From Legal News Line:

A new study focusing on what one organization feels is an abuse of power was released Wednesday, naming the 10 worst state attorneys general in recent history.

Hans Bader, Counsel for Special Projects at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, wrote the report, which names Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal as the worst.

“The nation’s worst state attorney general is Richard Blumenthal, a tireless crusader for growing the power of his own office and spreading largesse to his cronies,” Bader wrote.

Bader focused largely on Blumenthal’s role in litigation against tobacco companies, starting with the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

“Wealthy trial lawyers across the nation received $14 billion nationally in attorneys’ fees under a $246 billion-plus settlement paid for primarily by smokers — the alleged victims of the very fraud that begat the settlement,” Bader said.

The report says Blumenthal steered $65 million in fees to his own allies and the associates of former Gov. John Rowland, later convicted of corruption in an unrelated matter.

It adds that Blumenthal went “through the motions” of soliciting letters from firms interested in representing the state in the lawsuit. Of the four he selected, one was his former firm, another’s partner was married to a partner in the first firm and a managing partner in the third served as counsel to Rowland.

Blumenthal is also bashed for a lawsuit he filed on behalf of several other states against out-of-state utilities for allegedly contributing to global warming.

“Blumenthal himself admitted that his goal was to ‘shake up and reshape the way an industry does business’ across the nation,” Bader wrote. “Since when is that the role of a state official?”

During an interview, Bader said that Blumenthal’s recent aggressiveness against insurance companies did not contribute to his ranking, but it may in future lists.

“That’s something that did not factor, but it may strengthen the case in the future,” Bader said. “In a sense, that’s the icing on the cake.”

Blumenthal did not return a message seeking comment.

Read the whole thing here.