Alaska news organizations fail to cover Dunleavy’s mutual free legal aid society for himself, AG, Lt. Gov.

Attorney General Tregarrick Taylor has resurrected the mutual legal aid society that met statewide opposition when Dunleavy floated it during the Kevin Clarkson era of justice.

All of the public comments submitted to the state in 2019-2020 were opposed to the Dunleavy plan on legal and ethical grounds.

A legislative legal opinion concluded that the idea of state officials bestowing free legal help on each other was a violation of state law and unconstitutional.

Taylor was the assistant AG who put his name on this proposal four years ago and he remains a true believer. This is his new plan. It is almost identical to the old plan.

Taylor’s publicity office, which will soon top the 100 mark in 2023 press releases, did not bother to write about this self-serving proposal that would allow three top state officials to give state-funded legal aid to each other.

Under the resurrected Dunleavy/Taylor plan, if an ethics act complaint is filed against the governor, the lieutenant governor or the attorney general, they will be allowed to use public funds to defend themselves, even if they violated the ethics law.

The Department of Law will provide free legal representation for the governor or lieutenant governor if the attorney general declares that they deserve it. The department will provide free representation to the attorney general if the governor finds it justified.

The scratch-my-back conflict of interest is obvious and unaddressed. The AG owes his or her job to the governor and will always be inclined to sign off on free legal help, regardless of circumstances. Likewise, the governor will always want to keep the AG happy unless he or she wants a new one.

Taylor claims that the plan will cost nothing.

The way that bad policies get enacted is that they slip by when no one is paying attention. Alaska news organizations aren’t paying attention to this one.

Current rules allow the state to pay for legal expenses, but the employee has to pay it back unless he or she is exonerated of the charges. There is no need to change those rules.

The Alaska Public Interest Research Group submitted a list of good questions that the attorney general should answer.

Here is the FAQ from Taylor’s department, which does not reveal that these proposed regulations are recycled, why they were abandoned or the obvious conflicts of interest. The AG works for the governor and is not a disinterested party. The lieutenant governor is also an underling of the governor.

Taylor claims that the conflict of interest created when a person in his position is asked to decide whether his boss deserves free legal help from the Department of Law is not a conflict of interest.

You can submit written comments on the proposed regulations to Stacie Kraly at Box 110300, Juneau, AK 99811-0300. Or send email comments to ethics.regulation.public.comments@alaska.gov by Sept. 11.

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