Since becoming attorney general in January, Brenna Bird has been joining other Republican state attorneys general in attempting to intimidate companies into enacting policies conservative activists like.
At the beginning of February, Bird was one of the Republican attorneys general to sign a letter to Walgreens and CVS that threatened the pharmacy chains with unspecified legal action if they followed new FDA regulations and made a prescription drug commonly used in medical abortion more readily available. At first the companies appeared to be cowed into following the Republicans’ demands, but after pushback from the public and reproductive rights advocates, both companies announced they would follow the FDA regulations.
In July, Bird and most of her colleagues from the February letter, sent letters to the CEOs of the companies listed on the Fortune 100 list, threatening legal action if they don’t dismantle their companies’ current diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
“Companies that engage in racial discrimination should and will face serious legal consequences,” the letters stated, after claiming diversity, equity and inclusion programs are forms of illegal racial discrimination.
And two weeks ago, Bird joined yet another attempt by Republican AGs to intimidate private businesses. This time it was a recycled version of the letter to Fortune 100 leaders, but aimed at a more particular audience: the managing partners of the country’s 100 top law firms.
The fact that none of those firms are headquartered in Iowa didn’t stop Bird from signing the letter, any more than the fact that none of the Fortune 100 companies are Iowa-based did.
There is one notable difference between the July letter and the letter dated Aug. 29: the number of signatories. Bird was joined by 12 other attorneys general in trying to pressure the Fortune 100 into abandoning DEI programs. But only five AGs, including Bird, were willing to sign the letter to the major law firms. It’s possible the others were less willing to sign letters to law firms whose partners would know how empty their threats were, thereby risking embarrassment in front of prominent members of their own profession.
The four AGs who joined Bird in signing the letter were from Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky and Montana. None of the top 100 law firms have their headquarters in those states.
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