was facing review by state officials.

• Aetna U.S. Healthcare gave $10,000 to RAGA while being accused of HMO fraud by Attorney General Dan Morales (D-TX) in 1998 just before he left office. Litigation stalled under Morales' Republican successor, John Cornyn. [4].

• The Texas Observer reports,

"Since RAGA's creation in 1999, Simmons' two main holding companies, Contran and Valhi, have contributed $350,000 to the Republican PAC that launders RAGA's money, the Republican National State Elections Committee. RNSEC received another $211,000 since RAGA's creation, from other companies that are defendants in the Rhode Island [lead paint] suit. This includes $201,000 from ARCO (and ARCO chairman emeritus Lodwrick Cook) and $10,000 from DuPont."

And,

"[John] Cornyn's position is even more worth watching because a leading defendant in Rhode Island's lawsuit is NL Industries, which is controlled by Dallas corporate raider Harold Simmons. Simmons is a major donor to Republican PACs and candidates. He gave $90,000 to George W. Bush's two gubernatorial campaigns and has given Cornyn $31,000 since 1998." [5]

In a two day fundraiser session back in the Spring of 2000 in Austin Texas, Karl Rove, George W. Bush's chief strategist was featured. [6]

The primary method of contributing money to RAGA is to become a member. Membership costs from $5,000 to $25,000, with increasing levels of access to attorneys general depending on the donation amount.

Unfortunately, knowing the full details of the contributions RAGA receives is very difficult since all money received by RAGA is passed to the Republican National Committee without any public links, especially money received from direct solicitation by attorneys general.

Internal fundraising documents obtained by The Washington Post show that Republican state attorneys general were asked to solicit contributions from corporations and trade groups subject to lawsuits and regulations by their states. The companies solicited include Shell Oil, Brown & Williamson, Pfizer Inc., MasterCard Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., Anheuser-Busch Cos., Citigroup Inc., General Moters, and Microsoft Corp. The documents state that company officials would be allowed to meet, participate in conference calls, and socialize with the attorneys general.

Attorneys general mentioned in the documents include John Cornyn, who was the State Attorney General of Texas before being elected to the Senate in 2002; Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, founder of RAGA and pending President Bush federal appellate court nominee; former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley; Delaware Attorney General Jane Brady; former South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon; and former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery. [7]

Attorneys General

The following attorneys general are known to be part of (past and present) with RAGA:

• Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, founder of RAGA and pending President Bush federal appellate court nominee.
• Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), was State Attorney General of Texas before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002.
• Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley.
• Delaware Attorney General Jane Brady.
• South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon, RAGA's first chairmen.
• Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery.
• Nebraska Attorney General Don Stenberg.

Known Contributers

Due to a lack of any public disclosure, a complete list of contributers is not available:

• Aetna U.S. Healthcare
• Brown & Williamson
• Microsoft Corporation
• National Rifle Association
• SBC Communications Inc.

External Links

• March 30, 2000, Attorneys General Raise Funds for GOP, by George Lardner Jr. and Susan Schmidt, Washington Post.
• May 11, 2001, Corporate AGs: Attorney, Restrain Thyself!', by Andrew Wheat, The Texas Observer.
• July 17, 2003, GOP Attorneys General Asked For Corporate Contributions, by R. Jeffrey Smith and Tania Branigan, Washington Post.