Group questions Arkansas attorney general’s ethics with complaint

The 65 Mission, a nonpartisan group, filed an ethics grievance in opposition to 15 state attorneys basic, together with Arkansas’ Leslie Rutledge, on Wednesday.

• The group claims the AGs used their places of work to advance unfounded claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

Why it issues: With the midterms simply weeks away, the narrative that the final basic election was rigged persists, and research present that misinformation concerning the election system is eroding the general public’s confidence in democracy.

Context: Rutledge was a part of a coalition of 10 AGs that filed an amicus transient in November 2020 urging the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to reverse a choice by the Pennsylvania Supreme Courtroom permitting mail-in ballots acquired three days after Election Day 2020 to be counted.

• Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin have been key states that helped resolve the election for President Joe Biden.

Particulars: Every of the 15 complaints filed by the 65 Mission are on the state degree — in Rutledge’s case, with Arkansas’ Workplace of the Committee on Skilled Conduct.

• Different states the place AGs acquired ethics complaints have been: Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.

What they’re saying: “Ms. Rutledge performed an essential function — lending the authorized career’s credibility to the harmful trigger and utilizing public workplace to amplify false assertions and frivolous claims that lacked any foundation in legislation or truth,” in line with the grievance.

• A spokesperson for Rutledge shared by way of electronic mail: “We’re conscious of a grievance filed in opposition to 15 Republican attorneys basic.”