AGA, which pulled in nearly $27 million in sponsorships between 2019 and 2023 – the last year of records available in public financial reports – largely relies on donations from companies to fund its trips. Attorneys general also pay thousands of dollars per year in membership dues using taxpayer funds.
The group has previously granted varying levels of perks to companies based on how much they have contributed, records show. An AGA document from 2023, for example, promised sponsors who contributed $100,000 access to “invite-only events” and speaking slots at conferences not available to donors who gave $30,000.
One donor listed in previous AGA documents is WilmerHale, an international law firm that represents companies across a range of industries. One of the firm’s partners, Paul Connell, attended the AGA trip to Rome, where he joined at least three state attorneys general and other business representatives for a tour of the Vatican Museums.
After exiting the delegation’s tour bus, Connell stood beside Louisiana Attorney General Murrill at one point.
This year, Murrill joined a dozen other Republican attorneys general in a lawsuit against investment companies alleging an anticompetitive conspiracy restricting coal production. Connell’s firm WilmerHale represents asset management company BlackRock in the case. The defendants in the lawsuit have argued the case “spins a farfetched theory” and fails to offer facts that demonstrate a conspiracy.
Connell is not listed in court records as one of WilmerHale’s attorneys working on the case. Asked what, if anything, Connell discussed with Murrill on the trip, a WilmerHale spokesperson said conversations between firms and clients are privileged and noted that the Louisiana Department of Justice is a firm client.
Murrill’s office did not respond to a question about whether her attendance and interaction with Connell in Rome posed a potential conflict of interest related to the BlackRock case.
In an interview on the podcast Legal Speak last month, Murrill encouraged companies to engage with state attorneys general offices, though she seemed to acknowledge that access through AGA comes at a price.
“It also can depend on the size of your business, what can you afford?” Murrill said. “The Attorney General Alliance is a membership organization but it has enormous value because you can engage on the front end … and you can meet a lot of attorney generals including your own in the states where you do business.”
As the AGA tour group joined the line for the Vatican Museums, other corporate attorneys and lobbyists identified by CNN could be seen standing alongside the attorneys general. Among them was Kia Floyd, the vice president of state and local policy for General Motors, which was listed in a 2023 AGA document as one of the group’s sponsors. General Motors and Floyd did not respond to requests for comment.
In the last year, General Motors was sued in separate cases by Texas and Arkansas over allegations regarding the company’s handling of private customer data. General Motors has denied the allegations and stated in court it has provided all necessary information for consumers to assess its products.
A spokesperson for Arkansas Attorney General Griffin said his boss “met and exchanged pleasantries with Ms. Floyd but did not discuss the lawsuit against General Motors, which we are pursuing aggressively to hold GM accountable.” The Texas attorney general’s office did not respond to a question about whether he joined the Rome trip.
Others identified in the Vatican tour group include Andrew Cook, a partner at the law firm Orrick, and Preston Baldwin, the CEO of corporate strategy firm, Centerpoint360. CNN confirmed their attendance by reaching their rooms at the Rome Cavalieri. They did not respond to requests for comment.
“What I often counsel clients is state AGs are enormously important. You can’t neglect them. You have to go right to them… having a game plan put in place is really important,” Cook said during a webinar for the Federalist Society last year.
Gillers, the NYU professor, said he doesn’t fault private companies for seeking to influence state officials.
“I don’t blame them,” he said. “I blame the attorneys general for going. They should just say no.”
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