Republican AG group holds personal retreat for business donors at Palm Beach resort

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Republican AG group holds private retreat for corporate donors at Palm Beach resort

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Anti- abortion activists show outside the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, June 13, 2022.

Evelyn Hockstein|Reuters

The Republican Attorneys General Association is hosting a personal retreat for its business donors at a high-end resort in Florida this weekend– on the heels of the GOP’s long-sought win in getting Roe v. Wade reversed by the Supreme Court.

Nearly 20 corporations and trade groups are stated to have RSVP ‘d to go to the three-day retreat, consisting of lobbyists and executives from CNBC’s business moms and dad Comcast, Match Group, General Motors, Johnson & & Johnson, Anheuser-Busch, Juul Labs, Koch Industries, Lowe’s and Walmart, according to a list of anticipated participants gotten by CNBC.

The personal event at the glamorous Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Florida– where the most inexpensive space on its site chooses around $830 a night– is arranged to begin Sunday and perform late Tuesday, according to a program evaluated by CNBC. The program, entitled “ERC & Victory Fund Retreat,” reveals an opening reception and supper Sunday followed by a stogie and scotch reception on Monday with optional trips to play golf, go to a tennis center or go deep sea fishing.

The retreat is to happen as the group looks for more contributions to ward off legal attacks from Democrats looking for to secure abortion rights. A June 24 fundraising e-mail stated “every donation will help the Republican Attorneys General combat the Democrats’ pro-abortion agenda and stand tall for life.”

The group, headed by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, didn’t react to duplicated ask for remark.

Lobbying giant Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, and the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, a service legal advocacy group, are likewise noted as set to go to the upcoming retreat.

Records reveal that, because the 2020 election cycle, practically all the corporations and trade groups noted to go to the personal retreat have actually, integrated, contributed over $4 million to the Republican chief law officers group. RAGA has actually raised over $4 million from all donors in the very first quarter of 2022 alone.

Of all the anticipated participants, just 7 reacted on the record to CNBC’s ask for talk about whether they still prepare to go to the event in Florida or whether they prepare to continue to support the Republican attorney general of the United States group, provided its advocacy in the reversing of Roe.

Pfizer was welcomed however has actually chosen not to go, spokesperson Sharon Castillo stated in an emailed declaration on Wednesday.

“Our engagement with RAGA has focused mainly on advancing healthcare policies related to patient safety and efforts to combat counterfeit medicines, and is completely unrelated to the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion,” she included.

PhRMA spokesperson Sarah Sutton, in an emailed declaration to CNBC, didn’t validate or reject whether it will be sending out anybody to the retreat.

“We engage with policymakers and organizations from both sides of the aisle, as well as bipartisan and nonpartisan organizations who all have a wide array of health care opinions and priorities,” Sutton stated. “We may not agree on every issue, but we believe dialogue is important to promoting a policy environment that supports innovation, a highly-skilled workforce and lifesaving medicines that are affordable for patients.”

Jeannine Ginivan, a spokesperson for General Motors, likewise didn’t validate or reject its presence at the retreat She kept in mind that GM has actually likewise supported the group’s competitor, the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

“General Motors has been a long time supporter of the Democratic Attorneys General Association and the Republican Attorneys General Association. GM believes that through continuous engagement with these organizations it has the best opportunity to build an understanding around issues important to GM and the auto industry,” Ginivan stated.

Shira Rawlinson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, stated in a declaration that the court’s choice on Roe v. Wade is not a concern they take a position on as an organization. “The Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform has ongoing relationships with state attorneys general on both sides of the aisle,” Rawlinson stated. “We will continue to work with those in the state AG community who support a fair legal environment for the business community.”

Clare Boyle, a spokesperson for Johnson and Johnson, didn’t validate or reject whether the business, that makes daily items such as Tylenol and Aveeno skin care items, would be participating in the retreat. She did, nevertheless, note that the pharmaceutical business isn’t a member of the GOP group’s leading subscription tier referred to as the “Victory Fund.”

Kaitlin Craig, a spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch, likewise didn’t validate or reject whether it was sending out anybody to the retreat. She sent out a declaration stating the beer maker supplies reproductive health advantages to workers, consisting of birth control and fertility treatments.

“While we defer to Congress, state legislatures, and the courts when it comes to policy on this issue, we will continue to support our employees and their dependents through our company-sponsored health care plans and programs,” Craig stated.

Though it’s uncertain just how much each corporation contributed to go to the occasion, a summary within the group’s 2022 subscription package recommends it might cost approximately $250,000 A member of the ERC, or Edmund Randolph Club, called for among America’s starting dads and the seventh guv of Virginia, need to contribute $125,000 a year. That subscription consists of “unlimited passes to annual Victory Fund and ERC Retreat,” according to the 2021 subscription summary. Victory Fund members need to contribute a minimum of $250,000 to the group.

Since the court’s choice to reverse the landmark abortion judgment last month, Comcast and Match Group stated they will cover travel expenses for workers who need to take a trip out of state for abortions. Match Group, a business that owns dating websites such as Tinder and OkCupid, just recently decided to suspend contributions to both the Republican and Democratic chief law officers groups.

Comcast has yet to openly state whether it will stop contributions to either group because the judgment and didn’t react to duplicated ask for remark.

In an e-mail to CNBC, Match spokesperson Vidhya Murugesan didn’t deal with the RAGA occasion her business is set to go to. Instead, she sent out CNBC a truth sheet that highlights the business s health-care advantages. It states the business “will fight all legal requests or subpoenas for any employee data or user data related to abortion or LGBTQIA+ rights.”

Mississippi’s Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who is noted on the Republican group’s site as one of the group’s allied AGs, guaranteed a quick in 2015 submitted in assistance of reversing Roe v. Wade.

In it, Fitch argued that the court must “consider the policy and cultural shifts that have occurred in the 30-50 years since Roe and Casey and argues that the precedent set in these cases ‘shackle states to a view of facts that is decades out of date,'” according to Fitch’s site.