Democratic Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison is working to shield a trove of documents linking his office to a controversial legal scheme funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in June that Ellison must release communications regarding his hiring of two private attorneys through Bloomberg's State Energy and Environmental Impact Center.
Rather than turn over the documents Ellison appealed the ruling to the state's Supreme Court, lamenting that the decision would force his office to produce "Internal privileged communications to any member of the public who requests it."
Just one month before his appeal, the Democrat praised an effort to archive documents generated by lawsuits filed against drug companies, writing that any "Future deal" with opioid manufacturers should "Include transparency and doc disclosure." Three years earlier, Ellison criticized former Trump administration official Mick Mulvaney for lacking transparency because the Republican used "Frosted" glass in his office.
Ellison applied to participate in the program in 2019, saying Bloomberg funds would provide his office with the "Additional staffing necessary" to pursue "Progressive clean energy, climate, and environmental matters of regional and national importance."
The group sued Ellison in August 2019, arguing that the "Public has a substantial interest in learning how private law firms are recruiting elected officials to further private goals." Upper Midwest Law Center president Doug Seaton-who is representing Energy Policy Advocates-accused the Democrat of "Covering his tracks" and stressed the need to "Scrutinize the behavior of the attorney general's office."
If the appeal fails, Ellison will be forced to turn over the documents in question to a judge, who will determine if any of the contents are privileged.
https://freebeacon.com/politics/keith-ellison-moves-to-shield-records-on-controversial-legal-scheme/
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