After the January 6 “Stop the Steal” event at the Capitol, @MarkPedroli and I requested records of communications between Missouri’s Attorney General’s Office and dark money groups that issued a robocall recruiting people to the event.

My report: …https://b32a21b6-c9e4-4029-a347-89a5b165c921.filesusr.com/ugd/37e92a_cb6008165d8549d4aa339a8f15e0e626.pdf

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We received 90 pages of documents that show the influence of these secretive organizations over state Attorneys General and their staff.

The records showed:

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• The Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) held at least 30 meetings for state Attorney General senior staff from July 2020-mid-January 2021, including one on January 5, 2021, during work hours.

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• The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) hosted a "War Games" meeting in late September 2020 attended by at least 44 senior Attorney General staff members, including the Solicitor General of Missouri, to plan for a potential electoral defeat of President Trump.

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• RAGA sent emails addressed to "Generals" with descriptions of independent expenditures the group was making in Attorney General races. This coordination is illegal in many states and appears to be most problematic for RAGA member and West VA AG Patrick Morrisey.

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• 19 corporations and organizations with special access to Attorneys General and their staff held policy sessions with state Attorneys General, including one session with Missouri's Attorney General called "The Business of Making Friends."

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The U.S. Chamber, which is leading an effort to eliminate corporate liability for COVID-19-related cases, participated in a session called "Civil Liability and COVID" with Florida's Attorney General.

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Alabama's Attorney General participated in a session with a Facebook representative, and the Attorney General is one of only a few now not participating in a nationwide antitrust action against Facebook.

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You can see this report and all of the records at http://www.takebackmo.org/darkmoney 

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This investigation implicates for categories of legal and ethical concern:

1) Use of state resources for political purposes, which is illegal in many states
2) Potential violation of public records laws
3) Conflict of interest
4) Illegal political coordination

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We need to make a lot of fixes to our political system. The report ends with 5 recommendations:

1) Full investigate the issues in this report and provide a transparent accounting of dark money influence in our government

2) Strengthen and enforce public records laws

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3) Establish and enforce conflict of interest policies

4) Reform our campaign finance system and end dark money

5) Establish more ombudsman offices to increase transparency and accountability

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Our government is not representing us. It's representing corporations and hidden organizations with money and power. We the People need to take it back.

Wherever you are, you can help save our democracy. Visit http://takebackmo.org  to get involved.

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