Tennessee Attorney General Slatery Silent After Texas, Others Leave NAAG

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office ignored two requests for comment when The Tennessee Star reached out after several of his counterparts in other states exited the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

The Attorneys General of Texas, Montana, and Missouri announced in a letter to the president of the NAAG, Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller (D), that they were exiting the organization due to its left-wing bias.

The attorney general of Alabama, Steve Marshall, left the organization the year prior.

Paxton said in the letter, “The attorneys general of Texas, Missouri and Montana have decided to withdraw our states’ membership from NAAG.

“While we have been a driving force for NAAG’s success – both financially and on key issues – the Association’s leftward shift over the past half-decade has been intolerable,” it continued. “Indeed, this liberal bent has fundamentally undermined NAAG’s role as a ‘nonpartisan national forum’ that ‘provides a community … to collaboratively address’ important issues. We can no longer spend our taxpayers’ money to sustain our membership with NAAG under these circumstances.”

Paxton referenced previous meetings with the NAAG leadership about the concerns that ultimately led to the cutting of ties. “We previously met with NAAG’s senior leadership to make them aware of our concerns. Those conversations were friendly, but nothing has been done,” he said in the letter. “And we see no signs that anything will change in the future.”

According to the NAAG website:

NAAG’s Executive Committee leads NAAG operations, assists in planning annual meetings, and manages NAAG’s resources. The Executive Committee consists of 12 attorneys general:  

• Four officers 
• Four region chairs
• Three presidential appointees 
• The chair of the Mission Foundation 

The four officers are NAAG President and Iowa Attorney General Thomas Miller (D), NAAG President-Elect and North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D), NAAG Vice President and Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum (D), and the immediate past president, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D).

The four regional chairs are Aaron Frey (D), Dave Yost (R), Lynn Fitch (R), and Phil Weiser (D), the attorneys general of Maine, Ohio, Mississippi, and Colorado, respectively.

The three presidential appointees are Florida AG Ashley Moody (R), New York AG Letitia James (D), and Wyoming AG Bridget Hill (R). The chair of the Mission Foundation is Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden (R).

Democrat attorneys general hold a 7-to-5 majority on the executive committee.

Additionally, Tennessee Attorney General Slatery serves on the NAAG’s finance committee.

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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.