Blumenthal: Chief Marketing And Press Officer, Not CEO

For some, the unprecedented public release of a sensitive document from the the personnel file of a Connecticut assistant attorney general raises the question of whether Richard Blumenthal or his cronies tried to improperly bury a critic who claimed that Blumenthal has been lying about serving in Vietnam for 18 or so years.

To me, what makes more sense is that the release of not one, but TWO copies of the document – which raises questions about retired Marine Major Richard Hine’s credibility – is that the AG office is overloaded with work, leaving plenty of room for sloppy lawyering and sloppy investigations, and that the attorney general is not in charge.

A read of the latest state auditors’ report clearly shows that no one is minding the store at the AG’s office.

As the reporter who spent more time covering the attorney general in the past four years than any other journalist, I think I can safely say that Blumenthal is more the marketing director and press officer, than the chief executive officer of his office. I have no idea who the real CEO is supposed to be.

Prior to the publication in May of a New York Times report revealing that Blumenthal has been telling tall war tales, Blumenthal probably spent half his time either speaking to reporters or helping his staff write press releases. His two full-time press people are forbidden from answering even routine questions on the record. Only Blumenthal can have his name attached to any comment from his office and until last May he made the actual press contacts.

That meant Blumenthal had given his private cell number and his home number to any reporter or blogger in the country who wanted it.  Reporters from weekly papers or 50 watt radio stations had easier access to the state’s top legal officer than to the local dog warden. That gives you a clue why the Connecticut media is so soft on Blumenthal.

That kind of access is unheard of in other states. Try calling the attorney general in New York? An out-of-state journalist has difficulties even talking to a press spokesman on or off the record there.

And considering that a couple of hundred times a year Blumenthal is out giving speeches, making local and national television appearances, appearing before Congressional hearings, and attending ceremonial functions, how much time and energy does he have to actually run his office?

And, while many of the issues Blumenthal investigates are important to Connecticut consumers, he clearly takes on HUGE cases that have little meaning for Connecticut, but give him maximum press exposure – at least when he announces the probe. Most of the time the public won’t be hearing from Blumenthal on how the investigation turned out.

The latest example of investigation for publicity was his June 21 announcement that he was heading up a “multistate” investigation, with as many as 30 states claimed to be participating, to look into what Google did with the tiny snippets of information it collected while producing its Google Map data. National and Connecticut media jumped on the story, giving him a giant PR coup even though the investigation – if it ever gets done – is likely to net little but will involve tons of work that could be better spent on issues more important to Connecticut consumers. It will fill up hundreds of boxes of documents at the UConn Law School, where the AG has an office with thousands of boxes from other investigations. If OSHA or a fire marshal ever took a good look there, Blumenthal would have trouble.

And as you can read in my latest update on this issue, Blumenthal has been incapable of providing the name of even ONE state that has asked him to head up this “important” investigation. And I have asked for that information weekly. So what does that mean? Does it mean that a few states had only expressed interest in the investigation and that Blumenthal is again exaggerating? Or is there a more benign explanation. I don’t know. But I do now, that once you have been caught lying repeatedly and then you don’t admit it, your word is no longer your bond as far as I am concerned – and I used to be one of Blumenthal’s biggest fans.

My suggestion is that Blumenthal should focus his full attention on the U.S. Senate race he is running (which I am sure he will win), resign as AG, and let someone who can actually prioritize and make decisions on what is important for Connecticut instead of what is important to Blumenthal’s image be the acting attorney general.

That would be a great precedent. There is an inherent conflict of interest for the Attorney General to run for higher office. Every legal action he or she takes, or doesn’t take, has political ramifications. And I think we know how politics can influence people.