Faced with a political beating, AG Hood hammers his own foot
Attorney General Jim Hood hiring his buddy former Attorney General Mike Moore right now appears the political equivalent of Hood beating his own foot with a ball-peen hammer.
But hey, maybe I’m missing some grand strategy here.
The GOP-controlled Legislature is tripping over itself to strip Hood’s authority to hire outside lawyers and control state agencies’ litigation. They say Hood gives his cronies and campaign contributors lucrative sweetheart legal contracts.
So as he’s trying to fend off this legislation, what does he do? He hires Moore and former state Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson — both campaign contributors — to handle the state’s litigation against BP over the Gulf oil disaster. And he apparently hires them in some open-ended arrangement where they’ll put together a team of lawyers and get a cut of what the state gets, details to be worked out later.
Sun Herald
3/24/12
Magnolia Tribune
