Attorney/Blogger Libby Bakalar doesn't think that there is any conflict of interest between her blogging/social media/lobbying activities and her work as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alaska.
I beg to differ. As I explained in previous blog posts, the citizens of Alaska have a right to have neutral, non-biased, hard-working attorneys representing our interests - ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO ELECTION ISSUES.
Note: For a while in 2017 or 2018, Ms. Bakalar was "officially" assigned to the Transportation section, but the AK Employee Directory lists her once again as being with the Labor and State Affairs section. I'm not sure she ever really left the State Affairs section because she has continually been working on election and ballot issues. She worked on the Stand for Salmon ballot initiative litigation. And she is a member of the Election Policy Work Group which has been meeting periodically for the last couple of years.
Why should Alaskans get stuck with someone as controversial as blogger Libby Bakalar representing us in important issues such as ballot initiatives, voter fraud, and contested elections etc?
Here is a listing of the types of legal matters the "Labor and State Affairs section" of the Attorney General's office handles. It is THE section for important and politically sensitive cases:
Does anyone trust Ms. Bakalar to fairly represent all Alaskans? Read her blog and look at her social media accounts before answering.
Libby claims her social media/blogging activities and work activities do not collide. She is wrong.
You can't post all day long on Twitter and Facebook and Wordpress about your strongly held political views and expect the public to believe that you are able to work hard and do a good job on behalf of ALL Alaskans as a Assistant Attorney General, especially when you are assigned to the Labor and State Affairs section.
Resistance Blog Post:
Libby just wrote a new blog post patting herself on the back for not standing or applauding for Kirstjen Nielsen, the Secretary of Homeland Security for the US, when Libby was in the audience for a speech given by Ms. Nielsen.
Ms. Bakalar carefully notes that "The details of how I got there and what she was talking about aren't important, because her speech wasn’t about what she was actually doing at the time: Enforcing a monstrous policy separating children from their families at the Southern border."
Of course Libby doesn't want to reveal what Ms. Nielsen was speaking about and to whom...so I will explain.
Secretary Nielsen was giving a speech to the National Association of Secretaries of State. Here in Alaska, we don't have a Sec of State; our Lt. Governor oversees our elections.
So, Libby was likely attending this NASS conference in Philadelphia in her capacity as an AAG assigned to represent our Lt. Gov on election issues. (She noted on one of her social media accounts about being in Philly for a work event during this exact same time frame.) (Last summer, AK's Lt Gov was Byron Mallot; NASS's website has been updated recently to reflect that Valerie Davidson is our new Lt. Gov.)
Secretary Neilsen gave the Keynote speech about the importance of election security. "Election security is national security."
Ms. Bakalar "protested" Ms. Neilsen by not clapping or standing and she "shamed" her seat mate for clapping. Nice. I guess Ms. Bakalar is not in favor of election security.
Can someone tell me why the State of Alaska sent Ms. Bakalar to this important conference?
Was she really and truly the best choice to attend this conference on behalf of the State of Alaska?
My opinion? Of course not!
Also - when you are attending a work event as a representative of the State of Alaska, you should not be "shaming" a fellow attendee for their decision to stand up and applaud the Director of Homeland Security.
NOTE: If Ms. Bakalar were an Asst Public Defender, I would not care as much because she would be representing individuals in criminal cases. But when you are working for the Attorney General's office and representing the people of the State of Alaska in ELECTION matters, you need to be professional and politically neutral.
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