In a move signaling that he is considering withdrawal from the organization, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wrote the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) a letter informing the association of his refusal to pay the invoice for membership dues and questioning the organization for its lack of bipartisanship.
In his letter, Carr said, “This Office received the above-referenced invoice for dues in the total amount of $95,365.00. In light of the outstanding questions posed by a number of Attorneys General regarding the operations of the National Association of Attorneys General (“NAAG”) as well as the recent withdrawal of several Attorneys General from NAAG membership, this Office has determined not to make payment of the invoice at this time.”
Carr additionally asked the NAAG Executive Director Chris Toth a series of questions likely aimed at getting it to address the association’s partisan problems:
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What steps is NAAG considering to provide for bi-partisan leadership in each of its fund committees?
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What steps is NAAG considering to provide for the bi-partisan nature of activities like training and litigation support that are financed by fund committees?
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When will NAAG make public the reports of its fund committees?
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Will NAAG consider adopting a policy providing that under no circumstances will NAAG receive more settlement dollars in a multi-state settlement than any individual state participant?
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Will NAAG provide for transparency in the training and nomination process to include providing for the general practice to be that all states receive at least one slot for all trainings and where slots are not provided for every state, a report will be provided to all states detailing the states selected and the process for doing so?
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Will NAAG adopt a policy of not charging fees for its trainings to staff of its members?
Carr referenced the withdrawals of other state attorneys general from the NAAG as a reason for his letter, saying, “We realize that the above questions are in part duplicative of those asked by other states but reiterate those here to emphasize their importance.”
Carr made it clear that he was asking those questions of the NAAG in order to determine the status of Georgia’s relationship with the organization.
“While we may have additional questions, answers to the above would be helpful to our determination of how to proceed,” he said.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
