Republicans Target Kaul Over Bloomberg-Backed Environmental Lawyers
GOP lawmakers question outside funding for environmental fellows as Kaul calls the probe political theater.
Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at the Milwaukee Crime Lab in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
A panel of Republican state lawmakers grilled Democratic state Attorney General Josh Kaul Wednesday about the use of environmental prosecutors whose positions were funded by an outside foundation.
Starting in 2022, Wisconsin’s Department of Justice used two environmental legal fellows, known as special assistant attorneys general. Those attorneys were tasked with enforcing state environmental laws and regulations, and their salaries were paid for by the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at the New York University School of Law.
The most recent legal fellow was brought on in 2024 with a $90,000 annual salary.
The center got money from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which is funded by Michael Bloomberg, a major political donor and the former Democratic mayor of New York City.
According to the center’s website, it aims to help state attorneys general with “defending, enforcing, and promoting strong laws and policies in the areas of climate, environmental justice, environmental protection, and clean energy.”
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is not currently using one of the fellows, Kaul told state lawmakers.
The fellowship arrangement raises alarms about “undue influence” on a state office, said state Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, who chairs a newly created Special Committee on Oversight of the Department of Justice.
“Our Department of Justice in this state is not NASCAR to be plastered with sponsorship stickers furnished by special interests,” Felzkowksi said at the conclusion of the Wednesday hearing.
Wisconsin’s Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, launched the committee in December, about two months after Kaul announced he would seek a third term as attorney general.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, a Republican, is running again for attorney general this year after losing to Kaul in 2022.
After being subpoenaed by the Senate committee, Kaul said the timing of the committee’s actions were suspect.
“Clearly, this is a political show,” Kaul told lawmakers.
“It’s not a serious, substantive—” Kaul continued, before being cut off by Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee.
In February 2025, multiple farming interest groups sued Wisconsin’s Department of Justice over the use of the privately funded environmental prosecutor. That case is still open in Calumet County Circuit Court.
“Although exercising the powers of a state attorney, the SAAG (special assistant attorney general) is paid exclusively by the Center and its special interest backers— her services offered to the State of Wisconsin seemingly for ‘free,’” the lawsuit says. “But nothing in life is free.”
Several Republicans on the committee asked Kaul why his office used outside funding for the contracted positions, instead of asking the GOP-controlled Legislature to bankroll the positions as regular state employees.
“Let’s not pretend like the Legislature would have funded additional environmental positions,” Kaul retorted.
A Democratic member of the committee, Sen. Melissa Ratcliff of Cottage Grove, described Wednesday’s hearing as a “political farce” and a “witch hunt in an election year.”
“Environmental issues affect all of us,” Ratcliff said. “It’s not a partisan issue, and what the DOJ is doing is enforcing Wisconsin laws.”
During testimony before the committee on Tuesday, Paul Nolette, a Marquette University professor who studies state attorneys general, said it’s not unheard of for state attorneys general to use outside funding sources for legal positions.
“(It’s) not new, nor confined to any single policy area,” Nolette told the committee. “It’s not confined to any political party. It is a longstanding feature of state enforcement.”
Nolette said such arrangements “can be very beneficial” for states, although they do raise concerns about oversight.
“Legislatures have repeatedly chosen to respond not by banning all outside legal assistance,” Nolette told the committee. “But instead by establishing guardrails such as disclosure requirements, approval processes and auditing.”
Last year, Republican lawmakers introduced a proposal that would have limited the ability of the Wisconsin DOJ to use outside lawyers.
Those bills have not advanced to public hearings. Earlier this month, Wisconsin’s Assembly wrapped up its regularly scheduled business for the rest of the legislative session.
The oversight committee is due to release a report in April.
Republicans grill Wisconsin attorney general about foundation-funded attorneys was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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