Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is in the hot seat over her use of two privately-funded attorneys in her state government office whose work is focused on clean energy, climate change, and prosecuting oil and gas companies. The attorneys are paid via a $6 million grant from billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and have connections to the #ExxonKnew campaign.
Unlike standard state government employees, these attorneys aren’t drawing a salary from taxpayers. Instead, their salaries and benefits, which in some offices are known to exceed $100,000, are paid by Bloomberg’s activist environmental group housed at New York University, calling into question what promises have been made to whom in exchange for their work and whether their loyalty lies with the state or the activist group that pays their salaries.
Healey now faces a lawsuit over this arrangement, filed by Government Accountability & Oversight, P.C. (GAO) on behalf the nonprofit Energy Policy Advocates (EPA), which is seeking correspondence and documents related to the hiring and work of these attorneys.
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