Nonprofit Group Inches Closer To Revealing Maryland AG’s Role In Promoting Climate Crusade

A Virginia-based law firm filed a court motion Thursday to compel Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh to provide a document revealing details about the Democratic lawman’s wide-ranging climate crusades.

Government Accountability & Oversight’s lawsuit seeks to compel Frosh into revealing a memo supposedly showing promises Frosh made to donors regarding agendas they wanted covered. Frosh insists his application for assistants from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg must be kept secret. GAO is seeking a summary judgement.

Frosh’s office is refusing to release a version of its application for the purpose of hiring special assistant attorneys general (SAAGs), most of whom are employed to support AG as they implement green energy-related agendas. Bloomberg founded Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2017 to provide AG offices with attorneys to help push green energy.

The scheme has received scrutiny because Bloomberg, not the state, was the source of the salaries for the lawyers placed at AG’s offices.

OAG argues the application is shielded from public scrutiny as attorney-client privileged material, according to a statement from GAO. Lawmakers in other states are attempting to prevent their AGs from employing a similar ploy. Virginia’s legislature, for instance, banned AG Mark Herring from using his office to advance a similar agenda.

Frosh’s office has not responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. DCNF reported in 2018 that one of the attorneys attached to Bloomberg’s environmental nonprofit was heavily involved in climate litigation targeting ExxonMobil.

Gavin McCabe, a lawyer connected to Bloomberg Philanthropies, signed an amicus brief in June supporting New York City’s yearlong climate lawsuit against Exxon and Chevron. He’s one of at least eight attorneys hired by attorneys general across the country to work on environmental litigation.

McCabe’s involvement suggests Bloomberg’s money is playing a role in the anti-Exxon campaign. He made himself a part of the lawsuit demanding energy companies compensate the city for the alleged damages from man-made global warming. U.S. District Judge John Keenan dismissed the case in July after months of arguments.