MARSHALL, Minn. (Legal Newsline) - A government watchdog organization has filed suit against Minnesota Attorney General Ellison for failing to release public records that could reveal why his office issued an official email account to a University of Minnesota law professor.
The lawsuit, filed by Energy Policy Advocates (EPA) in Lyon County on Sept. 5, states that the UMN professor, Prentiss Cox, held no publicly-known position within the AG's office. Additionally, once Cox was given the government email address, he used it to communicate with an outside climate activist to lobby Ellison's office to file suit against private employers in Minnesota.
According to Matt Hardin, board member of Energy Policy Advocates, it is highly unusual for an AG office to provide an email address to a person who does not work for their office in any official capacity. EPA became aware of the situation from a production of other documents, Hardin said, and that prompted them to request answers about how and why the individual was given such an address.
"The optics of an official email address are powerful, and part of the optics of working for the AG [is] having an official law enforcement role," Hardin told Legal Newsline.
"When you see a state trooper in uniform, you assume he’s working for the state and know that he has certain duties and powers. Similarly, when you get an email from an official AG’s Office address, you assume that the email is coming from the AG’s office and that the weight of the office and of the State of Minnesota is behind whatever is being said."
The suit explains that Cox used the official email address to communicate with Michael Noble, the director of an activist pressure group called Fresh Energy. According to its website, the mission of Fresh Energy is to "shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies."
Public records indicate Cox used the email to communicate with Noble about strategies for lobbying Ellison to file a major consumer fraud suit against traditional energy companies. The lobbying efforts were ultimately successful and led to Ellison filing a massive consumer fraud lawsuit, alleging the companies were engaging in deceptive practices by covering up their roles in causing global climate change.
Ellison's office did not respond to a request for comment when questioned about why Cox received an official email address.
A detailed report by Government Accountability and Oversight (GAO), published earlier this year, revealed that Noble pressured the AG to seek legal action against numerous energy companies that employ hundreds of Minnesotans throughout the state.
Communications obtained through FOIA requests show that Cox collaborated with UMN professor Alexandra Klass and Fresh Energy to orchestrate the suit with the help of funding provided by the Rockefeller Family Fund, which is based in New York City.
In one email sent to Noble, Klass appeared to tout Cox's influence over the AG, stating: "Prentiss says he absolutely has total authority as 'father of the people.' Doesn’t need anyone’s approval. Prentiss has some advisor role on strategy there, perhaps clout it seems over how Keith will respond."
Publicly available records also show that a fourth player - Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Fund - helped Cox, Klass and Noble develop a memorandum that was ultimately used as the basis for the suit Ellison filed against the energy companies.
As previously reported by Legal Newsline, the AG's office also hired two privately-funded "Special Assistants Attorneys General," or "SAAGs," which were paid for by the NYU School of Law's State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, an organization financed by Michael Bloomberg. Publicly available documents show the SAAGs were provided to "advanc[e] progressive clean energy, climate change, and environmental legal positions."
The complaint by EPA further states that Noble openly acknowledged that he was personally involved with the two SAAGs and the climate litigation efforts. On a Zoom call made on July 6, 2020, which was posted online shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Noble said he had "basically been working on this full time over the last few months."
"These records strongly suggest coordination by [the AG's office] and other public and private institutions on the filing of the above-described lawsuit against private parties, using the Office of Attorney General’s police powers on behalf of private parties," the suit states. "These outside parties, e.g., Rockefeller Family Fund and Michael Bloomberg, are investing in the same agenda, with one providing the ammunition and the other the weapon, with compliant elected attorneys general."
If EPA's suit is successful, the AG's office will be required to release all records pertaining to correspondence involving UMN professors Klass and Cox during an applicable timeframe. The state was initially given 30 days to answer the complaint but requested 21 additional days, Hardin said. So far, the AG's office has provided one records production in response to the request.
"What happens next will depend on whether we can agree to further productions or whether the state intends to continue withholding. I hope to have good news in the next few weeks," said Hardin.