In 2021, Pfizer and Amazon earned perfect scores on the Corporate Equality Index, a rating of how well companies treat their LGBT employees. Overseen by the Human Rights Campaign, which seeks to ensure that “LGBTQ+ people” are treated “as full and equal citizens … around the world,” the index grades companies on their “workplace inclusion” and “support for LGBTQ equality under the law.”
So it might surprise the Human Rights Campaign to learn that, in 2021, Pfizer and Amazon gave at least $1 million to a nonprofit that brings U.S. officials to Qatar, a country that criminalizes same-sex relations, bans displays of the pride flag, and has tortured LGBT people.
The companies were the two largest donors to the Attorney General Alliance (AGA), which bills itself as a “bipartisan forum” for state attorneys general. Funded largely by corporate sponsorships, the group pays for AGs to go on trips with lobbyists from the companies they regulate, raising concerns about conflicts of interest and pay-to-play influence peddling. The concerns have been the subject of multiple media reports within the past year, including by CNN and the Associated Press, which highlighted the group’s trips to France, South Africa, and Spain.
But according to a trove of documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, the junkets haven’t been confined to Europe and Africa. Since at least 2017, the AGA has also been organizing trips to Qatar, where more than 1 percent of the population lives in conditions of modern-day slavery.
AGs from both political parties have attended conferences in the gulf state—a hotbed of human trafficking and the home of Hamas’s political bureau—through the AGA’s “Rule of Law partnership with the Government of Qatar.” That’s how AGA director Karen White described the relationship between her group and the Arab monarchy in a text message inviting Maryland’s attorney general, Anthony Brown, to the Doha Forum in 2024.
Though Brown, a Democrat, couldn’t make it, the group’s past trips to Qatar have included former Arizona attorney general Mark Brnovich (R.), Nevada attorney general Aaron Ford (D.), former Utah attorney general Sean Reyes (R.), and former Hawaii attorney general Clare Connors (D.).
One of those trips—a $15,000 junket reported on Ford’s financial statement—took place in 2021, the same year Pfizer and Amazon each contributed at least $500,000 to the AGA, according to an internal document from the group. Those contributions account for nearly 20 percent of the revenue the AGA reported that year.
Critics say that companies use the AGA to wine and dine the officials tasked with investigating them, creating an air of impropriety that erodes public trust. The group’s ties to Qatar have raised an additional concern: that in the process of wooing American officials, the AGA’s donors are facilitating an influence campaign by a foreign country—one with values diametrically opposed to their own.
“The hypocrisy is out of this world,” said Tom Jones, the executive director of the American Accountability Foundation. “The next time one of these companies puts their name on a pride parade and slaps a rainbow sticker in your face, just remember that they pay millions to boost an influence operation that helps a country where homosexuality is illegal.”
While state AGs have little say on trade or foreign policy, the role is often a stepping stone to positions that bear on Qatar’s national interests. Eight current senators are former state AGs, and Bill Clinton’s first elected post was attorney general of Arkansas. Kamala Harris—who in 2023 thanked Qatar for brokering talks between Hamas and Israel—is a former attorney general of California.
In a pitch deck for corporate sponsors obtained by the Daily Wire, the AGA listed Clinton and Harris as “Noteworthy Former AGs.” Their trajectories are emblematic of what makes the AGA an attractive target for Qatar, said Natalie Ecanow, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noting that the gulf state is notorious for its influence campaigns.
“Surely, the Qataris look at the list of former state attorneys general who’ve risen to more powerful roles, including the presidency, and see this network as a good investment opportunity,” Ecanow said. “American companies that fund AGA should be aware of the group’s relationship with Qatar and understand that they’re joining the team of a country that regularly backs Islamists against the West.”
The AGA declined to answer detailed questions about its work with Qatar. The group’s deputy director, Tania Maestas, gave the Free Beacon a stock description of its international programs, which she said “reflect a commitment to strengthening justice systems and the rule of law.”
“AGA’s Rule of Law International Program connects state attorneys general with global government, nonprofit, and academic leaders to address critical issues like human trafficking, cybersecurity, organized crime, consumer protection, and data privacy,” Maestas wrote in an email. “It has cultivated critical international relationships through high-level legal and criminal‑justice exchanges that spans [sic] various countries which include Ireland, Mexico, multiple African nations, Italy, and Qatar, among others.”
It is not clear how much Pfizer and Amazon have contributed to the group since 2021, but both companies were included on the AGA’s 2023 list of corporate sponsors, along with Google, Microsoft, and Meta—all of which have perfect scores on the Corporate Equality Index. Other donors to the Qatari-linked group include white shoe law firms like DLA Piper, Cooley, and Jones Day.
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement to the Free Beacon, Pfizer said its “current engagement with the AGA focuses on efforts to combat counterfeit medicines and fentanyl-laced drugs,” but appeared to distance itself from the group’s work with Qatar, which was accused of exploiting migrant labor to build the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.
“We engage with organizations on both sides of the aisle with the primary purpose of advancing policies that support biopharmaceutical innovation and patient access to medicines and vaccines,” the company said. “Our support comes with the understanding that we are not going to agree on every issue every time with these groups.”
The AGA’s trips to Qatar are organized by Richard Smotkin, a registered foreign agent whose lobbying firm, Third Circle, is under investigation by the Shin Bet for allegedly bribing Israeli officials on behalf of Qatar. Smotkin also arranged a trip to Morocco for Scott Pruitt, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who served as Oklahoma’s attorney general and was a member of the AGA before joining the first Trump Administration.
The AGA has given Qatari officials direct access to state attorneys general. A 2021 delegation to Qatar, which included Nevada attorney general Aaron Ford (D.) and Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita (R.), met with the country’s minister of justice, Masoud bin Mohammed Al Ameri, to discuss human trafficking issues ahead of the 2022 World Cup. And at the AGA’s “Rule of Law Delegation” in Rome this year, a Qatari diplomat discussed “diplomacy, humanitarian and other foreign affair issues” with the assembled AGs, according to an itinerary for the event.
“By engaging in these high-level discussions, state attorneys general will reinforce their commitment to protecting the public, enhancing international legal frameworks, and fostering collaboration with both governmental and non-governmental organizations,” the itinerary said. “These efforts will contribute to more effective enforcement strategies and stronger protections for vulnerable populations worldwide.”
In the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks, the AGA also penned a letter to Qatar’s U.S. ambassador, Meshal bin Hamad Al Thani, that thanked the gulf state for serving as a “trusted intermediary” between Israel and Hamas.
“We do not believe that the events, as they have occurred, will lead to positive outcomes for any of the countries involved,” the group wrote in the letter, which was signed by Utah’s attorney general at the time, Sean Reyes, and former Washington, D.C., attorney general Karl Racine. “Qatar’s friendship and leadership is desperately needed during these dark days.”
The gulf state was later criticized for not putting enough pressure on Hamas in the course of ceasefire negotiations.
Qatar is not the only country that has used the AGA, which claims 46 AGs as members, as a conduit for foreign influence. In 2019 the group organized a trip to China that was attended by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R.)—who joined against the advice of his own staff—and included meetings with Chinese Communist Party officials. Other attendees included the then-attorney general of North Dakota, Wayne Stenehjem (R.), and the then-attorney general of New Mexico, Hector Balderas (D.), as well as executives from Microsoft and Juul.
Both companies have pledged to crack down on human trafficking and modern slavery. In 2020, Microsoft was accused of using forced Chinese labor in its supply chain.
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