New Mexico AG dodges questions in CNN story about luxury trips sponsored by corporate lobbyists

Yahoo

01-04-2025

If anyone knows how to generate a headline, it's New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
From his involvement in a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk's "unconstitutional power grab" to litigation challenging President Donald Trump's federal funding freeze, Torrez has garnered widespread media attention in his role as AG.
Torrez learned late last week not all press is good press.
The New Mexico Democrat became the poster boy of a CNN story about international trips sponsored by lobbyists for corporate giants, some that have been sued by states. But he managed to dodge a reporter's questions.
"New Mexico's attorney general is on his way into a public meeting," CNN's Kyung Lah says as she ambushes Torrez on the stairs of a gated building. So begins her investigative report about a bipartisan group of attorneys general who joined corporate lobbyists on an exclusive trip to South Africa in 2023.
"We gotta run," Torrez tells Lah, with a nervous laugh.
"We've reached out to your office. We hadn't heard back," Lah informs Torrez.
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The CNN report lists the names the attorneys general who participated in a trip to a South African resort in 2023. The full story is at www.cnn.com/2025/03/28/politics/video/state-attorney-general-trips-luxurious-invs
"Sure, let me do this, and then we can have a talk," Torrez says before he starts to walk away.
"Afterwards?" Lah asks; Torrez appears to nod his head in agreement. "OK, thank you, sir," she says.
Lah's report questions why Torrez and other attorneys general would accept invitations to join corporate lobbyists on a cost-covered trip to South Africa featuring a safari, a stay at a five-star hotel, wine tours and gourmet restaurants that serve Wagyu steaks.
'Companies the AG's have sued'
CNN had obtained text messages about the trip, including a guest list of more than a dozen attorneys general, whom Lah notes were the chief law enforcement officers of their states. But they weren't alone, she reports. A long list of corporate lobbyists and lawyers from some of America's most powerful companies, such as Amazon, Pfizer, TikTok and Uber, were also invited, "some of the same companies the AG's have sued," Lah says.
She reports the group that "put it all together" is the Attorney General Alliance, which is "funded by those private businesses."
"It calls donations 'sponsorships,' " she reports, adding, "the more corporations pay, the more they get."
The alliance began as the Conference of Western Attorneys General, which describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and bipartisan group of 15 western states and three territories.
Torrez serves as vice chairman of CWAG's executive committee.
A spokesperson for Torrez and what is now known as the New Mexico Department of Justice defended his participation in the trip.
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The corporate lobbyist-funded trip to South Africa for attorneys general featured a safari, a stay at a five-star hotel, wine tours and gourmet restaurants that serve Wagyu steaks. Watch the full story at www.cnn.com/2025/03/28/politics/video/state-attorney-general-trips-luxurious-invs
"Attorney General Torrez has been and will continue to be one of the most active consumer protection advocates in America and his participation in bipartisan, international events sponsored by a 501(c)(3) has had zero impact on his aggressive approach to protecting New Mexico's citizens from corporate abuse," Lauren Rodriguez said in a statement Monday.
"Every recent New Mexico Attorney General has participated in delegation trips that include training programs on a variety of critical issues including human trafficking, narcotics interdiction, money laundering and the regulation of the digital economy," she added.
Rodriguez said the nature of their work demands that attorneys general, both Republican and Democratic, learn from and build connections with international law enforcement partners and regulatory experts in other nations.
"The fact that Attorney General Torrez routinely sues private sector guests of the AGA is evidence enough that his participation in these events has had no impact on his steadfast commitment to protecting New Mexico's families," she said.
Rodriguez did not immediately respond to follow-up questions, including whether Torrez has participated in any other AGA-sponsored international trips or whether he planned to attend any in the future, including the AGA's annual meeting in June in the U.S. Virgin Islands or what is listed in its events calendar as a "chairs initiative" in Alaska in August.
'Focused on fostering collaboration'
Lah says in her report no Republican attorney generals agreed to interviews and she "caught up" with Torrez and other Democratic attorneys general at an unspecified public event.
"His office is part of a multistate case against Amazon," she reports. "The company had a representative invited to the AGA's South Africa trip."
Lah reports the alliance "would not talk to CNN on camera" but issued a statement saying "foreign delegations have a key goal of strengthening bipartisan relationships" and "educate all delegates on pressing civil and criminal issues."
In response to questions from The New Mexican about the corporate lobbyist-sponsored trips, Tania Maestas, deputy executive director and general counsel for the alliance, sent a statement Monday saying the nonprofit, which is over 40 years old, is "focused on fostering collaboration and providing educational trainings for our AG members and their staff on complex issues in law and public policy."
"Our foreign delegations strengthen bipartisan relationships within the attorney general community on issues that range from human trafficking, anti-corruption, money laundering, cybersecurity, as well as all types of organized crime," the statement continued. "Because our mission is educational, it centers around promoting the rule of law, training law enforcement, and exploring emerging legal issues."
The CNN report includes an interview with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who was among the elected officials who attended the South Africa trip and who was also at the event with Torrez.
"I understand how this game is played," Ellison tells the reporter. "I mean, us reporters and politicians [and questions about], 'Oh, you went on a trip,' and try to embarrass the politician. I understand that thing. But I will say that there is real work that we're doing that is important for our constituents. It has a lot to do with the fact we live in a globalized world."
Lah questions the ethics of such trips.
"I get it. I know where you're coming from," responds Ellison, who appears visibly annoyed. "I'm just telling you that we have substantive programs; our constituents are disadvantaged if we are not having meaningful conversations with international partners."
Ellison then tells Lah he'd like to "end the conversation right there." When Lah thanks Ellison for his time, he responds with a smile and says, "Whatever."
In the final 45 seconds of her report, Lah notes "New Mexico's AG did not stick around like he promised to respond to our questions."