Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General...Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General With Few Disclosure Rules, State Officials Are Pressed on Inquiries and Policy

Thomas L. Friedman PAGE A29

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A28-29

By ERIC LIPTON

When the executives who dis-tribute 5-Hour Energy, the pop-ular caffeinated drinks, learnedthat attorneys general in morethan 30 states were investigatingallegations of deceptive advertis-ing — a serious financial threat tothe company — it moved quicklyto shut the investigations down,one state at a time.

But success did not come incourt or at a negotiating table.

Instead, it came at the opulentLoews Santa Monica Beach Hotelin California, with its panoramicocean views, where more than adozen state attorneys generalhad gathered last year for cock-tails, dinners and fund-raisers or-ganized by the Democratic At-torneys General Association. Alawyer for 5-Hour Energyroamed the event, setting hersights on Attorney General ChrisKoster of Missouri, whose officewas one of those investigatingthe company.

“My client just received notifi-cation that Missouri is on this,”the lawyer, Lori Kalani, told him.

Ms. Kalani’s firm, DicksteinShapiro, had courted the attorneygeneral at dinners and confer-ences and with thousands of dol-lars in campaign contributions.Mr. Koster told Ms. Kalani thathe was unaware of the investiga-tion, and he reached for his phoneand called his office. By the endof the weekend, he had orderedhis staff to pull out of the inquiry,a clear victory for 5-Hour Energy.

The quick reversal, confirmed

by Mr. Koster and Ms. Kalani,was part of a pattern of suc-cessful lobbying of Mr. Koster bythe law firm on behalf of clientslike Pfizer and AT&T — and evi-dence of a largely hidden dynam-ic at work in state attorneys gen-eral offices across the country.

Attorneys general are now the

object of aggressive pursuit bylobbyists and lawyers who usecampaign contributions, personalappeals at lavish corporate-spon-sored conferences and othermeans to push them to drop in-vestigations, change policies, ne-gotiate favorable settlements orpressure federal regulators, aninvestigation by The New YorkTimes has found.

A robust industry of lobbyistsand lawyers has blossomed as at-torneys general have joined toconduct multistate investigationsand pushed into areas as diverseas securities fraud and Internetcrimes.

But unlike the lobbying rulescovering other elected officials,there are few revolving-door re-strictions or disclosure require-ments governing state attorneysgeneral, who serve as “the peo-ple’s lawyers” by protecting con-sumers and individual citizens.

A result is that the routine lob-

Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts,Pursue Attorneys General

With Few Disclosure Rules, State OfficialsAre Pressed on Inquiries and Policy

ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

Emails detail interactions between the office of Attorney Gen-eral Pam Bondi of Florida and a law firm trying to sway her.

Continued on Page A16

COURTING FAVOR

‘The People’s Lawyers’

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

HAMLIN, Iowa — Joni Ernst,the Republican Senate nomineein Iowa, motors along the state’sback roads in a tour bus fes-tooned with giant images of her-self, an American flag, a cornfieldand the tag line: “Mother. Sol-dier. Independent Leader.”

She drops into county court-houses and small-town cafes, andintroduces herself as “a south-west Iowa farm girl.” Her ads re-mind voters that, having com-manded National Guard troops inIraq, she could become “the firstfemale combat veteran in theSenate.” She brought her 15-year-old daughter to Hamlin — livingproof of the “mother” line in herrésumé.

But in a state that is one of twothat have never sent a woman toWashington or elected one gover-nor (the other is Mississippi),there is one thing Ms. Ernst nev-er does. She never appeals to Io-wans to help her break the glass

ceiling.“I’m not running on my gen-

der,” she insists.By running to make history

without saying so, Ms. Ernst, 44,is helping to write a new play-book for Republican female can-didates. In a year that is provingchallenging for women runningfor the Senate from both parties,Ms. Ernst has broken throughwith a powerful political message

that has helped her build a sur-prisingly enthusiastic base ofsupport — among men.

While Democrats rely on wom-en — a key component of theirbase — to get elected, Repub-licans need the male vote to win.This holds true for candidates ofboth sexes from both parties.

Of the 15 female Senate candi-dates from the two major partiesrunning this year, just two seemassured of victory: Susan Collins,the incumbent in Maine, andRepresentative Shelley MooreCapito of West Virginia, both ofthem Republican.

The other 13 are either trailingbadly or, like Ms. Ernst, in tightraces. Among incumbents, KayHagan of North Carolina, Mary L.Landrieu of Louisiana andJeanne Shaheen of New Hamp-shire, all Democrats, are fightingto hang on to their seats. Two oth-er bright Democratic prospects— Alison Lundergan Grimes inKentucky and Michelle Nunn inGeorgia — are in tough races in

Iowan’s Playbook, for Women to Win Men’s Vote

DANIEL ACKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Joni Ernst, in Des Moines. Continued on Page A3

By SHERI FINK

SUAKOKO, Liberia — For daysthis month, the ambulances fromthis Ebola treatment unit wentout in search of patients, only toreturn with just one or two sus-pected cases. And many times,those people ended up testingnegative for the disease.

“Where are the patients?” anaid worker wondered aloud ascolleagues puzzled over the emp-ty beds at the International Med-ical Corps treatment unit here inBong County, Liberia, whichopened in mid-September.Around the country, treatmentcenters, laboratory workers whotest for Ebola, and internationaland national health officials try-ing to track the epidemic have

noticed an unexpected pattern:There are far fewer people beingtreated for Ebola than anticipat-ed.

As of Sunday, fewer than halfof the 649 treatment beds acrossthe country were occupied, a sur-prising change in a nation wherepatients had long been turnedaway from Ebola units for lack ofspace.

Now, new admissions to treat-ment centers are dropping orflatlining, the number of samples

being submitted to Ebola labora-tories has fallen significantly, andthe percentage of people testingpositive for the disease hasdropped as well.

“The numbers are decreasing,but we don’t know why,” saidMalin Lager, a spokeswoman at aDoctors Without Borders treat-ment center just outside Monro-via, the capital. Its vast campusof white tents, which has a capac-ity for 253 patients, had only 90on Sunday.

“It’s too early to celebrate,”Ms. Lager said.

Liberia has long been a focalpoint of the Ebola epidemic, thenation with the most cases anddeaths from the disease, prompt-ing a global call to action. Hun-

In Liberia, a Good or Very Bad Sign: Empty Beds

DANIEL BEREHULAK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Ebola field hospital in Bong County, Liberia, which opened in mid-September, has far fewer patients than anticipated.


A Fear That EbolaRages On, FarFrom Clinics By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

and MICHAEL WINERIP

In a major shake-up at the NewYork City Correction Depart-ment, three high-ranking offi-cials, including the top uniformedofficer, are stepping down amidmounting criticism over the han-dling of violence and corruptionat Rikers Island.

The chief of department, Wil-liam Clemons, and two deputies— Joandrea Davis, the bureauchief of administration, and Greg-ory McLaughlin, the bureau chiefof facility operations — are de-parting, correction officials said.The surprise departures camejust five months after all threewere appointed to their currentposts by Mayor Bill de Blasio’scorrection commissioner, JosephPonte.

A department spokesman saidthe changes were the result of “arestructuring” by Mr. Ponte in aneffort to halt brutality on the

3 Top OfficialsQuit as RikersFaces Scrutiny


VOL. CLXIV . . . No. 56,669 © 2014 The New York Times NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014

Late EditionToday, periodic clouds and sun, ashower, warm, high 69. Tonight,partly cloudy, turning cooler, low50. Tomorrow, partly sunny, cooler,high 58. Weather map, Page A24.

$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL

PARIS — For more than fourdecades, Hollywood insiders, fi-nanciers and dreamers havebeen obsessed by the quest to re-cover “The Other Side of theWind,” the unfinished last film ofOrson Welles. Cinema buffs con-sider it the most famous movienever released, an epic work byone of the great filmmakers.

Endless legal battles among

the rights holders, includingWelles’s daughter, kept the 1,083reels of negatives inside a ware-house in a gritty suburb of Parisdespite numerous efforts to com-plete the film — a movie within amovie about the comeback at-tempt of an aging, maverick di-rector played by John Huston.

The quest may be over. A LosAngeles production company,Royal Road Entertainment, saidon Tuesday that it had reachedan agreement with the some-

times-warring parties to buy therights. The producers say theyaim to have it ready for a screen-ing in time for May 6, the 100thanniversary of Welles’s birth,and to promote its distribution atthe American Film Market inSanta Monica, Calif., next month.

It is the latest event in a sagamarked by legal squabbles,clashing egos, the spiriting awayof a working print and, briefly,the disappearance and recovery

Twisting Plot of Welles’s Last Film Nears an End

DMITRY KOSTYUKOV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Filip Jan Rymsza studying negatives of Orson Welles’s “The Other Side of the Wind” near Paris.


The investigator who led a review of theSecret Service’s 2012 prostitution scan-dal quit in August after being implicatedin a prostitution episode. PAGE A18

NATIONAL A14-20

Investigator of Agents Resigns

U(D54G1D)y+&![!%!#![Iran’s economy, already hit by sanc-tions, is being weakened by falling oilprices. The financial squeeze could spurTehran to seal a nuclear deal. PAGE A10

INTERNATIONAL A4-13

Iran’s Woes Loom Over Talks JPMorgan Chase has abandoned plansto build a $6.5 billion headquarters onthe West Side of Manhattan and willstay on the East Side. PAGE A22

NEW YORK A21-26

Bank Drops Plan for TowersThe Kansas City Royals routed the SanFrancisco Giants, 10-0, in Game 6 of theWorld Series, setting up a decisiveGame 7 on Wednesday. PAGE B11

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B11- 16

One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

When the executives who distribute 5-hour energy, the popular caffeinat-ed drinks, learned that attorneys gen-

eral in more than 30 states were investigating allegations of deceptive advertising — a seri-ous financial threat to the company — it moved quickly to shut the investigations down, one

state at a time.But success did

not come in court or at a negotiating table.

Instead, it came at the opulent Loews Santa Monica Beach hotel in California, with its panoramic ocean views, where more than a dozen state attorneys gener-al had gathered last year for cocktails, dinners and fund-raisers organized by the Democratic Attorneys General Association. A lawyer for 5-hour energy roamed the event, setting her

sights on Attorney General Chris Koster of Mis-souri, whose office was one of those investigat-ing the company.

“My client just received notification that Mis-souri is on this,” the lawyer, Lori Kalani, told him.

Ms. Kalani’s firm, Dickstein Shapiro, had courted the attorney general at dinners and con-ferences and with thousands of dollars in cam-paign contributions. Mr. Koster told Ms. Kalani that he was unaware of the investigation, and he reached for his phone and called his office. By the end of the weekend, he had ordered his staff to pull out of the inquiry, a clear victory for 5-hour energy.

The quick reversal, confirmed by Mr. Koster and Ms. Kalani, was part of a pattern of successful lobbying of Mr. Koster by the law firm on behalf of clients like Pfizer and AT&T — and evidence of a largely hidden dynamic at work in state attor-

By ERIC LIPTON



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2



By ERIC LIPTON


















COURTING FAVOR
















By SHERI FINK















and MICHAEL WINERIP








$2.50

By DOREEN CARVAJAL












NATIONAL A14-20



INTERNATIONAL A4-13


NEW YORK A21-26



One Game to Go

C M Y K Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

neys general offices across the country.Attorneys general are now the object of ag-

gressive pursuit by lobbyists and lawyers who use campaign contributions, personal appeals at lavish corporate-sponsored conferences and other means to push them to drop investiga-tions, change policies, negotiate favorable set-tlements or pressure federal regulators, an in-vestigation by The new York Times has found.

A robust industry of lobbyists and lawyers has blossomed as attorneys general have joined to conduct multistate investigations and pushed into areas as diverse as securities fraud and In-ternet crimes.

But unlike the lobbying rules covering oth-er elected officials, there are few revolving-door restrictions or disclosure requirements govern-ing state attorneys general, who serve as “the people’s lawyers” by protecting consumers and individual citizens.

A result is that the routine lobbying and deal-making occur largely out of view. But the extent of the cause and effect is laid bare in The Times’s review of more than 6,000 emails ob-tained through open records laws in more than two dozen states, interviews with dozens of participants in cases and attendance at several conferences where corporate representatives had easy access to attorneys general.

Often, the corporate representative is a for-mer colleague. Four months after leaving office as chief deputy attorney general in Washington State, Brian T. Moran wrote to his replacement on behalf of a client, T-Mobile, which was press-ing federal officials to prevent competitors from grabbing too much of the available wireless spectrum.

“As promised when we met the A.G. last week, I am attaching a draft letter for Bob to consider circulating to the other states,” he wrote late last year, referring to the attorney general, Bob Ferguson.

A short while later, Mr. Moran wrote again to his replacement, David horn. “Dave: Any-thing you can tell me about that letter?” he said.

“Working on it sir,” came the answer. “Stay tuned.” By January, the letter was issued by the attorney general largely as drafted by the in-dustry lawyers.

The exchange was not unusual. emails ob-tained from more than 20 states reveal a level of lobbying by representatives of private inter-

ests that had been more typical with lawmakers than with attorneys general.

“The current and increasing level of the lob-bying of attorneys general creates, at the mini-mum, the appearance of undue influence, and is therefore unseemly,” said James e. Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine, who now runs a program at Columbia University that studies state attorneys general. “It is undermining the credibility of the office of attorney general.”

Private lawyers also have written drafts of legal filings that attorneys general have used almost verbatim. In some cases, they have be-come an adjunct to the office by providing much of the legal work, including bearing the cost of litigation, in exchange for up to 20 percent of any settlement.

Money gathered through events like the one in February 2013 at the Loews hotel is flood-ing the political campaigns of attorneys general and flowing to party organizations that can take unlimited corporate contributions and then fun-nel money to individual candidates. The Repub-lican Attorneys General Association alone has pulled in $11.7 million since January.

It is a self-perpetuating network that in-cludes a group of former attorneys general called SAGe, or the Society of Attorneys Gener-al emeritus, most of whom are now on retainer to corporate clients.

Giant energy producers and service compa-nies like Devon energy of Oklahoma, the South-ern Company of Georgia and TransCanada have retained their own teams of attorney general specialists, including Andrew P. Miller, a former attorney general of Virginia.

For some companies, the reward seems apparent, according to the documents ob-tained by The Times. In Georgia, the attorney general, after receiving a request from a for-mer attorney general who had become a lobby-ist, disregarded written advice from the state’s environmental regulators, the emails show. In Utah, the attorney general dismissed a case pending against Bank of America over the ob-jections of his staff after secretly meeting with a former attorney general working as a Bank of America lobbyist.

That Bank of America case was cited in July when the two most recent former attor-neys general in Utah were charged with grant-ing official favors to donors in exchange for

golf getaways, rides on private planes and a lux-ury houseboat.

While the Utah case is extreme, some partici-pants say even the daily lobbying can corrode public trust.

“An attorney gen-eral is entrusted with the power to decide which lawsuits to file and how to settle them, and they have great discretion in their work,” said Antho-ny Johnstone, a former assistant attorney gener-al in Montana. “It’s vital-ly important that people can trust that those judg-ments are not subject to undue influence because of outside forces. And from what I have seen in recent years, I am concerned and troubled that those forces have intensified.”

Several current and former attorneys gen-eral say that while they are disappointed by the increased lobbying, they reject the notion that the outside representatives are powerful enough to manipulate the system.

“There is no Mr. Fix-It out there you can hire and get the job done no matter what the merits are,” said Attorney General Tom Miller of Iowa, the longest-serving state attorney gen-eral in the country, at 19 years.

Mr. Koster said he regretted the promi-nence of groups like DAGA and RAGA — as the Democratic and Republican attorneys general associations are known — saying the partisan-ship and increased emphasis on money had been damaging.

“I wish those two organizations did not ex-ist,” Mr. Koster said during an interview at his of-fice in Kansas City, even though the Democratic group has contributed at least $1.4 million to his election campaigns, more than any other source.

But he rejected any suggestion that his office had taken actions as a result of the lob-bying, instead blaming mistakes made by his staff for moves that ended up benefiting Dick-stein’s clients.

Some companies have come grudgingly to the influence game.

executives from the company that distrib-utes 5-hour energy, for example, have contrib-uted more than $280,000 through related cor-porate entities in the last two years to political funds of attorneys general.

Company executives wrote those checks after the investigation into false claims and deceptive marketing, which initially involved 33 states, opened in January 2013. Requests started to come in for contributions, including a phone call this year directly from Mr. Ferguson of Washington State, whose staff was involved in the inquiry.

In a statement after the company was sued by three states in July, the company strongly denied the allegations and compared being so-licited for contributions to being pressured to pay “ransom.” It asked, “Is it appropriate for an attorney general to ask for money from a com-pany they plan to sue?”

A spokesman for Mr. Ferguson first called the allegation baseless. But after being shown a copy of an invitation to a fund-raising event that Mr. Ferguson held in May during a DAGA con-ference — where 5-hour energy was listed as a sponsor — his spokesman confirmed that Mr.

A16 N NATIONALTHE NEW YORK TIMES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014

bying and deal-making occur largelyout of view. But the extent of the causeand effect is laid bare in The Times’s re-view of more than 6,000 emails obtainedthrough open records laws in more thantwo dozen states, interviews with doz-ens of participants in cases and attend-ance at several conferences where cor-porate representatives had easy accessto attorneys general.

Often, the corporate representative isa former colleague. Four months afterleaving office as chief deputy attorneygeneral in Washington State, Brian T.Moran wrote to his replacement on be-half of a client, T-Mobile, which waspressing federal officials to preventcompetitors from grabbing too much ofthe available wireless spectrum.

“As promised when we met the A.G.last week, I am attaching a draft letterfor Bob to consider circulating to theother states,” he wrote late last year, re-ferring to the attorney general, Bob Fer-guson.

A short while later, Mr. Moran wroteagain to his replacement, David Horn.“Dave: Anything you can tell me aboutthat letter?” he said.

“Working on it sir,” came the answer.“Stay tuned.” By January, the letter wasissued by the attorney general largelyas drafted by the industry lawyers.

The exchange was not unusual.Emails obtained from more than 20states reveal a level of lobbying by rep-resentatives of private interests thathad been more typical with lawmakersthan with attorneys general.

“The current and increasing level ofthe lobbying of attorneys general cre-ates, at the minimum, the appearance ofundue influence, and is therefore un-seemly,” said James E. Tierney, a for-mer attorney general of Maine, whonow runs a program at Columbia Uni-versity that studies state attorneys gen-eral. “It is undermining the credibilityof the office of attorney general.”

Private lawyers also have writtendrafts of legal filings that attorneys gen-eral have used almost verbatim. Insome cases, they have become an ad-junct to the office by providing much ofthe legal work, including bearing thecost of litigation, in exchange for up to20 percent of any settlement.

Money gathered through events likethe one in February 2013 at the Loewshotel is flooding the political campaignsof attorneys general and flowing to par-ty organizations that can take unlimitedcorporate contributions and then funnelmoney to individual candidates. The Re-publican Attorneys General Associationalone has pulled in $11.7 million sinceJanuary.

It is a self-perpetuating network thatincludes a group of former attorneysgeneral called SAGE, or the Society ofAttorneys General Emeritus, most ofwhom are now on retainer to corporateclients.

Giant energy producers and servicecompanies like Devon Energy of Okla-homa, the Southern Company of Geor-gia and TransCanada have retainedtheir own teams of attorney generalspecialists, including Andrew P. Miller,a former attorney general of Virginia.

For some companies, the rewardseems apparent, according to the docu-ments obtained by The Times. In Geor-gia, the attorney general, after receiv-ing a request from a former attorneygeneral who had become a lobbyist, dis-regarded written advice from the state’senvironmental regulators, the emailsshow. In Utah, the attorney general dis-missed a case pending against Bank ofAmerica over the objections of his staffafter secretly meeting with a former at-torney general working as a Bank of

America lobbyist.That Bank of America case was cited

in July when the two most recent for-mer attorneys general in Utah werecharged with granting official favors todonors in exchange for golf getaways,rides on private planes and a luxuryhouseboat.

While the Utah case is extreme, someparticipants say even the daily lobbyingcan corrode public trust.

“An attorney general is entrustedwith the power to decide which lawsuitsto file and how to settle them, and theyhave great discretion in their work,”said Anthony Johnstone, a former as-sistant attorney general in Montana.“It’s vitally important that people cantrust that those judgments are not sub-ject to undue influence because of out-side forces. And from what I have seenin recent years, I am concerned andtroubled that those forces have intensi-fied.”

Several current and former attorneysgeneral say that while they are disap-pointed by the increased lobbying, theyreject the notion that the outside repre-sentatives are powerful enough to ma-nipulate the system.

“There is no Mr. Fix-It out there youcan hire and get the job done no matterwhat the merits are,” said AttorneyGeneral Tom Miller of Iowa, the longest-serving state attorney general in thecountry, at 19 years.

Mr. Koster said he regretted theprominence of groups like DAGA andRAGA — as the Democratic and Repub-lican attorneys general associations areknown — saying the partisanship andincreased emphasis on money had beendamaging.

“I wish those two organizations didnot exist,” Mr. Koster said during an in-terview at his office in Kansas City,even though the Democratic group hascontributed at least $1.4 million to his

election campaigns, more than any oth-er source.

But he rejected any suggestion thathis office had taken actions as a result ofthe lobbying, instead blaming mistakesmade by his staff for moves that endedup benefiting Dickstein’s clients.

Some companies have come grudg-ingly to the influence game.

Executives from the company thatdistributes 5-Hour Energy, for example,have contributed more than $280,000through related corporate entities in thelast two years to political funds of at-torneys general.

Company executives wrote thosechecks after the investigation into falseclaims and deceptive marketing, whichinitially involved 33 states, opened inJanuary 2013. Requests started to comein for contributions, including a phonecall this year directly from Mr. Fergu-son of Washington State, whose staffwas involved in the inquiry.

In a statement after the company wassued by three states in July, the compa-ny strongly denied the allegations andcompared being solicited for contribu-tions to being pressured to pay “ran-som.” It asked, “Is it appropriate for anattorney general to ask for money froma company they plan to sue?”

A spokesman for Mr. Ferguson firstcalled the allegation baseless. But afterbeing shown a copy of an invitation to afund-raising event that Mr. Fergusonheld in May during a DAGA conference— where 5-Hour Energy was listed as asponsor — his spokesman confirmedthat Mr. Ferguson had made a personalappeal to the company.

Secluded AccessBreakfast was served on a patio over-

looking the Pacific Ocean — a buffet offresh baked goods, made-to-order eggs,lox and fruit — as the Republican at-

torneys general, in T-shirts and shorts,assembled at Beach Village at the Del,in Coronado, Calif.

These top law enforcement officialsfrom Alabama, South Carolina, Nebras-ka, Wisconsin, Indiana and other stateswere joined by Ms. Kalani, of DicksteinShapiro, and representatives from theU.S. Chamber of Commerce, Pfizer,Comcast and Altria, among other corpo-rate giants.

The group had gathered at the exclu-sive Beach Village at the Del — whererooms go for as much as $4,500 a nightand a special key card is required to en-ter the private compound — for themost elite event for Republican attor-neys general, a gathering of the Ed-mund Randolph Club (named for thefirst United States attorney general).

The club, created by the RepublicanAttorneys General Association, has a$125,000 entry fee — money used tofund the campaigns of attorney generalcandidates with as much as $1 million,and to pay for the hotel bills, airfare andmeals for the attorneys general who at-tend the events.

As at the Democrats’ event, the agen-da included panels to discuss emerginglegal issues. But at least as importantwas the opportunity for the lobbyists,corporate executives and lawyers tonurture relationships with the attorneysgeneral — and to lobby them in this cas-ual and secluded setting. (A reporterfrom The Times attended this event un-invited and, once spotted, was asked toleave.)

The appeals began the moment thelaw enforcement officials arrived, as giftbags were handed out, including boxesof 5-Hour Energy, wine from a liquorwholesalers group and music CDs (RoyOrbison for the adults, the heartthrobHunter Hayes for their children) fromthe recording industry.

Andy Abboud, a lobbyist for Las

Vegas Sands, which donated $500,000through its chief executive to the Re-publican group this year, has been urg-ing attorneys general to join an effort toban online poker. At breakfast, he ap-proached Attorney General Pam Bondiof Florida.

“What are you going to be doing to-day?” he asked.

“Sailing,” Ms. Bondi replied.“Great, I want to go sailing, too,” Mr.

Abboud said, and they agreed to con-nect later that day.

The increased focus on state attor-neys general by corporate interests hasa simple explanation: to guard againstlegal exposure, potentially in the bil-lions of dollars, for corporations that be-come targets of the state investigations.

It can be traced back two decades,when more than 40 state attorneys gen-eral joined to challenge the tobacco in-dustry, an inquiry that resulted in a his-toric $206 billion settlement.

Microsoft became the target of a simi-lar multistate attack, accused of engag-ing in an anticompetitive scheme bybundling its Internet Explorer with theWindows operating system. Then camethe pharmaceutical industry, accused ofimproperly marketing drugs, and, morerecently, the financial services industry,in a case that resulted in a $25 billionsettlement in 2012 with the nation’s fivelargest mortgage servicing companies.

The trend accelerated as attorneysgeneral — particularly Democrats —began hiring outside law firms to con-duct investigations and sue corpora-tions on a contingency basis.

The widening scope of their investi-gations led companies to significantlybolster efforts to influence their actions.John W. Suthers, who has served as Col-orado’s attorney general for a decade,said he was not surprised by this cam-paign.

“I don’t fault for one second that cor-porate America is pushing back on whathas happened,” Mr. Suthers said. “At-torneys general can do more damage ina heartbeat than legislative bodies can.I think it is a matter of self-defense, andI understand it pretty well, although Ihave got to admit as an old-time pros-ecutor, it makes me a little queasy.”

Republican attorneys general werethe first to create a party-based fund-raising group, 14 years ago. An initialappeal for contributions to corporatelobbyists and lawyers said that publicpolicy was being shaped “via the court-house rather than the statehouse.” Iturged corporate lawyers “to round upyour clients and come see what RAGAis all about.” The U.S. Chamber of Com-merce alone has contributed $2.2 mil-lion this year to the group, making it theassociation’s biggest donor.

The Democrats at first fought theidea, but two years later formed a coun-terpart.

Dickstein, and a handful of other lawfirms, moved to capitalize by offeringlobbying as well as legal assistance todeal with attorneys general, whomDickstein called “the new sheriffs intown.”

In an effort to make allies rather thanadversaries, Bernard Nash, the head ofthe attorney general practice at Dick-stein and the self-proclaimed “godfa-ther” of the field, tells clients that it isessential to build a personal relation-ship with important attorneys general,part of what his firm boasts as “connec-tions that count.”

“Through their interaction withA.G.s, these individuals will become the‘face’ of the company to A.G.s, who areless likely to demagogue companiesthey know and respect,” said a confiden-tial memo that Dickstein sent late lastyear to one prospective client, CaesarsEntertainment.

Executing this strategy means tar-geting the attorneys general “front of-fice,” a reference to the handful of im-portant decision makers.

“Front office interest or lack of in-terest in an issue can come from an as-sessment of media reports and potentialmedia scrutiny; advocacy group re-quests; political benefit or detriment;legislative inquiries; and ‘pitches’ madeby law firms or other professionals inwhom the front office has confidence,”Dickstein said in the memo pitchingbusiness to executives at Caesars thatasked the company to pay $35,000 amonth, plus expenses, for lobbying and

PAM BONDICorporate sponsors or state taxpayers generally cover airfare, hotels and

meals at conferences for the Florida attorney general and her counterparts.

Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, PursueThe States’ Attorneys General

KEY $100,000 $500,000 $2.3 million$0

RELEVANT ISSUES DONOR

Money Going to Attorneys General

AMOUNT GIVEN TO:Reps.’14*

Several of the largest donors to the Republican and Democratic Attorneys General Associations are companies or groups that have been targets of investigations or are seeking help from attorneys general in challenging federal regulations.

*Contributions for 2013 are not available for the Republican Attorneys General Association, because until January 2014, the group was a part of the Republican State Leadership Committee, which also supports other candidates for state office.

Source: Internal Revenue Service ERIC LIPTON, GRIFF PALMER AND ALICIA PARLAPIANO/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Pushing attorneys general to curb what it considers excessive litigation againstpharmaceutical, financial services and other industries.

U.S. Chamber ofCommerce

Devon Energy Seeking help in blocking Obama administration rules governing fracking.

Pinnacle West Capital Owner of an Arizona electric utility that could benefit from action taken by theattorney general there in challenging federal rules on coal-burning power plants.

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Reynolds America

Altria Involved in recent disputes over continuing payouts from the 1998 tobaccosettlement and seeking to play a role in decisions over regulation of e-cigarettes.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield Members of the network were targeted, but cleared, in an inquiry alleging anti-competitive practices. Plaintiff's lawyers have urged that new actions be filed.

Trinity Industries Targeted in investigations related to alleged defects in its highway guardrails.

Comcast Seeking antitrust approval for a proposed merger with Time Warner Cable.

Rent-A-Center Previously targeted by attorneys general for alleged deceptive marketing practices.

Citigroup Recently settled a case related to its marketing and issuance of residentialmortgage-backed securities before 2009.

Google Targeted in an inquiry into allegations that it allows illegal products to besold via its search engine.

Coca-Cola A possible target if attorneys general pursue litigation, as one law firm hasadvocated, against the food industry concerning obesity-related health costs.

DirecTV Antitrust review underway related to a proposed merger with AT&T. Previouslytargeted for alleged deceptive marketing.

Herbalife International Targeted in an inquiry over allegations of fraudulent business practices.

Labaton Sucharow Plaintiff's law firm seeking to act as contingency lawyer to attorneys general.

5-Hour Energy affiliates Targeted in a consumer fraud investigation over product labeling and claims.

Pfizer Targeted in multiple investigations related to alleged fradulent drug marketing.

Teamsters union Pushing Democrats to support a narrower definition of “independent contractor."

Sheldon G. Adelson C.E.O. of Las Vegas Sands, seeking attorneys general support to ban online poker.

Judicial Crisis Network Conservative nonprofit groups pushing for limits on federal environmentalregulation and continued challenges to the Obama health care program.

American Future Fund

From Page A1

CHRIS KOSTERThe office of the Missouri attorney general pulled out of an inquiry into 5-Hour

Energy after he spoke with a lawyer from the law firm Dickstein Shapiro.

STEVE CANNON/ASSOCIATED PRESS WHITNEY CURTIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Articles in this series will examine theexplosion in lobbying of state attorneysgeneral by corporate interests and themillions in campaign donations they nowprovide.

Courting Favor

ONLINE: Emails, documents andother records detailing lobbying

campaigns:

nytimes.com/national

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Ferguson had made a personal appeal to the company.

Secluded AccessBreakfast was

served on a patio overlooking the Pa-cific Ocean — a buffet of fresh baked goods, made-to-order eggs, lox and fruit — as the Republican attorneys general, in T-shirts and shorts, assembled at Beach Village at the Del, in Coronado, Calif.

These top law en-forcement officials from Alabama, South Caroli-na, nebraska, Wiscon-sin, Indiana and other states were joined by Ms. Kalani, of Dickstein Shapiro, and represen-tatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Pfizer, Comcast and Altria, among other corpo-rate giants.

The group had gathered at the exclusive Beach Village at the Del — where rooms go for as much as $4,500 a night and a special key card is required to enter the private compound — for the most elite event for Republican attor-neys general, a gathering of the edmund Ran-dolph Club (named for the first United States attorney general).

The club, created by the Republican Attor-neys General Association, has a $125,000 entry fee — money used to fund the campaigns of attorney general candidates with as much as $1 million, and to pay for the hotel bills, airfare and meals for the attorneys general who at-tend the events.

As at the Democrats’ event, the agenda in-cluded panels to discuss emerging legal issues. But at least as important was the opportunity for the lobbyists, corporate executives and law-yers to nurture relationships with the attorneys general — and to lobby them in this casual and secluded setting. (A reporter from The Times attended this event uninvited and, once spotted, was asked to leave.)

The appeals began the moment the law en-forcement officials arrived, as gift bags were handed out, including boxes of 5-hour energy, wine from a liquor wholesalers group and mu-sic CDs (Roy Orbison for the adults, the heart-throb hunter hayes for their children) from the recording industry.

Andy Abboud, a lobbyist for Las Vegas Sands, which donated $500,000 through its chief executive to the Republican group this year, has been urging attorneys general to join an effort to ban online poker. At breakfast, he approached Attorney General Pam Bondi of Florida.

“What are you going to be doing today?” he asked.

“Sailing,” Ms. Bondi replied.“Great, I want to go sailing, too,” Mr. Abboud

said, and they agreed to connect later that day.The increased focus on state attorneys gen-

eral by corporate interests has a simple expla-nation: to guard against legal exposure, poten-tially in the billions of dollars, for corporations that become targets of the state investigations.

It can be traced back two decades, when more than 40 state attorneys general joined to challenge the tobacco industry, an inquiry that resulted in a historic $206 billion settlement.


























































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Microsoft became the target of a similar multistate attack, accused of engaging in an anticompetitive scheme by bundling its Inter-net explorer with the Windows operating sys-tem. Then came the pharmaceutical industry, accused of improperly marketing drugs, and, more recently, the financial services industry, in a case that resulted in a $25 billion settlement in 2012 with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicing companies.

The trend accelerated as attorneys general — particularly Democrats — began hiring out-side law firms to conduct investigations and sue corporations on a contingency basis.

The widening scope of their investigations led companies to significantly bolster efforts to influence their actions. John W. Suthers, who has served as Colorado’s attorney general for a de-cade, said he was not surprised by this campaign.

“I don’t fault for one second that corpo-rate America is pushing back on what has hap-pened,” Mr. Suthers said. “Attorneys general can do more damage in a heartbeat than legisla-tive bodies can. I think it is a matter of self-de-fense, and I understand it pretty well, although I have got to admit as an old-time prosecutor, it makes me a little queasy.”

Republican attorneys general were the first to create a party-based fund-raising group, 14 years ago. An initial appeal for contributions to corporate lobbyists and lawyers said that pub-lic policy was being shaped “via the courthouse rather than the statehouse.” It urged corporate lawyers “to round up your clients and come see what RAGA is all about.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce alone has contributed $2.2 million this year to the group, making it the associa-tion’s biggest donor.

The Democrats at first fought the idea, but two years later formed a counterpart.

Dickstein, and a handful of other law firms, moved to capitalize by offering lobbying as well as legal assistance to deal with attorneys gen-eral, whom Dickstein called “the new sheriffs in town.”

In an effort to make allies rather than ad-versaries, Bernard nash, the head of the attor-ney general practice at Dickstein and the self-proclaimed “godfather” of the field, tells clients that it is essential to build a personal relationship with important attorneys general, part of what his firm boasts as “connections that count.”

“Through their interaction with A.G.s, these individuals will become the ‘face’ of the company to A.G.s, who are less likely to demagogue com-panies they know and respect,” said a confiden-tial memo that Dickstein sent late last year to one prospective client, Caesars entertainment.

executing this strategy means targeting the attorneys general “front office,” a reference to the handful of important decision makers.

“Front office interest or lack of interest in an issue can come from an assessment of me-dia reports and potential media scrutiny; advo-cacy group requests; political benefit or detri-ment; legislative inquiries; and ‘pitches’ made by law firms or other professionals in whom the front office has confidence,” Dickstein said in the memo pitching business to executives at Caesars that asked the company to pay $35,000 a month, plus expenses, for lobbying and strate-gic advice, not including any legal work.

Mr. nash and his team build relationships through dinners at exclusive spots like the Flagler Steakhouse in Palm Beach, Fla., and Brown’s Beach house Restaurant in Waimea, hawaii, during attorneys general conferences, as well as with a constant stream of campaign contributions, totaling at least $730,000 in the last five years.

Dickstein is hardly alone.Other dinner invitations have come from

former Attorney General Thurbert e. Baker of Georgia, whose clients have included AT&T and the debt buyers industry; former Attorney Gen-eral Patrick C. Lynch of Rhode Island, who rep-resents payday lenders, Comcast and makers of online video games; and former Attorney Gen-eral Rob McKenna of Washington State, who has been retained by Microsoft and T-Mobile.

In several cases, these former officials are clearly acting as lobbyists. Mr. Lynch, who de-clined several requests for comment, tells pro-spective clients that he can guide them “through the national network of attorneys general asso-ciations and work with them to build relation-ships,” yet The Times could find no record that he had registered as a lobbyist in more than two dozen states where he has worked.

State lobbying laws generally require reg-istration when corporations hire someone to in-fluence legislation, but appeals targeting attor-neys general are not explicitly covered, even if a company is pushing its agenda.

N A17NATIONALTHE NEW YORK TIMES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014

strategic advice, not including any legalwork.

Mr. Nash and his team build rela-tionships through dinners at exclusivespots like the Flagler Steakhouse inPalm Beach, Fla., and Brown’s BeachHouse Restaurant in Waimea, Hawaii,during attorneys general conferences,as well as with a constant stream ofcampaign contributions, totaling atleast $730,000 in the last five years.

Dickstein is hardly alone.Other dinner invitations have come

from former Attorney General ThurbertE. Baker of Georgia, whose clients haveincluded AT&T and the debt buyers in-dustry; former Attorney General Pat-rick C. Lynch of Rhode Island, who rep-resents payday lenders, Comcast andmakers of online video games; and for-mer Attorney General Rob McKenna ofWashington State, who has been re-tained by Microsoft and T-Mobile.

In several cases, these former offi-cials are clearly acting as lobbyists. Mr.Lynch, who declined several requestsfor comment, tells prospective clientsthat he can guide them “through the na-tional network of attorneys general as-sociations and work with them to buildrelationships,” yet The Times could findno record that he had registered as alobbyist in more than two dozen stateswhere he has worked.

State lobbying laws generally requireregistration when corporations hiresomeone to influence legislation, but ap-peals targeting attorneys general arenot explicitly covered, even if a compa-ny is pushing its agenda.

The documents obtained by TheTimes include dozens of emails that Mr.Lynch has sent to attorneys general onbehalf of clients. He is also a regular atthe attorney general conferences, whichinclude social events like trap shooting,fitness training and all-terrain-vehiclerides, in addition to cocktail parties andmeals.

These conferences also include pan-els on topics like regulation of oil andnatural gas pipelines.

Yet often a seat on these panels is, ineffect, for sale. A large donation can se-cure the right to join a panel or providean opportunity for a handpicked execu-tive to make a solo presentation to aroom full of attorneys general. That iswhat a top executive from TransCana-da, the company behind the KeystoneXL pipeline, did at two recent attorneysgeneral meetings in Utah and Colorado.

For the attorneys general, there is apersonal benefit, too: Their airfare,meals and hotel bills at these elite re-sorts are generally covered, either bythe corporate sponsors or state taxpay-ers.

Ms. Bondi, the Florida attorney gen-eral, for example, received nearly$25,000 worth of airfare, hotels andmeals in the past two years just fromevents sponsored by the Republican At-torneys General Association, state dis-closure reports show. That money cameindirectly from corporate donors.

She has charged Florida taxpayersnearly $14,000 since 2011 to take addi-tional trips to meetings of the NationalAssociation of Attorneys General andthe Conference of Western AttorneysGeneral, including travel to Hawaii.Those events were also attended bydozens of lobbyists. Ms. Bondi, in astatement, said the support she had re-ceived — directly or through the Repub-lican Attorneys General Association —had not had an impact on any of her ac-tions as attorney general.

But Matthew L. Myers, the presidentof the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who was on a panel aboute-cigarettes at an event in Park City,Utah, was startled by what he saw: lob-byists from regulated industries — fi-nancial, energy, alcohol, tobacco andpharmaceutical companies — socializ-ing with top state law enforcement offi-cers.

“You play golf with somebody, youare much less likely to see them as a pi-ranha that is trying to devour consum-ers, even if that is just what they are,”said Mr. Myers.

Mr. Tierney, the former Maine at-torney general, said that lobbyists wereentitled to set up a meeting with the at-torneys general in their offices. But towrite a check, for as much as $125,000,to gain days’ worth of private time withthe attorneys general is another matter,he said.

“When you start to connect the actualaccess to money, and the access in-volves law enforcement officials, youhave clearly crossed a line,” he said.“What is going on is shocking, terrible.”

An Ear in MissouriIn Missouri, as in other states, the at-

torney general’s office has provided aspringboard to higher office, either tothe governor’s mansion or the Senate.So even before Mr. Koster was sworn infor his second term, he was being men-tioned as a candidate for higher office.And that made him an ideal target forthe team at Dickstein.

The Dickstein lawyers have donatedto his campaigns, invited him and hischief deputy to be featured speakers atlaw firm events and hosted Mr. Kosterat dinners, and stayed in close contactwith his office in emails that suggest un-usual familiarity.

The relationship seems to have bene-fited some Dickstein clients.

Pfizer, the New York-based pharma-ceutical giant, had hired Dickstein tohelp settle a case brought by at least 20states, which accused the company of il-legally marketing two of its drugs —Zyvox and Lyrica — for unapproveduses, or making exaggerated claimsabout their effectiveness.

Instead of participating in the unifiedinvestigation with other states — whichgives attorneys general greater negoti-ating power — Mr. Koster’s officeworked directly with Mr. Nash and Pfi-zer’s assistant general counsel, MarkusGreen.

Mr. Nash negotiated with Deputy At-torney General Joseph P. Dandurandthrough a series of emails, followed by avisit to Missouri in April 2013.

But both Pfizer and Dickstein had al-ready built a relationship with Mr. Kos-ter. Dickstein had participated in atleast four fund-raising events for Mr.Koster, with its lawyers and the firm do-nating $13,500 to his campaigns, recordsshow.

Several of those contributions cameafter Mr. Nash had invited Mr. Koster toparticipate in an “executive briefing” atthe Park Hyatt for Dickstein’s clients.That same day, Mr. Koster held a fund-raising event, taking in contributionsfrom Mr. Nash and other lawyers in-volved in matters that Mr. Koster would

soon be, or already was, investigating,the records show.

Pfizer had directly donated at least$20,000 to Mr. Koster since 2009 — morethan it gave to any other state attorneygeneral, according to company records.That does not include the $320,000 thatPfizer donated during the same periodto the Democratic Attorneys GeneralAssociation, which in turn has donatedto Mr. Koster’s campaigns.

Mr. Koster said his office was forcedto negotiate directly with Mr. Nash andPfizer because a staff lawyer missed adeadline to participate in the multistateinvestigation.

“This was an accident,” Mr. Kostersaid, adding that since he became at-torney general in 2009, his office hasparticipated in six cases against Pfizerthat brought a total of $26 million toMissouri.

But the emails show that just as thenegotiations on the 2013 case were in-tensifying, Mr. Koster’s chief deputy re-ceived an unusual invitation: Would theattorney general be interested in flyingto Chicago to be the keynote speaker ata breakfast that Pfizer was sponsoringfor its political action committee?

The topic was “the importance of cor-porations’ building productive relation-ships with A.G.s,” according to an emailin March from Dickstein to Mr. Dandu-rand.

“As you know, these relationships areimportant to allow A.G.s and corpora-tions to work together to address im-

portant public policy issues of concernto both the A.G. and the corporation,”the invitation said. “The conferenceparticipants also would like to hear howthese relationships can help to efficient-ly address A.G.s’ questions or concernsbefore they escalate into major prob-lems (like multistate investigations orlitigation), as well as how they can car-ry over when A.G.s are elected to higheroffices.”

Mr. Dandurand worked to accommo-date the request.

“Trying now to clear his calendar,”Mr. Dandurand wrote back to the Dick-stein lawyer, before confirming that Mr.Koster would accept the invitation.

“The folks at Pfizer are very appre-ciative and excited to hear from theGeneral,” J. B. Kelly, a partner at Dick-stein, replied.

Five days later — and just before Mr.Koster was scheduled to give thespeech — Mr. Dandurand and Mr. Nashmet to discuss a settlement in the fraudinvestigation. They agreed that Pfizerwould pay Missouri $750,000 — at least$350,000 less than it would have col-lected if it had been part of the multi-state investigation.

“Thank you for the meeting,” Mr.Nash wrote to Mr. Dandurand, after thesettlement meeting in Missouri. “Pfizeris pleased.”

Mr. Koster said Missouri received asmaller payment from Pfizer becausethe state had less leverage after missingthe multistate deadline. Oregon, the oth-

er state to negotiate directly with Pfizeron the Zyvox matter, secured a settle-ment worth $3.4 million — four timeswhat Missouri received — even thoughOregon’s population is far smaller.

Pfizer was not the only Dickstein cli-ent pleased with the firm’s representa-tion before Mr. Koster’s office.

AT&T was also subject to an investi-gation by Mr. Koster’s office, somethingthat Mr. Nash learned at the conferenceheld at the Loews hotel. And like Ms.Kalani, Mr. Nash pleaded his case di-rectly with Mr. Koster.

Three weeks after the conversationwith Mr. Nash, Mr. Koster’s office took astep that questioned the legal strategyof a multistate investigation of AT&T’sbilling practices, email records show.Mr. Koster did not officially back out ofthe inquiry, and Missouri ultimatelybenefited from a national settlement an-nounced this month.

But frustrating leaders of the multi-state investigation, Mr. Koster decidedto join a small group of attorneys gen-eral who, to the industry’s pleasure,wanted to resolve the matter withoutsubpoenas or the threat of a lawsuit, theemails show.

AT&T has been a major campaigncontributor to Mr. Koster’s politicalcauses, donating more than $27,000 injust the last two years, half before andhalf after his actions regarding the in-vestigation.

Mr. Koster said the donations had noeffect on his actions, adding that he wasdetermined to investigate the companyfor its deceptive billing practices. With5-Hour Energy, he added, he pulled outof the investigation because he did notbelieve it was merited — adding that hepersonally uses the energy drink.

Yet he said he was angry that his staffhad not notified him before joining in-vestigations into these two major com-panies.

“Its stock price would move at themere mention of our involvement,” Mr.Koster said, referring to AT&T.

Mr. Nash’s appeals were not finished.A month after returning from the

Santa Monica meeting, Mr. Kosteradopted a new office policy requiringlawyers and managers in his consumeraffairs division to get approval from histop aides before opening any investiga-tions involving a publicly traded compa-ny or any company with more than 10employees.

Mr. Nash and Lisa A. Rickard, a sen-ior executive from the U.S. Chamber ofCommerce, were so pleased with thechange that they asked Mr. Koster togive a talk about his new office policy ata meeting of attorneys general in Wash-ington.

“This is going to be titled my LisaRickard memorial presentation,” Mr.Koster said at the February 2014 meet-ing. “She was the one who initiated thisidea.”

The email records also reveal the per-sonal nature of the relationship betweenMr. Koster’s office and the lawyers atDickstein.

In an August 2013 exchange, in whichthe attorney general’s office assuredMr. Nash that it would not share po-tentially damaging information on aDickstein client with another state at-torney general who was investigatingthe company — saying the documentswere considered confidential — the con-versation took a sudden turn away frombusiness.

“Let’s go bowling sometime,” Mr.Dandurand wrote.

“Thanks,” Mr. Nash wrote back. “I’drather eat and drink with you any time,any place.”

And an Ear in FloridaThe email records show a similarly

detailed interaction with the office ofMs. Bondi, the Florida attorney generaland a fast-rising star in the RepublicanParty.

Mr. Nash and his partners worked tohelp Ms. Bondi further her political am-bitions at the same time they were lob-bying her office on behalf of companiesunder investigation by it.

Accretive Health, a Chicago-basedhospital bill collection company, whoseoperations in Minnesota had been shutdown by the attorney general’s officethere for abusive collection practices,

GABRIELLA DEMCZUK/THE NEW YORK TIMES

BERNARD NASH The head of Dickstein’s attorney general practice and the field’s self-proclaimed “godfather.”

Continued on Following Page

THE FORMER ATTORNEYS GENERAL From left, Rob McKenna of Wash-ington State, Patrick C. Lynch of Rhode Island and Thurbert E.Baker of Georgia. Each now represents major corporations and oth-er clients that have business before state attorneys general.

“My client justreceived notificationthat Missouri is onthis.”LORI KALANI, a Dicksteinpartner, discussing the 5-HourEnergy case with the state’sattorney general.

“The folks at Pfizerare very appreciativeand excited to hearfrom the General.”J. B. KELLY, a Dicksteinpartner, writing to a Missouriofficial about an appearance bythe attorney general at anevent sponsored by Pfizer.

DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO In an effort to make allies, the lawfirm told clients that it is essential to build a personalrelationship with important attorneys general, partof what it boasted as “connections that count.”

Nxxx,2014-10-29,A,017,Bs-BW,E1

The documents obtained by The Times in-clude dozens of emails that Mr. Lynch has sent to attorneys general on behalf of clients. he is also a regular at the attorney general confer-ences, which include social events like trap shooting, fitness training and all-terrain-vehicle rides, in addition to cocktail parties and meals.

These conferences also include panels on topics like regulation of oil and natural gas pipe-lines.

Yet often a seat on these panels is, in effect, for sale. A large donation can secure the right to join a panel or provide an opportunity for a handpicked executive to make a solo presen-tation to a room full of attorneys general. That is what a top executive from TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, did at two recent attorneys general meetings in Utah and Colorado.





































































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For the attorneys general, there is a per-sonal benefit, too: Their airfare, meals and ho-tel bills at these elite resorts are generally cov-ered, either by the corporate sponsors or state taxpayers.

Ms. Bondi, the Florida attorney general, for example, received nearly $25,000 worth of airfare, hotels and meals in the past two years just from events sponsored by the Republican Attorneys General Association, state disclosure reports show. That money came indirectly from corporate donors.

She has charged Florida taxpayers near-ly $14,000 since 2011 to take additional trips to meetings of the national Association of Attor-neys General and the Conference of Western Attorneys General, including travel to hawaii. Those events were also attended by dozens of lobbyists. Ms. Bondi, in a statement, said the support she had received — directly or through the Republican Attorneys General Association — had not had an impact on any of her actions as attorney general.

But Matthew L. Myers, the president of the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who was on a panel about e-cigarettes at an event in Park City, Utah, was startled by what he saw: lobbyists from regulated industries — financial, energy, alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical companies — socializing with top state law en-forcement officers.

“You play golf with somebody, you are much less likely to see them as a piranha that is trying to devour consumers, even if that is just what they are,” said Mr. Myers.

Mr. Tierney, the former Maine attorney gen-eral, said that lobbyists were entitled to set up a meeting with the attorneys general in their offic-es. But to write a check, for as much as $125,000, to gain days’ worth of private time with the attor-neys general is another matter, he said.

“When you start to connect the actual access to money, and the access involves law enforce-ment officials, you have clearly crossed a line,” he said. “What is going on is shocking, terrible.”

An Ear in MissouriIn Missouri, as in other states, the attor-

ney general’s office has provided a springboard to higher office, either to the governor’s man-sion or the Senate. So even before Mr. Koster was sworn in for his second term, he was being

mentioned as a candidate for higher office. And that made him an ideal target for the team at Dickstein.

The Dickstein lawyers have donated to his campaigns, invited him and his chief deputy to be featured speakers at law firm events and hosted Mr. Koster at dinners, and stayed in close contact with his office in emails that sug-gest unusual familiarity.

The relationship seems to have benefited some Dickstein clients.

Pfizer, the new York-based pharmaceutical giant, had hired Dickstein to help settle a case brought by at least 20 states, which accused the company of illegally marketing two of its drugs — Zyvox and Lyrica — for unapproved uses, or making exaggerated claims about their effec-tiveness.

Instead of participating in the unified inves-tigation with other states — which gives attor-neys general greater negotiating power — Mr. Koster’s office worked directly with Mr. nash and Pfizer’s assistant general counsel, Markus Green.

Mr. nash negotiated with Deputy Attorney General Joseph P. Dandurand through a series of emails, followed by a visit to Missouri in April 2013.

But both Pfizer and Dickstein had already built a relationship with Mr. Koster. Dickstein had participated in at least four fund-raising events for Mr. Koster, with its lawyers and the firm donating $13,500 to his campaigns, records show.

Several of those contributions came after Mr. nash had invited Mr. Koster to participate in an “executive briefing” at the Park hyatt for Dickstein’s clients. That same day, Mr. Koster held a fund-raising event, taking in contri-butions from Mr. nash and other lawyers in-volved in matters that Mr. Koster would soon be, or already was, investigating, the records show.

Pfizer had directly donated at least $20,000 to Mr. Koster since 2009 — more than it gave to any other state attorney general, according to company records. That does not include the $320,000 that Pfizer donated during the same period to the Democratic Attorneys General Association, which in turn has donated to Mr. Koster’s campaigns.

Mr. Koster said his office was forced to nego-

tiate directly with Mr. nash and Pfizer because a staff lawyer missed a deadline to participate in the multistate investigation.

“This was an accident,” Mr. Koster said, adding that since he became attorney general in 2009, his office has participated in six cases against Pfizer that brought a total of $26 million to Missouri.

But the emails show that just as the nego-tiations on the 2013 case were intensifying, Mr. Koster’s chief deputy received an unusual invi-tation: Would the attorney general be interested in flying to Chicago to be the keynote speaker at a breakfast that Pfizer was sponsoring for its

political action committee?The topic was “the importance of corpora-

tions’ building productive relationships with A.G.s,” according to an email in March from Dickstein to Mr. Dandurand.

“As you know, these relationships are impor-tant to allow A.G.s and corporations to work to-gether to address important public policy issues of concern to both the A.G. and the corporation,” the invitation said. “The conference participants also would like to hear how these relationships can help to efficiently address A.G.s’ questions or concerns before they escalate into major prob-lems (like multistate investigations or litigation),





































































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as well as how they can carry over when A.G.s are elected to higher offices.”

Mr. Dandurand worked to accommodate the request.

“Trying now to clear his calendar,” Mr. Dan-durand wrote back to the Dickstein lawyer, be-fore confirming that Mr. Koster would accept the invitation.

“The folks at Pfizer are very appreciative and excited to hear from the General,” J. B. Kel-ly, a partner at Dickstein, replied.

Five days later — and just be-fore Mr. Koster was scheduled to give the speech — Mr. Dandurand and Mr. nash met to discuss a set-tlement in the fraud investigation. They agreed that Pfizer would pay Missouri $750,000 — at least $350,000 less than it would have collected if it had been part of the multistate investigation.

“Thank you for the meeting,” Mr. nash wrote to Mr. Dandurand, after the settlement meeting in Missouri. “Pfizer is pleased.”

Mr. Koster said Missouri re-ceived a smaller payment from Pfizer because the state had less leverage after missing the multi-state deadline. Oregon, the other state to nego-tiate directly with Pfizer on the Zyvox matter, secured a settlement worth $3.4 million — four times what Missouri received — even though Oregon’s population is far smaller.

Pfizer was not the only Dickstein client pleased with the firm’s representation before Mr. Koster’s office.

AT&T was also subject to an investigation by Mr. Koster’s office, something that Mr. nash learned at the conference held at the Loews ho-tel. And like Ms. Kalani, Mr. nash pleaded his case directly with Mr. Koster.

Three weeks after the conversation with Mr. nash, Mr. Koster’s office took a step that questioned the legal strategy of a multistate investigation of AT&T’s billing practices, email records show. Mr. Koster did not officially back out of the inquiry, and Missouri ultimately bene-fited from a national settlement announced this month.

But frustrating leaders of the multistate in-vestigation, Mr. Koster decided to join a small

group of attorneys general who, to the indus-try’s pleasure, wanted to resolve the matter without subpoenas or the threat of a lawsuit, the emails show.

AT&T has been a major campaign contribu-tor to Mr. Koster’s political causes, donating more than $27,000 in just the last two years, half before and half after his actions regarding the investigation.

Mr. Koster said the donations had no effect on his actions, adding that he was determined

to investigate the company for its deceptive bill-ing practices. With 5-hour energy, he added, he pulled out of the investigation because he did not believe it was merited — adding that he per-sonally uses the energy drink.

Yet he said he was angry that his staff had not notified him before joining investigations into these two major companies.

“Its stock price would move at the mere mention of our involvement,” Mr. Koster said, referring to AT&T.

Mr. nash’s appeals were not finished.A month after returning from the Santa

Monica meeting, Mr. Koster adopted a new of-fice policy requiring lawyers and managers in his consumer affairs division to get approval from his top aides before opening any investi-gations involving a publicly traded company or any company with more than 10 employees.

Mr. nash and Lisa A. Rickard, a senior ex-ecutive from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, were so pleased with the change that they asked Mr. Koster to give a talk about his new





































































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office policy at a meeting of attorneys general in Washington.

“This is going to be titled my Lisa Rickard memorial presentation,” Mr. Koster said at the February 2014 meeting. “She was the one who initiated this idea.”

The email records also reveal the personal nature of the relationship between Mr. Koster’s office and the lawyers at Dickstein.

In an August 2013 exchange, in which the at-torney general’s office assured Mr. nash that it would not share potentially damaging informa-tion on a Dickstein client with another state at-torney general who was investigating the com-pany — saying the documents were considered confidential — the conversation took a sudden turn away from business.

“Let’s go bowling sometime,” Mr. Dan-durand wrote.

“Thanks,” Mr. nash wrote back. “I’d rather eat and drink with you any time, any place.”

And an Ear in FloridaThe email records show a similarly detailed

interaction with the office of Ms. Bondi, the Florida attorney general and a fast-rising star in the Republican Party.

Mr. nash and his partners worked to help Ms. Bondi further her political ambitions at the same time they were lobbying her office on be-half of companies under investigation by it.

Accretive health, a Chicago-based hospi-tal bill collection company, whose operations in Minnesota had been shut down by the attor-ney general’s office there for abusive collection practices, had turned to Dickstein Shapiro to try to make sure that other states did not fol-low Minnesota’s lead. Mr. nash contacted Ms. Bondi’s chief deputy and urged the office to take no action.

“We persuaded A.G.s not to sue Accretive health following the filing of a lawsuit by the Minnesota A.G.,” Dickstein wrote in a recent marketing brochure.

Bridgepoint education, a for-profit online school that has been under scrutiny for what Mr. Miller, the Iowa attorney general, called “unconscionable sales practices,” turned to Dickstein to set up meetings with Ms. Bondi’s staff, to urge her not to join in the inquiries un-derway in several states. Again, her office de-cided not to take up the matter, citing the small

number of complaints about Bridgepoint it has received.

Dickstein set up a similar meeting for herbalife, which has been investigated by fed-eral and state authorities for sales practices re-lated to its nutritional shakes and other prod-ucts. no investigation was opened; again, Ms. Bondi’s staff said her office had received few complaints.

Perhaps the greatest victory in Florida for Dickstein relates to a lawsuit filed by Ms. Bondi’s predecessor against online reservation companies, including Travelocity and Priceline, which Dickstein then represented, based on al-legations that they were conspiring to improp-erly withhold taxes on hotel rooms booked in the state.

Local officials in Florida were confounded by the fact that the case, which was filed before Ms. Bondi was sworn in, suddenly seemed to come to a halt.

“As our state’s highest-ranking law enforce-ment official, and as the people’s attorney, you have the authority to pursue action on behalf of the citizens of Florida,” Mayor Rick Kriseman of St. Petersburg, a Democrat, wrote to Ms. Bondi in 2011, while he was a state legislator, estimat-ing that Florida was losing $100 million a year.

Behind the scenes, Dickstein had been working to get the case dropped.

“Thank you so much for chatting with me last week about the online travel site suit,” said a January 2012 email to Deputy Attorney Gen-eral Patricia A. Conners from Christopher M. Tampio, a former lobbyist for the convenience store industry who was hired to work in Dick-stein’s attorney general practice, even though he is not a lawyer or a registered lobbyist in Florida.

A year later, a second round of emails ar-rived in Ms. Bondi’s office: first, one inviting Ms. Bondi or her top aide to dinner at Ristoran-te Tosca in Washington, and then one from a Dickstein lawyer pointing out that similar on-line travel cases had recently been dismissed by Florida judges.

The email records provided to The Times show no response to Dickstein, other than a terse “thanks.” But two months later, Ms. Bondi’s office moved to do what the firm had sought.

“Dismissed before hearing,” the state court

docket shows, as the case was closed in April 2013 even before it was officially taken up by the court.

A spokesman for Ms. Bondi said her office had dropped the matter after concluding, as Dickstein had argued, that state tax law was ambiguous. The office urged the State Legisla-ture to clarify the matter. But several Florida counties have continued to pursue the matter, taking it to the State Supreme Court.

Dickstein also took unusual steps to pro-mote Ms. Bondi’s political career.

The firm’s lawyers helped arrange a cover article for Ms. Bondi in a magazine called In-sideCounsel, which is distributed to corporate lawyers, and invited her, as it did Mr. Koster, to

appear at an event in Washington that included the firm’s clients.

And as with Mr. Koster, the assistance in-cluded direct political contributions. Mr. nash was a sponsor of an elaborate fund-raising event this year in Ms. Bondi’s honor at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, owned by Donald J. Trump, which is considered one of the most opulent mansions in the United States.

Ms. Bondi, in a statement, said none of these efforts had affected her decisions.

“My office aggressively protects Floridians from unfair and deceptive business practices, and absolutely no access to me or my staff is go-ing to have any bearing on my efforts to protect Floridians,” she said.


had turned to Dickstein Shapiroto try to make sure that otherstates did not follow Minnesota’slead. Mr. Nash contacted Ms.Bondi’s chief deputy and urgedthe office to take no action.

“We persuaded A.G.s not tosue Accretive Health followingthe filing of a lawsuit by the Min-nesota A.G.,” Dickstein wrote in arecent marketing brochure.

Bridgepoint Education, a for-profit online school that has beenunder scrutiny for what Mr. Mill-er, the Iowa attorney general,called “unconscionable salespractices,” turned to Dickstein toset up meetings with Ms. Bondi’sstaff, to urge her not to join in theinquiries underway in severalstates. Again, her office decidednot to take up the matter, citingthe small number of complaintsabout Bridgepoint it has re-ceived.

Dickstein set up a similarmeeting for Herbalife, which hasbeen investigated by federal andstate authorities for sales prac-tices related to its nutritionalshakes and other products. No in-vestigation was opened; again,Ms. Bondi’s staff said her officehad received few complaints.

Perhaps the greatest victory inFlorida for Dickstein relates to alawsuit filed by Ms. Bondi’s pred-ecessor against online reserva-tion companies, including Travel-ocity and Priceline, which Dick-stein then represented, based onallegations that they were con-spiring to improperly withholdtaxes on hotel rooms booked inthe state.

Local officials in Florida wereconfounded by the fact that thecase, which was filed before Ms.Bondi was sworn in, suddenlyseemed to come to a halt.

“As our state’s highest-rankinglaw enforcement official, and asthe people’s attorney, you havethe authority to pursue action onbehalf of the citizens of Florida,”Mayor Rick Kriseman of St. Pe-tersburg, a Democrat, wrote toMs. Bondi in 2011, while he was astate legislator, estimating thatFlorida was losing $100 million ayear.

Behind the scenes, Dickstein

had been working to get the casedropped.

“Thank you so much for chat-ting with me last week about theonline travel site suit,” said a Jan-uary 2012 email to Deputy At-torney General Patricia A. Con-ners from Christopher M. Tam-pio, a former lobbyist for the con-venience store industry who washired to work in Dickstein’s at-torney general practice, eventhough he is not a lawyer or aregistered lobbyist in Florida.

A year later, a second round ofemails arrived in Ms. Bondi’s of-fice: first, one inviting Ms. Bondior her top aide to dinner at Risto-rante Tosca in Washington, andthen one from a Dickstein lawyerpointing out that similar onlinetravel cases had recently beendismissed by Florida judges.

The email records provided toThe Times show no response toDickstein, other than a terse“thanks.” But two months later,Ms. Bondi’s office moved to dowhat the firm had sought.

“Dismissed before hearing,”the state court docket shows, asthe case was closed in April 2013even before it was officially takenup by the court.

A spokesman for Ms. Bondisaid her office had dropped thematter after concluding, as Dick-stein had argued, that state taxlaw was ambiguous. The officeurged the State Legislature toclarify the matter. But severalFlorida counties have continuedto pursue the matter, taking it tothe State Supreme Court.

Dickstein also took unusualsteps to promote Ms. Bondi’s po-litical career.

The firm’s lawyers helped ar-range a cover article for Ms. Bon-di in a magazine called Inside-Counsel, which is distributed tocorporate lawyers, and invitedher, as it did Mr. Koster, to ap-pear at an event in Washingtonthat included the firm’s clients.

And as with Mr. Koster, the as-sistance included direct politicalcontributions. Mr. Nash was asponsor of an elaborate fund-rais-ing event this year in Ms. Bondi’shonor at the Mar-a-Lago Club inPalm Beach, owned by Donald J.Trump, which is considered oneof the most opulent mansions inthe United States.

Ms. Bondi, in a statement, saidnone of these efforts had affectedher decisions.

“My office aggressively pro-

tects Floridians from unfair anddeceptive business practices, andabsolutely no access to me or mystaff is going to have any bearingon my efforts to protect Florid-ians,” she said.

The Revolving DoorIn at least 31 states and in Con-

gress, elected officials arebanned from lobbying their for-mer colleagues during a cooling-off period, which is intended tolimit their ability to cash in ontheir contacts. Once they do startto lobby, they are required to reg-ister to disclose the work.

But even in states like Georgia,where the law prohibits state offi-cials from registering as lobby-ists or engaging in lobbying forone year after leaving office, a

former attorney general madeappeals almost immediately tohis former office.

Mr. Baker, who left his post asthe state’s attorney general inJanuary 2011, wrote repeatedlythat year to the office of his suc-cessor, Sam Olens, and to Mr.Olens’s chief deputy, who hadserved in the same role duringMr. Baker’s tenure, to ask themto take actions that would benefitAT&T, which he had been hired torepresent.

“Hi Thurbert,” Jeff Milsteen,Georgia’s chief deputy attorneygeneral, replied to one of theemails that Mr. Baker sent to himin 2011, as Mr. Baker sought hissuccessor’s public support for theproposed merger between T-Mo-bile and AT&T. “I’ll let you knowas soon as I can.”

The next day, Mr. Milsteenwrote back. “I’ve talked to Sam,”he said, “and he is fine with youadding him to the letter.”

A spokesman for Mr. Olenssaid that he saw nothing wrongwith the exchanges because Mr.Baker was acting as a lawyer, notas a lobbyist, and therefore wasexempt from the one-year ban —which covers only lobbying of thelegislature or the governor, notthe attorney general.

But Mr. Baker declined, whenasked by The Times, to identify asingle legal filing concerningAT&T that he had been involvedwith. He wrote back to say thatthis definition of “lawyer” wastoo narrow.

“Lawyers are advocates,” hesaid.

In Washington State, both Mr.

McKenna, the former attorneygeneral, and Mr. Moran, who hadbeen his top deputy, were press-ing their former colleagues with-in months of leaving their jobslast year, on behalf of clients in-cluding Microsoft and T-Mobile,emails show.

For Mr. McKenna, it was quitea turnaround. He had sued T-Mo-bile in September 2011 to block itsproposed merger with AT&T.Now, as a corporate lawyer, Mr.McKenna was setting up meet-ings with his successor, Mr. Fer-guson, to ask him to intervenewith federal officials on T-Mo-bile’s behalf in the inquiry overwhether the company was seek-ing to prevent its competitorsfrom acquiring what it thoughtwas too large a share of the avail-able federal wireless spectrum.

“I write today on behalf of themillions of consumers of wirelessand mobile computing services,”said a letter, drafted initially byT-Mobile, but sent out by Mr. Fer-guson in January, although itmade no mention of the roleplayed by the company or the for-mer attorney general.

Email records show a similarintervention by Mr. McKenna onbehalf of Washington State-basedMicrosoft, with outcomes thatbrought praise from the corpo-rate executives. “I know thatMicrosoft was very pleased thatyou made yourself available,” Mr.McKenna wrote to Mr. Fergusonlast October. “Thank you again.”

Mr. Baker and Mr. McKennaare both regulars at the attorneysgeneral retreats. As former at-torneys general, they are alsospecial guests at events of the So-ciety of Attorneys General Emer-itus.

They have good company inthe SAGE club: More than a doz-en of the members are now law-yers and lobbyists for corpora-tions, or work at plaintiff’s lawfirms that are seeking to securecommission-based contracts andthen sue corporations on a state’sbehalf.

The schedule of attorney gen-eral conferences for the comingyear is laid out — after a pausefor the elections — with eventsset for the Fontainebleau resortin Miami Beach, the Four Sea-sons Hotel at Mandalay Bay inLas Vegas and the Grand Wailearesort on Maui, among many oth-ers. The invitations for corporatesponsorships are already beingsent.

Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue State Attorneys GeneralFrom Preceding Page

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SANDY HUFFAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

HOTEL DEL CORONADO A conference of the Republican Attorneys General Association washeld in June in Coronado, Calif. Representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,Pfizer, Comcast and Altria, as well as a Dickstein Shapiro lawyer, attended the event.

Stacey Solie contributed reportingfrom Seattle. Griff Palmer andKitty Bennett contributed re-search.

By KENNETH CHANG

An unmanned cargo rocketcarrying supplies to the Interna-tional Space Station explodedseconds after liftoff Tuesdaynight.

The Antares rocket, carrying5,055 pounds of supplies, scienceexperiments and equipment, lift-ed off on schedule at 6:22 p.m.from NASA’s Wallops Flight Fa-cility in eastern Virginia.

But soon after it rose into thesky, there was a flash of an explo-sion. “The ascent stopped,”Frank L. Culbertson Jr., the exec-utive vice president of OrbitalSciences Corporation, the makerof the rocket, said during a newsconference Tuesday. “There wassome disassembly of the firststage, it looked like, and then itfell to earth.”

No one was injured. Orbital, based in Dulles, Va.,

first launched a 14-story-high An-tares rocket on its maiden flightin April last year. It then conduct-ed a demonstration flight to thespace station to show NASA thecapabilities of the rocket and thecargo spacecraft. Then came twomore flights carrying cargo to thespace station, part of a programin which NASA has hired privatecompanies to ferry cargo to thespace station. Tuesday’s launchwould have been the third ofeight cargo missions under a $1.9billion contract.

Orbital will lead an investiga-tion. Mr. Culbertson said thecompany would not launch an-other Antares rocket until it hadidentified and corrected the prob-lem.

Space Exploration Technolo-

gies Corp., of Hawthorne, Calif.,known as SpaceX, has success-fully flown four cargo missions tothe space station, the most recentmission ending on Saturday.

NASA officials said the failurewould not cause immediate is-sues for the space station, whichhad adequate supplies to last atleast until next spring. A Russiansupply rocket is set to launch tothe space station on Wednesday,and SpaceX’s next cargo missionis scheduled for December.

“We have plenty of capabilityto support the crew on board,”said Michael T. Suffredini, themanager of the space station pro-gram.

In 2011, a Russian supply shipfailed to reach orbit; space sta-tion managers adjusted.

By hiring private companies,NASA hoped to reduce costs, im-

prove efficiency and spur a newcommercial space industry, and ithas taken a similar approach to-ward launching its astronauts inthe future.

Last month, NASA awardedcontracts to SpaceX and Boeingto take astronauts to the spacestation beginning as early as 2017.

But the failure of the Orbitalrocket will probably raise ques-tions about whether NASA hasdone enough to ensure the reli-ability of the rockets.

This Antares rocket carried amore powerful second-stage en-gine for the first time. The cargospacecraft was to reach the spacestation on Sunday. The rocketwas also carrying a satellite, alsodestroyed, for Planetary Re-sources, a start-up looking to de-velop technology for mining as-teroids.

Rocket Bound for Space Station Explodes

NASA

A video showed Orbital Sciences Corporation’s unmanned An-tares rocket exploding Tuesday just after its launch in Virginia.

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

WASHINGTON — The investi-gator who led the Department ofHomeland Security’s internal re-view of the Secret Service’s 2012prostitution scandal quietly re-signed in August after he was im-plicated in his own incident in-volving a prostitute, according tocurrent and former departmentofficials.

Sheriff’s deputies in BrowardCounty, Fla., saw David Nieland,the investigator, entering andleaving a building they had undersurveillance as part of a prostitu-tion investigation, according toofficials briefed on the investiga-tion. They later interviewed aprostitute who identified Mr. Nie-land in a photograph and said hehad paid her for sex.

Mr. Nieland resigned after herefused to answer a series ofquestions from the Departmentof Homeland Security inspectorgeneral about the incident, the of-ficials said.

A spokesman for the Home-land Security Department’s in-spector general said in a state-ment that he could confirm onlythat Mr. Nieland resigned in Au-gust. But the spokesman addedthat department officials “be-came aware in early May of thisyear of an incident in Florida thatinvolved one of our employees.”

“While the law prohibits usfrom commenting on specificcases, we do not tolerate mis-conduct on the part of our em-ployees and take such allegationsvery seriously,” said the spokes-man, William O. Hillburg. “Whenwe receive information of suchmisconduct, we will investigatethoroughly, and, during thecourse of or at the conclusion ofsuch an investigation, we have arange of options available to us,including administrative suspen-sion and termination.”

In an email message on Tues-day, Mr. Nieland said, “The alle-gation is not true,” and declinedto answer any questions.

The inspector general’s officeand the Broward County Sheriff’sOffice have investigations under-way. But Mr. Nieland has notbeen charged by federal or localauthorities in connection with theincident.

For months, Mr. Nieland hasbeen at the center of a disputeover whether the Obama admin-istration tried to cover up the in-volvement of a volunteer mem-ber of a White House advanceteam in the scandal that resulted

in the firing of eight Secret Serv-ice agents who were on assign-ment in Cartagena, Colombia, fora visit by President Obama inApril 2012. The agents were dis-missed after it became knownthat they had had prostitutes intheir hotel rooms.

Mr. Nieland was the head ofthe inspector general’s Miami of-fice when he was asked to lead aninvestigation of how the SecretService handled the scandal. Theinspector general’s office of theDepartment of Homeland Securi-ty has oversight of the SecretService and the other agenciesthat make up the department.

That September, the inspectorgeneral’s office released a 65-page report that described in de-tail how 13 Secret Service agentsand officers had “personal en-counters with female Colombiannationals” before Mr. Obama’sarrival.

In an interview with staff

members of a Senate HomelandSecurity subcommittee after thereport became public, Mr. Nie-land said that during its prep-aration, he had been asked to de-lete derogatory information be-cause it was potentially damag-ing to the administration duringan election year. That informa-tion, he told the subcommittee in-vestigators, was that a volunteermember of the White House ad-vance team in Cartagena alsohad a prostitute in his room.

But in its own report, releasedthis year, the subcommittee saidthe changes in the inspector gen-eral’s report were part of the or-dinary editing process, and itfound no evidence to substantiateMr. Nieland’s claims. The WhiteHouse also denied that it had in-tervened in the preparation of thereport, and said it had investigat-ed the allegations against theWhite House volunteer but de-termined that they were not true.

In recent months, congression-al Republicans have cited Mr.Nieland’s statement as evidencethat the White House mishandledits investigation of the Cartagenaincident. Representative JasonChaffetz, Republican of Utah,

said in an Oct. 3 letter to theWhite House that he was con-cerned that Secret Serviceagents who were caught withprostitutes were “used as scape-goats to cover up what is po-tentially a broader problem.”

“Recently, I have received in-formation from credible sourcesthat records also identified aWhite House staff person aschecking in a female foreign na-tional as an overnight guest dur-ing the same trip and that stepswere taken by the administrationto cover up or deflect their in-volvement in the initial incident,”he said.

In 2013, according to depart-ment officials, Mr. Nieland ac-cused the inspector general’s of-fice of retaliating against him formaking those allegations when itsuspended him for two weekswithout pay after he circulatedphotographs that he had taken ofa female intern’s feet.

The intern asked to be trans-ferred out of the office after theincident. Mr. Nieland, accordingto the officials, said he had circu-lated the images as a joke.

When deputies in Floridastopped Mr. Nieland last May af-ter seeing him leave the buildingthey had under surveillance, heshowed them a badge, officialssaid, and told them that he waspart of an undercover humantrafficking operation with agentsfrom the Department of Home-land Security.

Mr. Nieland then reported toofficials in the inspector general’soffice that he had been stoppedby the police because of a brokentailgate light. Those officials con-tacted the sheriff’s office, whichtold them he had said he wasworking on an investigation.

When the Homeland Securityofficials said there was no suchinvestigation, sheriff’s deputiessearched for and found a prosti-tute who identified Mr. Nielandfrom a photograph and said hehad paid her for sex that night.Homeland Security officials thentried to question Mr. Nieland, buthe refused to respond to them orto a subpoena they served onhim.

On Aug. 9, he resigned, citinghealth problems. Four days later,he posted on Twitter that his ca-reer in government had come toan end.

“Thank you to all who congrat-ulated me on #retirement. On tothe next chapter. Lets fix theseproblems and keep #USA#1!” hesaid.

Investigator in Prostitution Scandal QuitsFigure in Secret Service Inquiry Is Implicated in Incident

A resignation bysomeone who hadclaimed a WhiteHouse cover-up.

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

A friend of the man accused ofdetonating two pressure-cookerbombs at last year’s BostonMarathon was convicted on Tues-day by a federal jury in Boston oflying to F.B.I. agents during theirinvestigation of the attack.

On the sixth day of delibera-tions, the jury found Robel Philli-pos, 21, guilty of two counts of ly-ing to F.B.I. agents when theyasked whether he had been in theUniversity of Massachusetts-Dartmouth dormitory room ofDzhokhar Tsarnaev, who ischarged in the bombings, as twoother friends removed potentialevidence.

The material removed includeda computer and a backpack con-taining fireworks tubes, some ofwhich had been emptied of theirpowder, the authorities said. “He

lied to agents when he could havehelped. He concealed when hecould have assisted,” Carmen M.Ortiz, United States attorney forthe district of Massachusetts,said Tuesday in a statement.

The two other friends whowere in Mr. Tsarnaev’s dormroom — Dias Kadyrbayev andAzamat Tazhayakov — are await-ing sentencing on obstruction ofjustice charges.

Mr. Phillipos’s defense wasthat he had not intentionally liedto F.B.I. agents — rather that hehad smoked so much marijuanaon the day the items were re-moved that he was unable to ac-curately answer their questions.

Michael Dukakis, a formerMassachusetts governor and the1988 Democratic presidentialnominee, testified on Mr. Philli-pos’s behalf, saying he had beena longtime friend of the family.

Mr. Phillipos, who was not ac-cused of removing the items fromthe room, faces up to eight yearsin prison for each of the twocounts. Lying to an F.B.I. agentusually carries a maximum sen-tence of five years in prison foreach count, but the jury deter-mined that he had lied during thecourse of a federal terrorism in-vestigation. Sentencing has beenscheduled for late January.

Federal prosecutors say Mr.Tsarnaev and his older brother,Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted twobombs on Boylston Street nearthe finish line of the BostonMarathon. Three people werekilled and more than 260 were in-jured. Mr. Tsarnaev was arrestedthree days later while his brother,Tamerlan, was killed in a shoot-out with the police. Mr. Tsarnaevhas pleaded not guilty to morethan two dozen federal charges.

Boston Bombings Suspect’s Friend Convicted of Lying

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The Revolving DoorIn at least 31 states and in Congress, elected

officials are banned from lobbying their former colleagues during a cooling-off period, which is intended to limit their ability to cash in on their contacts. Once they do start to lobby, they are required to register to disclose the work.

But even in states like Georgia, where the law prohibits state officials from registering as lobbyists or engaging in lobbying for one year after leaving office, a former attorney general made appeals almost immediately to his former office.

Mr. Baker, who left his post as the state’s attorney general in January 2011, wrote repeat-edly that year to the office of his successor, Sam Olens, and to Mr. Olens’s chief deputy, who had served in the same role during Mr. Baker’s ten-ure, to ask them to take actions that would bene-fit AT&T, which he had been hired to represent.

“hi Thurbert,” Jeff Milsteen, Georgia’s chief deputy attorney general, replied to one of the emails that Mr. Baker sent to him in 2011, as Mr. Baker sought his successor’s public support for the proposed merger between T-Mobile and AT&T. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”

The next day, Mr. Milsteen wrote back. “I’ve talked to Sam,” he said, “and he is fine with you adding him to the letter.”

A spokesman for Mr. Olens said that he saw nothing wrong with the exchanges because Mr. Baker was acting as a lawyer, not as a lobby-ist, and therefore was exempt from the one-year ban — which covers only lobbying of the legis-lature or the governor, not the attorney general.

But Mr. Baker declined, when asked by The Times, to identify a single legal filing concerning AT&T that he had been involved with. he wrote back to say that this definition of “lawyer” was too narrow.

“Lawyers are advocates,” he said.In Washington State, both Mr. McKenna,

the former attorney general, and Mr. Moran,

who had been his top deputy, were pressing their former colleagues within months of leav-ing their jobs last year, on behalf of clients in-cluding Microsoft and T-Mobile, emails show.

For Mr. McKenna, it was quite a turn-around. he had sued T-Mobile in September 2011 to block its proposed merger with AT&T. now, as a corporate lawyer, Mr. McKenna was setting up meetings with his successor, Mr. Fer-guson, to ask him to intervene with federal of-ficials on T-Mobile’s behalf in the inquiry over whether the company was seeking to prevent its competitors from acquiring what it thought was too large a share of the available federal wireless spectrum.

“I write today on behalf of the millions of consumers of wireless and mobile computing services,” said a letter, drafted initially by T-Mo-bile, but sent out by Mr. Ferguson in January, although it made no mention of the role played by the company or the former attorney general.

email records show a similar intervention by Mr. McKenna on behalf of Washington State-based Microsoft, with outcomes that brought praise from the corporate executives. “I know that Microsoft was very pleased that you made yourself available,” Mr. McKenna wrote to Mr. Ferguson last October. “Thank you again.”

Mr. Baker and Mr. McKenna are both regu-lars at the attorneys general retreats. As former attorneys general, they are also special guests at events of the Society of Attorneys General emeritus.

They have good company in the SAGe club: More than a dozen of the members are now law-yers and lobbyists for corporations, or work at plaintiff’s law firms that are seeking to secure commission-based contracts and then sue cor-porations on a state’s behalf.

The schedule of attorney general confer-ences for the coming year is laid out — after a pause for the elections — with events set for the Fontainebleau resort in Miami Beach, the Four Seasons hotel at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and the Grand Wailea resort on Maui, among many others. The invitations for corporate sponsorships are already being sent. n

Stacey Solie contributed reporting from Seattle. Griff Palmer and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

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Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General...Lobbyists, Bearing Gifts, Pursue Attorneys General With Few Disclosure Rules, State Officials Are Pressed on Inquiries and Policy