News Release

 
Austin, TX: Attorney General John Cornyn, the state’s highest ranking lawyer and co-founder of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), is fast becoming the poster child for what’s wrong with big money in politics.

“The entire RAGA operation raises serious questions of conflicts of interest and selling government access and policy to the highest bidder,” said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, a non-partisan corporate & government watchdog group based in Austin.

“Attorney General Cornyn has slithered into an ethical quagmire by helping to create an organization that:

raises corporate campaign money and launders its source;

appears to sell immunity from state lawsuits; and

peddles special access to state officials and George Bush’s presidential campaign.

Cornyn, who is hosting the RAGA Conference in Austin on March 30 and 31, has been soliciting corporate contributions to RAGA to “elect more Republican Attorneys General.”   This money is funneled through the Republican National State Elections Committee (RNSEC).  Once deposited in RNSEC accounts, the money is not publicly disclosed as a RAGA donation. When spent to support Republican AGs, the original source of the money is hidden from public scrutiny.

According to Cornyn’s RAGA solicitations, corporate contributions of $25,000 entitle the donor to attend private meetings with Republican Attorneys General.  Donors who attend the March 30 meeting in Austin also have been promised a  “political briefing” from Governor Bush’s chief campaign advisor, Karl Rove.

The RAGA AGs  appear to be taking themselves off the corporate beat by suggesting they will not take legal action against certain harmful industries.  Cornyn has said he is concerned about “lawsuits against lead paint manufacturers, gun manufacturers … and other industries.”  These, in turn, appear to be among the sources of covert corporate funds that Cornyn is soliciting.

“The job of the Attorney General is to uphold the law and to protect the little people, not to skirt the law to protect big corporate donors,” said McDonald.
 

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