Privately-Funded Prosecutions: Michael Bloomberg Paying "Fellows" to Embed Themselves in State and Local Government to File Lawsuits -- With the State's Authority -- Against the Left's Enemies

From Real Clear Investigations:

A New York University School of Law program funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg is placing lawyers in the offices of Democratic state attorneys general and paying them to prosecute energy companies and challenge Trump administration policies on energy and the environment. Nine states and Washington, D.C., including New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, are participating in the multimillion-dollar program funded by the media magnate and ex-New York City mayor, who re-registered as a Democrat this week amid expectations of a run for president in 2020. 

The 14 current fellows in the program report to the attorneys general, but they are paid by NYU's Bloomberg-funded State Energy & Environmental Impact Center. State AG offices hire these trained lawyers -- not students but seasoned professionals with years of experience -- as special assistant attorneys general. 

Under terms of the arrangement, the fellows work solely to advance progressive environmental policy at a time when Democratic state attorneys general have investigated and sued ExxonMobil and other energy companies over alleged damages due to climate change. 

Although many government agencies have employees funded by outside sources, critics say using special interest money for targeted government action is inappropriate. Christopher Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who wrote a report on the NYU center, said the fellowships come with specific strings attached. "[AG] offices must agree to use prosecutors to 'advance progressive clean energy, climate change, and environmental legal positions,'" Horner said. 

David J. Hayes, the center's executive director, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. ... The fellows have played a role in filing at least 130 regulatory, legal and other challenges to federal environmental policies since 2017, according to a review of filings. 

The full extent of the attorneys' participation in many cases is veiled by attorney-client confidentiality. In an email last year to Democratic-held offices, Hayes wrote that "we are engaged with ethics experts and individuals in some of your offices to ensure confidentiality" of the program’s work. 

The email was provided to RealClearInvestigations by the office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat. ... Some Republican offices challenged the authority of attorneys general to accept the funding and the attached obligation to report activities back to the Bloomberg center. Rebecca Ballweg, a spokeswoman for Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, said her office determined that the program would not be legal. ... 

"The public's expectation is that a state’s chief law enforcement official acts in an unbiased and objective manner," said Harold Kim, the executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. "Regardless of the underlying issue, when political interest groups participate in embedding paid staff in a state attorney general's office, that credibility is called into question."

Do you realize how over-the-top evil this is? Extra-Constitutional Shadow Government stuff. This is, essentially, a man setting up his own parellel government to run behind the scenes, until he can take over.

It is a kind of sedition.