A coalition of dairy farmers sued Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul of Wisconsin for hiring a special assistant attorney general (SAAG) allegedly paid by a third-party organization started by a left-wing donor.

The Wisconsin Diary Alliance, Inc., the Venture Dairy Cooperative and lobbyist Lane Ruhland filed the lawsuit on Feb. 20 after Kaul hired Karen Heineman, an environmental SAAG who the groups allege is paid exclusively for her work with the attorney general by New York University’s (NYU) School of Law State Energy and Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC). In their lawsuit, the groups also raised concerns regarding Heineman’s possible ties to the billionaire, climate activist and former Democratic New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who kick-started the university’s environmental center with a $6 million grant in 2017.

The lawsuit referenced a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report from May 2024 that claimed the SAAG’s $90,000 annual salary was “paid for by the [SEEIC] at New York University Law School.”

“The Attorney General and DOJ’s decision to create a SAAG position vested with power and then fill it with an attorney who is employed by a third-party special interest group violates Wisconsin law and is repugnant to public policy,” the lawsuit claims.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) allegedly entered into an agreement with NYU in 2024 to staff Heineman on environmental litigation, according to the Journal report.

The dairy groups question whether the state’s DOJ is “for sale” in their complaint, and argue that this arrangement gives the NYU Center and Bloomberg “unique, insider access and influence over [the] DOJ’s work on agricultural and other environmental issues.”

The groups claim that no other organization “has this kind of influence over DOJ” and that the alliance “directly interferes with the primary work” of the dairy organizations.

According to the lawsuit, “NYU requires that [the] DOJ use the SAAG’s services” to further the goals of “environmental justice” and “clean energy.” However, a SEEIC official claimed that all work completed by fellows is “managed by the respective government official,” in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The SEEIC has a wide reach, working with attorneys general offices across the country. During the first two years of President Donald Trump’s first term, the center supported over 300 actions that advance their policies.

“All work performed by the fellows is entirely identified and managed by the respective government official, not the Center,” SEEIC Energy Director & Deputy Director Jessica Bell told the DCNF in an email. “The fellowship program adds capacity for attorneys general, providing them with additional resources to be deployed at their discretion. The fellow’s sole duty of loyalty is to the attorney general in whose office they serve.”

Venture Dairy Cooperative states in the suit their organization’s goal is to cut down on “unnecessary regulations” and “bureaucracy” to “protect technology and innovation” for the dairy farmers in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, Inc. also expressed concern over “unnecessary regulations” that “do not protect natural resources.”

How specific farm processes might be interrupted by this arrangement isn’t clarified in the lawsuit, though the dairy groups agree that the Center and its fellows are “third parties” with interests that “are or may be adverse to the interests of many Wisconsinites” and their businesses. The suit also states that “violations of the complex regulations that govern these dairy operations often result in steep fines” and that even when violations are unfounded, the allegations stain the reputation of these businesses.

“Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who supports policies harmful to farmers, has embedded an attorney in the AG’s office, who has the power of the government behind them to go after farmers and carry out his agenda,” Ruhland told the DCNF in an email. “The agenda of his NYU center is to advance climate related litigation and this attorney is in an environmental unit that goes after farmers for simple paperwork violations.”

The SEEIC focuses on placing their legal fellows in attorneys general offices to advise them on environmental policies through promoting the center’s “research, reports, and events.” One blog post on the center’s website asserts that states and the country as a whole can’t “reach their climate goals without addressing the agriculture sector.” The authors claim that farmers can “reduce net greenhouse gas emissions” by adjusting their practices on “animal feeding” as well as “manure, irrigation, crop, and soil management.”

Kaul has settled with numerous dairy farms and companies in Wisconsin over how they dispose of wastewater, the settlements ranging from $30,000 to $250,000. The farms and companies were required to pay fines over pollution and loss of wildlife concerns caused by dairy farms’ wastewater.

“[If] I were to say one thing to Wisconsin farmers, I would say, call Josh Kaul and say, ‘You should not be taking money from out of state billionaires to come after those people who are the bedrock of the agricultural industry in Wisconsin,’” Republican Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany told the DCNF. Tiffany was raised on a dairy farm and received a degree in agricultural economics prior to his work in government, according to his congressional biography. He also told the DCNF that “the impact of taxes and regulations” he faced when running his river boat business were “the reason” he “ultimately ran for office.”

“We all want high environmental standards,” Tiffany said. “But it shouldn’t be at the cost of shutting down an economy, and it’s something we need to change. That’s why the Trump administration is really a breath of fresh air right now.”

Oramel H. Skinner, executive director of nonprofit Alliance For Consumers, told the DCNF that this case is only one example of a much broader problem.

“It’s really important to understand the scope of what they’re trying to do,” Skinner said, referencing left-wing activist groups and nonprofits that are often funded by “left wing ideological donors” like Bloomberg. 

“The real story here is that this is all part of a concerted effort to reshape American society,” Skinner said. He claimed that there is “an ideological agenda to reshape American society and the products that we can buy … in the name of climate change and climate justice.”

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