Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday that his office has joined a multistate coalition in sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Department of Justice, urging the parties to “break their silence on threats posed by foreign third-party litigation funding (“TPLF”).”
AG Skrmetti joined a coalition of 13 state attorneys general in urging the federal government to protect U.S. courts from foreign interests. Read the letter in its entirety: https://t.co/3p6pbQJ1uw pic.twitter.com/KRSSZIUH9t
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) December 22, 2022
TPLF – a global multibillion-dollar secretive industry – allows “hedge funds and other financiers to invest in lawsuits in exchange for a percentage of any settlement or judgment,” according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.
The multistate coalition of attorneys general said it is “impossible to know the extent that foreign adversaries are spending on American litigation through TPLF, with intent to harm States and the country’s economic and national security.”
In the letter, the coalition of attorneys general requests clarification on what steps the Justice Department has taken to protect the independence of the courts and the U.S. against “hostile foreign parties.”
“Ensuring that our justice system remains protected from foreign interference is of paramount importance. We are requesting information about what the Justice Department has done or is currently doing to address these concerns,” the letter states.
The attorneys general note that the federal government has yet to address the “threat” posed by TPFL and implement a strategy to “protect the nation’s court system from foreign interference.”
“The security concerns posed by foreign TPLF cannot be ignored any further without risking serious consequences to our nation. State Attorneys General stand ready to be part of the solution and we ask that our federal partners take action to help ensure that TPLF by foreign adversaries plays no role in American justice, our economy, or our national security,” the letter concludes.
Skrmetti was joined by 13 state attorneys general in composing and sending the letter, led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Jonathan Skrmetti” by Tennessee Attorney General. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by Ichabod. CC BY-SA 3.0.
