This time by about 15 percent.

As the Attorney General for North Carolina, I’m your voice to push back, and I just did:

Under state law, Duke is allowed to be a monopoly, but it’s not allowed to set its own rates. That’s done by the Utilities Commission, so that’s where I’m making our case.

We’ve been building this case for months, it’s about 700 pages and you can read it online, but here are the two biggest parts.

First, let’s talk money.

For the average family, Duke’s request would mean going from paying about $140 a month to about $170 over the next couple years.

A major piece of this is the profit rate. By law, Duke is allowed to earn a profit, but only as much as it needs to meet the growth in the demand for energy.

Right now, Duke can have a 10.1% profit, which brings in about $2 billion each year in net income and makes it one of the most profitable utilities in the country.

Now it’s asking to raise its profit to 10.95%.

What our case does is drill all the way down on what Duke really needs to meet demand growth - and we think they overshot the mark.

So we’re asking for a reduction in their profit margin to 7.4%, which would save the average family a couple hundred bucks a year.

The second big part of our case is data centers.

We’re asking the Utilities Commission to create a separate rate class for them and other very large energy users.

Why?

Because they’re different.

They use massive amounts of energy, they strain the whole system, and going into this new era we need specific protections to make sure families don’t see rates spike because of gigantic new users on the grid.

The Utilities Commission gets to make the ultimate decision, but we’ve got a strong case to bring rates down and I’ll keep you posted.

Our new case against the Department of Education

We just sued the Department of Education on behalf of thousands of student nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, and other health care workers across North Carolina.

Here’s why:

Last year - in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act - Congress created new limits on financial aid for students.

Whether you agree with that policy or not, Congress is allowed to do that.

It set a higher financial limit for “professional” degrees, because those tend to cost more.

Congress can do that, too.

Then it listed examples of the degrees that count as “professional,” to be clear about what was covered.

And it can do that, too.

But then it went to the Department of Education to enforce the new limits, and the department decided to make up its own rules that limited the definition of “professional.”

According to the department, that excludes nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, and lots of other health care workers, which means they won’t be treated as “professionals” for their student loans.

And that, it can’t do.

Once Congress says, “Here’s who’s eligible, and it includes nurses, physician assistants, etc.,” the Department of Education doesn’t get to say, “Nah, we’ll do our own thing, and it doesn’t include those folks.”

That’s against the law. Departments only have the power Congress gives them. They don’t get to turn around and contradict it. Redefining “professional” is the department taking power away from Congress, and the effect would really hurt our state.

In NC, 93 of 100 counties have a primary care shortage. That’s why nurse anesthetists are the ones primarily giving anesthesia in 80 percent of rural communities.

These are the exact people this new definition would push out.

As Attorney General, I have a lot of legally complex cases. This isn’t one of them. Congress was clear, and I think we’re going to do well in court.

And to all the nurses and PAs and PTs out there - thank you for what you do. I’m sorry these guys decided to go after you like this, but we have your back, and they’re about to see us in court.

Best,

AG Jeff Jackson

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P.S. - Marisa and I were proud to join Avery for her end-of-first-grade celebration last week. She read us what she wrote to her future self. Zoom in and you can read it, too. She had a great year, and we really appreciate her teachers for being so welcoming and kind.

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Our office handles big stuff: fentanyl trafficking, monopoly cases (like Ticketmaster), robocalls, price-fixing, FEMA. All told, we’ve got about 10,000 active cases.

But the case I’ve heard the most lately - by far - concerns a local wedding photography company.

Which tells you how badly this company treated people.

I give you, Holly Christina Photography.

Nearly 200 couples are out about $1m. Here’s what happened.

This company sold wedding photo and video packages that cost about $6,000. They used some version of the same sales line over and over: “Better hurry up and book - we’ve only got one spot left!”

But it wasn’t the last spot.

Turns out, they were double- and triple-booking weddings on the same day. Two dates had five weddings booked for one day.

Sometimes, a completely different photographer would show up.

Sometimes, the right photographer would show up, and they’d take pictures - but never hand them over. And then they’d keep the deposit, which was thousands of dollars.

Then in January, the company shut down. No refunds. And they kept taking deposits right until they closed.

When they closed, dozens of couples were less than 90 days out from their wedding, which meant they had to scramble to find a new photographer without the deposit money they already paid.

That’s when our office got an avalanche of complaints. At first, it was about 100, then 150, now we’re over 200.

So we immediately opened an investigation, gathered a lot of strong evidence from the couples who had been scammed, and took this company to court.

The case is still pending, but we just got a good court order that goes into effect immediately.

It does three things.

First, they have to hand over every photo and every video they’re sitting on. All the edited galleries, all the raw footage, everything. Within 30 days.

Second, all their assets are frozen while the court figures out how to make it right with these couples.

Third, they’re not allowed to provide any photography or videography services.

And that’s just a partial ruling while the full case is still pending. We’re going back to court for refunds, civil penalties, and a permanent shutdown.

Why are we making this case a priority?

Because either we live in a state where you can mistreat people, or we don’t. These couples will never get their wedding day back. But they should know we’re making their fight our own and every business that serves the public should know we stand with consumers when they’re mistreated.

Here’s our video explaining the situation in detail, and I’ll keep you posted.

You’ve been Paying Illegal Chicken Prices

We just stopped a hidden system that made you pay more for chicken, pork, and turkey.

It lasted years. Here’s how it worked.

The biggest meat producers in the country, every week, were sending private data on their prices and production volume to a company called Agri Stats.

Then Agri Stats turned around and sent reports back to those same producers showing exactly where each company ranked against its competitors - and where they could raise prices.

And none of that information was public. Grocery stores didn’t have it. Restaurants didn’t have it. Just meat producers.

In other words, companies that were supposed to be competing against each other were using Agri Stats to compare private pricing information to coordinate higher prices.

That’s illegal.

If all these meat producers had sat in a back room and passed around their internal pricing data, everyone would understand the problem. Using an outside company to do it for them doesn’t make it legal.

And the scale was massive. We’re talking roughly 90% of chicken, 90% of turkey, and 80% of pork - so whether you were buying at a grocery store or a restaurant, it was almost all downstream of this scheme to make you pay more.

So we teamed up with five other AGs - from both parties - and USDOJ, and we took them on.

Now we can announce that we have officially brought this practice to an end.

We’re getting a court order that blocks them from doing this and, because we really don’t trust them, there’s going to be a court-ordered monitor looking over their shoulder to make sure they don’t try it again.

There are also class action lawsuits to go after the money that the producers overcharged, so there’s more accountability than just our effort, but our effort means we have cut off this pipeline of secret information that was built to raise prices on you, and that never should have existed in the first place.

Here’s our video which goes into more detail:

We just announced another big case this week, but this email is already long enough so I’ll save it for next week. Wishing you well and have a great week.

Best,

Jeff Jackson

Attorney General, North Carolina

P.S. - Last weekend, I told Avery and Owen I had a surprise for them after my monthly drill with Army National Guard…

… and it was tacos!

Not sure what they were expecting, but we had a great dinner while Marisa was out of town.

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This is an EpiPen. It’s for people with severe allergic reactions, the kind you can die from.

If you feel a reaction starting, you’re supposed to grab one, inject it into your thigh, and call 911. It’s supposed to keep you alive until the ambulance arrives.

But:

The company that sells them, we believe, was breaking the law to keep prices high.

In 2007, a two-pack of EpiPens cost about $100 and by 2016, it was $600.

That’s six times the price in nine years.

Here’s how we believe they did it:

First, when a cheaper, generic version was about to hit the market, they paid the middlemen who decide which drugs get covered by insurance to keep the generic off the list. (PBMs strike again…)

Second, they used the patent system to delay competitors from even getting to market.

And third, they ran marketing campaigns making misleading claims about the generics that did exist.

The combined effect of all this meant less competition, which let them charge higher prices.

So we went to the company, Mylan, and said, “We think we have evidence you’ve been breaking the law and overcharging people in North Carolina, including the state itself.”

And now we’ve announced an $11m dollar settlement with them. A chunk of money is going back to state taxpayers because a lot of these EpiPens were purchased with state money for people who otherwise couldn’t have paid for them. That’s why I’m standing with Treasurer Brad Briner in the photo above - the Treasurer runs the State Health Plan, which got a payment from our settlement.

Two important notes on this:

First, our $11m was just for NC, other states are doing their own lawsuits, and there was also a major class action lawsuit. So there’s more accountability than just our effort.

Second, in addition to the $11m, the company must now lower out-of-pocket costs for people buying the generic version going forward - and that’s for everyone across the country.

Good win.

Our big TV case

I gave you first part of this story a month ago. Quick recap and then the latest.

The biggest TV company in America is called Nexstar.

It owns about 200 stations, including Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates all across the country.

Nexstar is trying to buy the third-biggest TV company, called Tegna.

The combined company would be - by far - the largest TV company in American history. It would reach 80% of American homes. No single company has ever controlled that much broadcast television.

In addition to giving one company enormous control over the local news Americans watch, the merger would also likely mean higher cable bills and layoffs in local newsrooms.

No big mystery how this would work.

Let’s say Nexstar goes from owning your local Fox station to also owning your local CBS station. You would have fewer choices, so they could charge more. They would also have more people in the same area doing reporting, so they could cut back on reporters.

This is especially important to North Carolina because we’d be the third-most impacted state in the country. Nexstar and Tegna both have a major presence here:

There’s a strong argument this is illegal media consolidation.

The federal government has a standard way of measuring whether a merger concentrates too much power in one company. When a merger pushes concentration past a certain threshold and increases it by more than 100 points, it’s presumed illegal. In every single NC market affected by this deal, the merger doesn’t just cross the legal threshold, it obliterates it:

So a few weeks ago, I joined a bipartisan coalition of AGs and we filed a lawsuit to block the merger.

But then - as I told you at the time - things took a turn.

The moment we filed our lawsuit, Nexstar hit the gas to try to close the deal before a court could stop them. Less than 24 hours after we filed, the FCC, which would normally block a merger like this, suddenly waived its rules and let it happen. Then USDOJ gave its approval.

For all of that to happen in 24 hours is very strange.

Then Nexstar tried to declare victory and said the deal was done.

So we filed an emergency motion that basically said: “Hey judge, they’re trying to get around you. They know the law isn’t on their side, and the last thing they want is for you to hear our case. That’s exactly why you should. Let’s hit pause before you let them become the biggest local TV company in American history.”

Well, the judge just ruled, and we won - the emergency motion, not the whole case.

That means the court issued a preliminary injunction freezing the merger. Nexstar and Tegna have to keep operating as separate companies, with separate management and separate newsrooms, while our case plays out.

Now we get to make our full case, and we’ve got a strong one.

Another good win - but this case is just beginning.

All for now. Working on some interesting stuff to report to you next week.

Best,

Jeff Jackson

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Which means you’ve probably already heard that we won our case against Ticketmaster / Live Nation. The jury found them to be an unlawful monopoly.

I wanted to break the news to you, but instead I’ll give you the inside story on how the case went down. It’s a good one.

Quick recap:

I was part of a big group of AGs bringing this case, but the lead partner was USDOJ. We worked together for about two years to get ready for trial. This was going to be one of the biggest antitrust cases in years, which meant all hands on deck. A massive effort.

Eight weeks ago, the jury trial began.

The first week went great. Good witnesses, good evidence, and a clear picture for the jury of how Live Nation and Ticketmaster were using their monopoly to rip people off.

Then USDOJ dropped a bomb.

They had cut a secret deal with Live Nation, and they were bailing on the case.

The deal was terrible. It was an obvious sweetheart deal that even USDOJ’s lead attorney in the courtroom wasn’t aware of until it was announced - which means the deal didn’t happen in the courthouse, it happened in Washington. It was basically a huge favor to Ticketmaster / Live Nation.

Then USDOJ tried to pressure the AGs to join their deal. They gave us 24 hours.

The vast majority of us said, “No thanks, we’re going to finish the trial.”

Which was the right decision, but risky. It meant we had to scramble to fill the hole in our case left by USDOJ, which had been handling most of the witnesses.

So we pooled our resources, reshuffled the workload, and hit the gas.

For the next six weeks, we marched the jury through a huge amount of evidence showing that this monopoly had crushed the competition, then used your lack of choices to raise prices on you and treat performers unfairly.

By the closing argument, we felt pretty good, but you never know what a jury will do.

The jury deliberated for four very long days, then rendered their verdict:

Unanimous on all counts, for us.

A knockout win.

Now comes the remedy stage. The judge decides, but we get to make arguments, and we will. We believe the company should be broken up and pay a serious fine for overcharging you for years. More on that soon.

For now, I just want to offer real gratitude to the Republican and Democratic AGs who stuck with this case and finished it. That decision is going to matter to consumers and performers for a long time.

Called before the House Oversight Committee

About a month ago, a member of my staff poked her head into my office.

“You’ve been summoned before the House Oversight Committee.”

This wasn’t a big surprise. It’s a wide-ranging committee that’s been highly active and it made sense they’d call me in at some point.

They’re not shy about having a partisan agenda, but they also serve a legitimate oversight function, and it’s my responsibility to answer their questions honestly.

They told us the topic was Medicaid fraud, so they called me and the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to testify.

Two different jurisdictions are in play here. Our office goes after Medicaid provider fraud. NCDHHS goes after recipient fraud.

And when it comes to provider fraud, the numbers are clear: our team is one of the best in the country. We bring big cases at a steady clip. Just last month our office convicted five fraudsters who were then ordered to repay $12.7 million after billing for scores of medical services that never happened.

They quizzed us for about three hours, threw plenty of fastballs, but for the most part they played fair and it went well.

One bonus from the day:

Owen told me a week earlier that he was learning about checks and balances at school, so I told him about my upcoming testimony - and he asked if he could come. I said sure, and he sat in the second row and watched me testify. It made for a great conversation on the drive home.

More to tell you, but this is getting long. Wishing you all the best, and I’ll update you on a few other things next week.

Best,

Jeff

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If you remember, last week I told you that our antitrust case against them had hit a rough patch.

The USDOJ, which had been leading the case alongside 40 state AGs, suddenly cut a cheap deal behind closed doors and bailed.

On their way out the door, they said we could join their deal if we wanted. I declined. So did the vast majority of the other AGs. We told Ticketmaster we’d see them back in court, and the trial resumed a few days later. It’s still going on, and I’ll report back on it soon.

Nexstar + Tegna = Largest TV Company Ever

Now from one antitrust case to another.

We started this case last week. My bet is you haven’t heard about it, but it’s a big one.

Here’s the situation:

The biggest TV company in the country is trying to buy one of its biggest competitors. If it does, it’s going to raise prices, downsize a lot of local news, and control a huge chunk of the news our country sees every day.

The big company here is called Nexstar. You probably haven’t heard of it, but it owns about 200 stations, including Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC stations all across the country.

The second biggest TV company is Sinclair. It’s got about 180 stations.

The third biggest is Tegna, and that’s the one Nexstar is trying to buy. If it does, it will become the biggest TV company in American history and will reach 80% of American homes.

No single company has ever controlled that much of American broadcast television, and North Carolina would be the second-most impacted state in the country, especially in Charlotte, Greensboro, and our northeastern counties.

Take a look:

Why does this matter?

Say Nexstar owns both the Fox and CBS stations where you live. Now they can go to your cable company and say, “Pay our new price or we pull both channels.” Your cable company is going to pay. And you’re going to see it on your next bill.

Nexstar knows that once it buys out one of its biggest competitors, if you want to watch local news or football on the weekend, you’re going to have to pay more.

Nexstar has already told its investors that if this deal goes through, it’s going to make $135m by raising prices and another $165m by finding “synergies,” which is another way of saying, “laying off local reporters.”

Higher bills are not the only consequence. When Nexstar buys a competitor in the same city, it “consolidates” the newsrooms, effectively removing one of them. The company has an internal name for this: the “Consolidation Playbook.”

In Indianapolis, for example, Nexstar owns both the FOX and CBS affiliates. Two stations that are supposedly competitors now share the same anchors, the same reporting team, the same news director, and the same website.

If all this sounds like it should trigger some antitrust laws, it does.

The federal government has a standard index to measure whether a merger concentrates too much power in one company. The USDOJ and the FTC have used it for decades. Courts rely on it.

When a merger pushes concentration past a certain threshold and increases it by more than 100 points, it’s presumed illegal. In every single NC market affected by this deal, the merger doesn’t just cross the legal threshold, it obliterates it.

So last week, I joined a number of AGs and we filed a lawsuit to block the merger.

Then things took a quick turn.

As soon as we filed, Nexstar hit the gas to try to close the deal before a court could stop them.

It was remarkable. Less than 24 hours after we filed our lawsuit, the FCC, which would normally block a merger like this, suddenly waived its rules and let it happen. Then the USDOJ reportedly dropped its investigation and basically said, “Go right ahead.”

For all of that to happen in 24 hours is very strange. Now Nexstar is declaring victory and saying the deal is done.

Not so fast.

We have now filed an emergency motion that basically says, “Hey judge, they’re trying to get around you. They know the law is not on their side, and the last thing they want is for you to hear our case. That’s exactly why you should. Let’s take a breath before they’re allowed to walk off the field as the biggest TV company in American history. Let’s see if these antitrust rules were written for a reason, because I bet they were.”

We used more formal language than that, but that’s the gist of it.

Our motion is pending right now. Will update you soon.

Best,

Jeff

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Last year, I told you we were suing Ticketmaster/Live Nation for running an illegal monopoly over the live entertainment industry.

When those two companies merged about 15 years ago, they gained control over the three big pieces of the industry: the venues, the artists, and the tickets.

If you control all three - congrats! - you’re a monopoly.

Which is not technically against the law. What is against the law is using your monopoly power to drive out competition and exploit your customers’ lack of choices to hike up prices.

Which is exactly what they did.

So after months of preparation, 40 state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice went to trial together - one of the biggest antitrust cases in years.

Our first witness owned a venue and testified that Live Nation threatened to retaliate against him unless he accepted their terms. Our second witness said the same thing.

We were rolling.

Then, early Monday morning, USDOJ suddenly announced that they had privately negotiated a deal with Ticketmaster/Live Nation.

And they were bailing on the case. Mid-trial.

Forty attorneys general found out at the same time, and so did USDOJ’s own lead trial attorney - the guy who had been in the courtroom presenting the case.

Which means this deal wasn’t made in the courthouse - it was made in D.C.

Then USDOJ gave us 24 hours to join the deal.

Here was my answer:

Absolutely not. The deal is terrible. It’s barely a slap on the wrist and does nothing to address the core issue: We need more competition in this market to bring down prices, and that means addressing Live Nation’s total control over Ticketmaster.

I’m going to keep fighting for that outcome, and I expect the majority of AGs to do the same - including Republicans and Democrats.

Here’s our video about this whole episode, and I’ll update you soon.

Watch Video

Back in court with FEMA

Back in December, I told you we won a major lawsuit against FEMA.

It was $200 million for North Carolina, and the court made it clear FEMA had to pay.

But FEMA refused. They defied the court order.

So we took them back to court, and last week, we won again.

“But c’mon, what’s going to make them pay this time?”

Good question. The court created a strict timeline: Within three weeks, FEMA has to show steps proving compliance. If they fail at any point, we’ll be right back in front of the same judge.

The judge acknowledged FEMA is in a shutdown with a staffing shortage - and a recent leadership change with Kristi Noem’s departure - but said that wasn’t a defense. These funds are owed, and FEMA must pay.

Sometimes people ask, “What if the federal government just refuses to obey the court?”

I used to say, “That hasn’t happened yet, but if it does, we’ll take it seriously - and I bet the court will, too.”

Well, now it has happened. We took it seriously, and so did the court.

I’ll report back as soon as the money starts flowing.

166 brides & grooms

Imagine how badly you have to screw up as a wedding photographer to get the attention of your state’s attorney general.

I give you, Holly Christina Photography.

At least 166 couples are out approximately $750,000. This company sold wedding photo and video packages costing up to $7,000 by using high-pressure tactics, telling customers, “You’re getting the last spot. Hurry up and book.”

But it wasn’t the last spot. They were often double- and triple-booking weddings on the same day.

So now we have couples who paid thousands and never got their photos - and others scrambling to find a new photographer a few weeks before their wedding, without the money they already paid.

We asked victims to contact our office and promptly got 166 complaints, with more coming in. We did a rapid investigation, found plenty of evidence, and now we’re suing the company and its two owners. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Lighthouse Fund

Long email, quick request:

The Ticketmaster video above is exactly what I’d love for people across the state to see. The Lighthouse Fund exists for that purpose - so we don’t have to wait until the next election to reach voters. The fund helps us push our videos out to independent voters, which is a great way to build support over time.

If you can, please chip in here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue) - and thanks for helping us keep the light on.

Best,

Jeff

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P.S. - While I was writing this email, Marisa sent me this picture Avery did at school. (We played basketball in the neighbor’s driveway yesterday.) I had to share it. It might take a little work to decipher, but it’s worth it!

At the time, I used this image:

But state buildings are far less grand, so I’m updating with this:

I can’t update you on 50 chessboards each week, so I usually pick one or two.

For example, we just won a $200 million case against FEMA. That was a big win, so in my last email, I focused on that.

But there’s a tension between brevity and reality.

The shorter the email, the less accurately it reflects the actual scope of our work. I often get replies like, “Glad you’re tackling X, but what about Y!?” - when the truth is, I usually am tackling Y, I’m just keeping the email short.

So, this is my attempt to cover a lot of moves from the last few weeks in one go.

Here’s a snapshot:

• Fake Service Dogs: We convicted a man of 50 felonies for selling fake, untrained “service dogs” to 50 families. He claimed they were trained to help children with developmental needs, but they were actually untrained and dangerous. He is now permanently banned from selling animals and must pay $353,000 in restitution to the defrauded families.

• Protecting Federal Funds: We won a case against the EPA when they tried to cut $100 million in funding for North Carolina. This brings the total amount of federal funding we’ve protected for our state to roughly $1.6 billion since I’ve been AG. We’re proud of that number.

• Saving Medical Research: We won a permanent injunction against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to stop a massive cut to medical research funding. They attempted to slash the funding that pays for the labs and logistics behind the science, which would have cost North Carolina hundreds of millions of dollars and threatened thousands of jobs in our research sector. This is one of those cases you didn’t hear about much because we won. If we hadn’t, it would have been a disaster for our state.

• Utility Hikes: We formally intervened in Duke Energy’s proposed rate increases of 15 percent over the next two years. This legal mechanism allows my office to become a party to the case, cross-examine experts, and speak up for ratepayers.

• Mercedes-Benz Settlement: We joined other AGs to secure a nearly $150 million settlement regarding “defeat devices” - software designed to cheat emissions tests by altering performance when regulators are monitoring the vehicle.

• Suing Uber: We sued Uber for deceptive billing practices, specifically regarding unjustified cancellation fees and the use of design choices intended to trick users. Uber promoted a $9.99 a month subscription service and told customers they could cancel anytime. In reality, Uber misled people about how much they could save and made it difficult to cancel after they signed up. In some instances, Uber required customers to navigate up to 23 screens, take at least 32 actions, and wait for a response from a customer service representative to cancel. That’s deceptive, and that’s why we’re suing.

• Hyundai & Kia Thefts: We reached a $9 million settlement regarding the security flaw that made Hyundai and Kia cars viral targets for theft due to their lack of standard engine immobilizers. (This was why there was a TikTok trend telling people how easy it was to steal these cars.)

• Medicaid Fraud: We secured convictions in two major Medicaid fraud cases involving medical providers who billed the system for care they never provided, recovering over $20 million for state taxpayers. This was egregious fraud that stole money from taxpayers.

• “Buy Now, Pay Later” Inquiry: We launched an official inquiry into “Buy Now, Pay Later” lenders like PayPal and Klarna to see if they’re violating the Truth in Lending Act and trapping users in debt cycles. These lenders are exploding in popularity because they’ve been integrated into the checkout process for a lot of major online retailers, and it means lots of people - especially young people - could be vulnerable to deceptive practices.

• Predatory Real Estate: We won a judgment against a company called MV Realty, whose predatory business model involved giving homeowners a little bit of money up front in exchange for them signing a 40-year exclusive listing agreement that was recorded as a lien on their property. We put a lot of work into this because it was highly abusive to low-income homeowners. The General Assembly actually passed a law specifically banning this practice as a result of this case.

• Crime Lab Milestone: Some folks don’t know that NCDOJ also runs the state’s three biggest crime laboratories. Last week, those labs hit a milestone of 10,000 hits on gun evidence using the national ballistics information system, which analyzes shell casings to link crimes across different jurisdictions. Every time a bullet is fired, the gun leaves marks on the shell casing that are highly distinct, which allows this technology to determine if the same gun was used at two different shootings. North Carolina is a national leader in the use of this technology, and it’s a remarkable milestone that it has now produced 10,000 leads for law enforcement in cases that involved a shooting.

• Generic Drug Prices: We have a big case against generic drug manufacturers, whom we allege are engaged in a massive market allocation conspiracy to keep prices artificially high. They launched a fight to try to get our lawsuit dismissed, but they failed. That was a big step forward for the case.

• Rental Market Collusion: We secured a settlement from Greystar, the state’s largest landlord (25,000 units). This is part of our larger suit against RealPage, a software company used by landlords to share private data and collude to raise rents.

• UNC-Duke: We got reports of scammers using social media to sell counterfeit tickets to the UNC-Duke men’s basketball game, so we responded to those complaints and issued an alert about the scam.

Finally, we saw progress on some things I can’t fully discuss yet, like:

• Our effort to defeat the safe haven for money laundering provided by the global messaging app WeChat

• Shutting down an unlicensed mine in western North Carolina

• More work getting FEMA to support post-Helene recovery

• Expanding our war against robocalls

So that’s a lot, but it’s just a fraction of the 10,000 active cases we have at NCDOJ. There’s just a lot going on.

That said, this job is a joy. The people around me are brilliant and dedicated, our battles are worthy, and we win a lot. I love coming to work each morning.

Thanks for making it to the bottom of a long email, and I promise the next one will be shorter :)

Best,

Jeff

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P.S. - Avery is becoming a really good climber! Next stop, Taipei 101.

In that spirit, before I bring you into our latest fight, I want to give you a sense of how last year stacked up.

In short: We won practically every major lawsuit against a federal agency.

In total, we protected roughly $1.5 billion of your tax money, keeping it here in North Carolina.

That averages out to roughly $4 million per day - or about 5% of the entire state budget.

So we’re talking real money.

But it’s not just money - these wins protected jobs, public education, medical research, health care, infrastructure, disaster response, law enforcement, and food for kids.

That’s a solid track record, but keep in mind, these wins represent only a handful of the 10,000 active cases at our office. We’re very busy.

Our latest battle: Funding for rural schools

Our newest battle with a federal agency was, once again, forced on us.

With just weeks left in the year, the Department of Education abruptly told us that they were cutting $50 million from North Carolina schools.

And the cut would take place on January 1st - in the middle of the school year.

Of the $50 million cut, most of it would hit rural schools - including a number of counties hit hard by Hurricane Helene.

This funding comes from a nearly 50-year-old program that gives schools local control to support students in practical ways. Depending on their local needs, schools use that money to provide things like after-school programs, literacy and career prep, food support, and mental health services.

So cutting that program is bad, but “bad” is different than “unlawful.”

Here’s why it’s also unlawful:

When schools applied for the funding, they told the Department exactly how they would use it. The Department pre-approved all the plans. Gave them the green light. Funded them.

So schools hired staff based on that green light. They built programs relying on that approval.

Now - without even alleging any misuse of the funding - the Department is pulling the rug out.

Can’t do that.

Federal law says that once Congress funds a program and grants are awarded, a department can’t simply change its mind midstream unless there’s evidence that funds are being misused.

So we’re going to court. (Here’s a video I did explaining our case.)

If this feels familiar, it’s because we won a similar lawsuit last year against the Dept of Ed when they tried to abruptly cut $165 million for NC schools on one week’s notice.

We’ll see how this unfolds, but I like our odds. I’ll keep you posted.

A quick note on the Lighthouse Fund

Here’s a question I get a lot:

“What should our message be?”

And that’s a good question, but here’s a better one:

“How do we reach people with a message?”

Figuring out message reach is much harder than figuring out message content.

One big way we’re reaching people is by running videos like the one I linked above as an ad on various social media platforms. It’s all about reaching independent voters before the campaign heats up, just to stay on their radar.

That effort is called the Lighthouse Fund, and if you can, I’d appreciate your support for it either here, if you use ActBlue to donate, or here if you don’t use ActBlue.

And thanks for helping us keep the light on.

Best,

Jeff

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1. It’s been a wonderful, purposeful year as your AG.

2. We won a lot of big cases, like protecting SNAP funding for 600,000 kids in our state, $165 million for public education, $220 million from FEMA, $230 million in health care funding, $150 million from Purdue Pharma to fight the fentanyl epidemic, and dozens more solid wins for our state.

3. We opened up a major front in the war against robocalls.

4. We’ve focused heavily on public safety, working with law enforcement on fentanyl, Helene recovery, and going after violent offenders. Our law enforcement partners have been outstanding.

5. Inside NCDOJ, our team has performed at a very high level. You may never meet most of them, but I see their work every day, and they’re exceptionally good at defending you from a wide range of threats.

6. On a personal note, I’m really proud of our family. Marisa, Haden, Owen, and Avery did great this year, despite all the stress and change that comes with a new job like this.

Now, here’s looking back at the last 12 months:

Leaving Congress for the last time / Sworn in as AG

First time speaking with the state’s police chiefs / Inaugural ball with Marisa

First press conference in Canton about our lawsuit to reclaim millions from a company that broke its contract with them (we won) / Reading to Avery’s class

Meeting with sheriffs about fentanyl epidemic / Unexpectedly nailing this free throw

Meeting with one of NCDOJ’s crime labs / Taking action against fentanyl money laundering with South Carolina AG Alan Wilson

At a sewage pump in Hillsborough that recently flooded, before we won a major case to help it get the funds to move to higher ground / Speaking to municipal leaders from across NC

Announcing lawsuit against Department of Education for $165 million / Disney trip

Arguing a case before our state Supreme Court / Weapons test at Justice Academy’s firing range

Joining western NC law enforcement for Helene recovery / Volunteering at food bank in Raleigh

Introducing Avery at the annual Sheriffs’ meeting (she was a big hit) / At her cousin’s birthday party

Pushup challenge! I do this with lots of the elementary classes that come to Raleigh for field trips. Makes it memorable for them.

Speaking to a student in a school that was targeted for a major cut, until we prevailed in court / Attempting to pull the sword from the stone at Disney with Haden

Meeting with Asheville PD / Avery loses her two front teeth

Marisa joins me for NCDOJ’s holiday celebration / Avery at a paint-room birthday party

Finishing strong

We’ve had a strong stretch, and there’s more to come.

Your support really matters. I believe in keeping people informed about the work we’re doing, even when it’s not an election year.

That’s why I do these emails, but for folks who aren’t subscribed, that’s also why I created the Lighthouse Fund - to reach folks who otherwise wouldn’t hear about any of this.

If you’re able to make a contribution before the end of the year, I’d really appreciate it. You can donate here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Thank you for being part of this. Stay safe, and have a wonderful New Year.

Jeff

Here’s what happened:

Back in July, I stood at a sewage pump station in Hillsborough that had just flooded during a tropical storm. Millions of gallons of sewage spilled into the river.

What made this especially frustrating was that this same station had already been approved by FEMA for funding to fix the problem. FEMA had selected it for a grant to move the station up a hill so it wouldn’t flood again.

Then FEMA canceled the money.

And this wasn’t an isolated case. FEMA had pulled the plug on 60 water and sewer projects across North Carolina - projects it had already approved. Overnight, our state was set to lose $200 million in infrastructure funding.

So we took FEMA to court - and we just won.

Our argument was straightforward: this wasn’t FEMA’s money to cancel. When Congress gave FEMA these funds, it was very clear the funds had to be spent on water and sewer projects in disaster-prone areas. Congress basically said, “Here’s money for a specific program that we want you to administer.” That meant FEMA didn’t have the authority to cancel the program entirely, which is what it did.

The court agreed with us - strongly. So strongly, in fact, that we won at the summary judgment level.

What does that mean?

It means the court essentially said, “Before we even go to trial, the evidence here is so strong that we believe there’s no way FEMA can prove that it didn’t break the law, so we’re making a decision without having to go through a full trial - and FEMA needs to pay what it owes.”

A huge thanks to our team at NCDOJ who took this case on and delivered a result that will make a difference for dozens of communities. A big win to lift our spirits as we head into the holidays.

Anthrax Donuts

While our FEMA lawsuit was pending, I visited some of the towns whose projects had been abruptly canceled to see the impact on the ground.

One of them was the town of Whiteville, population 5,000.

A lot of people came out to greet me. The creek behind me in this photo floods on a regular basis, damaging homes and businesses.

This is a long-standing issue for the town and they wanted me to know how important it is to them.

This included a very nice woman who owns a local donut shop, which floods on occasion. The last flood was just in October, and she told me she lost her whole inventory.

She very kindly brought me a box of donuts.

As she handed it to me, one of my staff members immediately swooped in and grabbed the box out of my hands. That struck me as odd, so I made a mental note to ask about it later.

Here’s how that conversation went back at the car:

Me: “Why’d you grab the box?”

Staff: “I didn’t know what was in it!”

Me: “It was a box of donuts. She was the donut lady.”

Staff: “Well, it was a security issue.”

Me: “It was a donut issue. I want my donuts back.”

Staff: “Well, we don’t know what’s in the donuts.”

Me: “What could be in the donuts?”

Staff: “I don’t know. Anthrax.”

Me: “You think those are anthrax donuts?”

Staff: “They could be!”

So here’s what happened:

We put the donuts on a table in our office until we could resolve the situation, and before I knew it, all of them were gone. Somehow, the same staff who was concerned these donuts might contain anthrax also decided they might be delicious, and promptly consumed them all.

And for the record, I am sending a check to the nice lady for the donuts. She’s had a hard couple of months, and she doesn’t need to give me anything for free.

Even if I didn’t get to eat them.

In Appreciation of Gov. Jim Hunt

The first time I met Governor Jim Hunt, I made a joke about how I had once been a very low-ranking soldier.

He immediately grabbed me by the wrist and said, firmly, “And that’s who you’re fighting for, Jeff - people who are on the bottom, who are trying to move up!”

I’ve never forgotten that moment, because it captured him perfectly. He believed public service meant looking out for the little guy, finding ways to move everyone up, and leading with compassion.

That same spirit showed up in personal ways, too. I never saw him happier than when he was campaigning for his daughter, Rachel. He was her star volunteer. I once saw him tell a voter, “Yes, it’s really me - now you need to vote for my daughter!” I know she made him incredibly proud with her public service.

And even after he’d done everything he’d done - after all the offices, all the accomplishments - he kept doing the small, human things that make leadership real. He used to cut out newspaper clippings and send them to me. Most were about early childhood education - one of his central legacies as Governor. I always read them, and I always showed them to my wife, just to let her know I was pen pals with the Governor.

In the coming days, it’s going to be difficult to summarize everything he accomplished for our state, everything he meant to people.

But it isn’t going to be hard to sum him up as a person:

He was simply a great joy to be around, and he really cared about people, and he had a vision for ways he could bring people together to do big things that would serve them well.

When that’s your character and you’re given the chance to serve again and again, the impact compounds and the good you can do for people lasts for generations.

We’re grateful - and we’ll miss him.

Time with Family

For the first time, Marisa and I are hosting our families for the holidays. Our house is about three days away from being absolutely full, with kids running around everywhere. We’ve got a trampoline in the backyard that’s about to get a lot of use.

I hope you get to spend time with your loved ones as well, and that this holiday gives you the space to relax, unwind, and not talk politics unless that’s what makes you happy.

And remember: it’s ok to take a break from the news, just as it’s ok - even good! - to take a break from work.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday.

Best,

Jeff Jackson

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I asked if he would join me in leading a bipartisan, AG-led task force on A.I. abuse.

He was great. Agreed fast.

Then we sent out word to other AGs, and they’re joining fast, too.

Here’s the idea:

A.I. will be used for good - and bad.

When it comes to the bad stuff, my prediction is that Congress is going to do very little, as we saw with social media and internet privacy. Almost nothing from them, after all these years.

Meanwhile, we’re already seeing A.I. used by criminals to target kids, seniors, and the rest of us. Attorneys general make sense as a response group because our core job is keeping people safe.

This kind of effort could easily get pulled in a dozen directions, so we’re staying focused. The plan is to set clear priorities around the most egregious abuses and then band together to do something practical and helpful.

That’s the rough plan. I’ve got ideas for where we should start, and I’ll report back soon.

The Robocall Wars - Phase 1 Complete

Three months ago, I told you I was getting more aggressive on robocalls.

Specifically, I said I was going after the middleman companies that pass these calls along even when they know they’re illegal and should be blocked.

So I publicly posted the names of 37 of these telecom companies and sent each of them a letter.

I gave them three weeks to comply with the law.

If they chose not to, they could end up like one company - Articul8 - which ignored us when we told them to stop patching through illegal robocalls. We drove it out of business and hit it with a $5 million fine.

Then I posted this video directly calling out those 37 companies, letting them know what the consequences would be if they looked the other way. It got over a million views - presumably including the CEOs of those companies.

Our effort worked.

The vast majority of those companies are now blocking robocalls. Most of the ones that refused have been removed from the federal database, which means all of their traffic is now being blocked.

That brings us to the end of Phase 1.

Phase 2 has just begun, and it involves going upstream to some of the largest telecom companies in the country. We’ve been laying the groundwork for this for months. I’ll be able to share more in a few weeks.

As I have told these companies, when it comes to fighting robocalls, voters have given me more than a mandate - they’ve given me a commandment.

I did a telephone town hall with AARP last week. When it was time to take questions, 90% of them were about the nonstop robocalls hitting our seniors. There is precisely zero sympathy for companies that are part of the problem.

I am not messing around on this. These robocall companies can get right or they can get torched. Up to them.

Points for Honesty

Owen, our 10-year-old, is a very normal kid in that he uses his iPad a lot to play games with his friends.

But last week I decided it was time to set some daily limits. I used the parental controls, and he and I even agreed together on the amount of time.

Two days later, he came to me, staring at his feet.

“Uh, Dad, you have to change the password for the parental controls. I know it and, um, I know that I’ll totally use it to give myself more time… so you gotta change it.”

I thought that was awesome. So I gave him a hug, told him I was really impressed, added ten minutes to his allowed time - and changed the password.

Our Lighthouse Fund

One quick behind-the-scenes note.

Our Lighthouse Fund exists for one purpose: to make sure updates like our robocall video actually reach independent voters. Unless we pay to put these updates in front of people, they could go years without hearing from me at all. As you know, lots of folks don’t follow political accounts or read newsletters like this - but they do scroll.

That’s how we stay on their radar in a steady, credible way - not by showing up out of nowhere during campaign season, but by keeping people posted as the work happens. It’s not expensive, but it’s not free.

If you believe in that approach, I hope you’ll consider supporting our Lighthouse Fund either here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Best,

Jeff

P.S. - Avery came to drill with me for our annual family day. She did great, and yes, she wore her own uniform. She carried a plastic knife on her hip, but fortunately it wasn’t needed. A fun day for both of us.

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Feels like a long time ago, but it was just a few weeks.

It was a huge fight.

To recap:

We got a letter from the Agriculture Department saying that they were cutting off SNAP on November 1 because of the shutdown. They had an emergency fund but said they wouldn’t use it.

We took them to court and a judge immediately agreed that they had to use their emergency fund. Why? Because that’s why Congress gave them the fund - for an emergency. The court held that the department didn’t have the discretion to simply refuse.

But the fund didn’t have enough to cover a full month, so the court ordered the Ag Department to pay out 50% of all benefits. That was the situation when the shutdown ended and full payments resumed.

Here’s the bottom line: Because of our combined legal effort, there was a critical window where 1.4 million people in our state had access to SNAP who otherwise wouldn’t have. That includes 600,000 kids and 40,000 babies.

Our team at NCDOJ worked around the clock, and it made a huge difference for a lot of families. I’m really proud of them.

Immigration scams

We all saw the federal CBP operation last week. What you may not have seen are the attempts to scam Hispanic families.

When enforcement tactics are overly broad - as they were here, even detaining American citizens and lawful residents - it creates confusion and vulnerability. Scammers know this, and they’re using it to scam Hispanic families out of thousands of dollars by pretending to be immigration attorneys or government officials.

These scams are highly sophisticated and come in multiple forms.

Sometimes they’ll use the names and photos of real immigration attorneys, message Hispanic families directly on social media, demand a large up-front payment to help them - and then disappear.

Or they’ll pose as a fake law firm and stage a video call designed to look like a court hearing. Someone will pretend to be a judge and will tell the family to pay thousands of dollars to their fake attorney. In some cases, A.I. has been used to make it look legitimate.

We’re pushing out warnings as fast as we can - and we will use every state law available to pursue the scammers.

As for the federal operation, it was plainly designed to generate fear - and it did. Instead of a targeted effort focused on dangerous offenders, it became a broad sweep of people who fit a demographic profile. When federal law enforcement operates in North Carolina, they should meet the standard of discipline and professionalism we expect from our local officers. I work with law enforcement every day as AG, and I know firsthand you can respect people’s rights and still go after serious criminals.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time working with local elected officials, community leaders, and nonprofits. Even under deliberate provocation, our state responded with calm, coordination, and compassion. Much of the work wasn’t public, but it mattered enormously in the moment.

I also appreciate Sen. Tillis calling on Homeland Security to provide a list of everyone who was detained and whether they’ve been released. That information is crucial and I appreciate him recognizing that. Given that this was a federal operation, his federal role is uniquely positioned to ensure accountability, and we need him to follow through on that work.

A.I. rent-hiking case

One of the first things I did as AG was sue six of the biggest landlords in the state for using artificial intelligence software called RealPage to illegally collude and raise rents.

The largest one - Greystar - just settled with us. It’s a $7 million settlement, and they can no longer use that rent-setting method.

They control 25,000 rental units in North Carolina. That means those families are now going to be charged a fairer price at a time when housing costs are already hitting people hard.

This is the second major landlord to settle. We have four more to go - plus RealPage itself.

“What about politics at Thanksgiving dinner?”

Over the next few days, many of you will be with family celebrating the holiday. I sometimes get asked how to handle the political conversations that surface at family dinners. My general advice is to remember that the people around that table are part of your life, not part of your feed. Not every disagreement needs to be settled in real time, and stepping away from a debate doesn’t diminish your convictions - it just means that relationships matter, too.

These days, I think it’s easy to over-consume political content. As much as I hope people are well-informed, at a certain point you’re just acting compulsively and locking yourself into perpetual anxiety. That’s not healthy for you or helpful to anyone else.

So, for the next few days, give yourself the grace to focus on friends and family. Political fights can wait. Exhale. Go outside. Notice who’s laughing in the kitchen. Those small moments aren’t a distraction from the world - they’re the reason it’s worth working to improve.

Just my advice. Obviously, it’s up to you.

But I sincerely hope this holiday gives you a chance to breathe, reconnect, and spend time with people who make you feel grounded. Wishing you a peaceful and meaningful Thanksgiving.

Best,

Jeff Jackson

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The situation is very serious.

Here’s a quick video explainer on YouTube, with more detail below:

Here’s the situation:

Last week, the Agriculture Department sent a letter to all 50 states saying funding for SNAP would end on November 1.

They claimed they had no choice, that they’d run out of money because of the shutdown.

That is false.

The truth is, they have a $6 billion emergency fund that Congress gave them to make sure SNAP isn’t interrupted.

The Department is claiming they can’t use their emergency fund for this, but we know that is false for three reasons:

1. In creating the emergency fund, Congress was very clear: the fund is for use “in such amounts and at such times as may become necessary to carry out program operations.”

2. During the last shutdown, in January 2019, the Department said they could use the emergency fund for SNAP, stating that “limited funding is available from the contingency [fund] that can be used to provide benefits for February. This reserve is being used to fund recertifications and new applications through February.”

3. About a month ago, the Department published a plan for how they’d deal with a government shutdown, and explicitly said they could tap the emergency fund if needed.

   Read their words for yourself:

Congressional intent is evident that SNAP’s operations should continue since the program has been provided with multi-year contingency funds that can be used for State Administrative Expenses to ensure that the State can also continue operations during a Federal Government shutdown. These multi-year contingency funds are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.

Now - with less than one week’s notice - the Department reversed itself and decided to let the $6 billion emergency fund sit on the shelf.

Why?

To ratchet up the pain of the shutdown. They are making a painful situation worse to help others make a political argument. And they’re hoping that most people never learn this was a choice - that they have the money and are refusing to use it.

Yes, the government is in a shutdown - and yes, the emergency fund would eventually run out if this continues.

But right now, they have billions in emergency reserves sitting untouched, and that’s the reason SNAP payments are about to stop.

As for the impact, we don’t really have a precedent. SNAP has never been shut off before. It’s kind of like breaching the debt ceiling - it would definitely be a disaster, but because it’s never happened there’s always a chorus of folks saying, “Eh, no big deal.”

But this would be a very big deal.

Let’s focus on what it would mean for kids.

1 in 4 children in our country rely on SNAP.

That’s 16 million kids nationwide - and 600,000 in NC.

1.7 million babies rely on it - and 40,000 in NC.

The average benefit payment in NC? About $180 a month.

And despite some comments I’ve seen, undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible and there are strict work requirements for folks without kids or disabilities.

If SNAP stops, we’ll all watch as food pantries are overwhelmed. Childhood hunger will spike. This will hit schools like a ton of bricks. Teachers will face classrooms full of kids who haven’t eaten enough. And by the time we reach Thanksgiving, this will be a full-blown crisis.

So here’s what we’re doing about it:

When the Agriculture Department chose to ignore its emergency fund, it broke the law. Congress gave them that money to fund the program - departments can’t just refuse to use it. Doing so is the same as overriding Congress, and departments can’t do that.

So I’ve joined with other attorneys general, and we’re taking the Department to court.

Because this is urgent - we have two days - we’ve asked the court for an emergency order requiring the Department to continue funding SNAP while the case proceeds.

Our hearing is today.

The next time you hear from me, I’ll let you know the result.

One last note:

I have extraordinary people at the NC Department of Justice working around the clock on this case. I told them that an awesome responsibility rests on our shoulders - and that we’re up to it.

More soon,

Jeff Jackson

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There will be many legal challenges to this map. More broadly, this is a truly unfortunate trend in American politics. The particular target of this effort was Rep. Don Davis - a friend of mine and genuinely good guy. We served in Congress together. He constantly looks for ways to reach across the aisle and is incentivized to do so because his district is competitive. They’re trying to replace him with someone who won’t need to listen to the other side. If you scale that up across all of Congress, you see why things have gotten so extreme.

That’s why the first bill I ever filed in the state legislature was to end gerrymandering. This practice belongs in the dustbin of history - the sooner, the better.

Our new EPA lawsuit

We just filed a lawsuit against the EPA.

Why?

Because they owe North Carolina $150 million.

Here’s the situation:

A few years ago, Congress gave the EPA some money and basically told them, “We want you to use this to help low income families pay for solar panels, if they want them. If they don’t want them, that’s fine, but we think this will bring down their energy bill by several hundred dollars a year, so we want to give them the option.”

Those funds were set to go to about 12,000 families in our state, mainly in low-income and rural communities.

Then Congress passed the Big Beautiful Bill, which made a lot of cuts, but - and this part is crucial - also said that the EPA could not cut any money that had already been awarded to a state.

And this payment of $150m had already been awarded to our state. It was literally in an account with our state’s name on it.

The EPA will say that because the money hasn’t been spent yet, they’re allowed to cancel it.

But that’s wrong. Congress has the power to cancel it, but the EPA doesn’t. Congress was explicit about that.

Which means this case isn’t really about solar panels - it’s about whether a federal agency can ignore the law.

That’s why, on behalf of the state of North Carolina, I’m asking the court to order the EPA to release the $150 million it owes us. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Kars-R-Us Scam

It’s breast cancer awareness month, so it’s a perfect time to tell you about a scam charity operation we just shut down.

It was called Kars-R-Us. Their pitch was if you donated your car, they’d sell it and use the proceeds to help women get breast cancer screenings.

Remarkably, over 80,000 people donated their cars. That generated over $45 million in revenue.

And how much went to breast cancer screenings?

Only $126,000.

Less than 1%.

So we teamed up with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, took them to court, won a major settlement and blocked them from ever being able to do that again.

Our Lighthouse Fund

It’s been a few months since I mentioned this, so a quick reminder:

We’re thinking ahead. A small investment now could be very helpful later.

Our Lighthouse Fund lets us digitally advertise one video message per month to a big chunk of independent voters in NC. (Here’s an example.)

These are the voters who will decide our next election, and staying in front of them - at a low but consistent level, like a lighthouse shining its beacon in the dark - is one of the smartest investments we can make. We can’t afford to slip from their radar for the next few years.

More than 2,000 of you are already supporting this effort. If you’d like to learn more - or continue to support us - you can do so here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Best,

Jeff

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P.S. - Last week, Avery was at a birthday party at a place that puts kids in a room and gives them as much paint as they want. I got this great picture, and need your help with a great caption! It’ll go on Instagram next week.

That move would have hit western NC especially hard. AmeriCorps ramped up their work after the hurricane and is coordinating a lot of the non-profit response.

They also fund a lot of Habitat for Humanity work in our state, and I’ll be joining one of those projects out west next week. (I’ll be doing some roof work, I’m told.)

More cases like this are pending. Updates soon.

Making our case in NC Supreme Court

Last week, I appeared before our state Supreme Court on behalf of our office.

This is very unusual.

AGs almost never argue cases themselves. But a couple months ago, when my team told me about this one, I volunteered.

The facts: A man struck another man in the head with a pistol, then stomped on him, breaking his jaw and teeth and leaving him unconscious in the road at night.

That part is uncontested. He’s convicted of that and not appealing.

But he was also convicted of robbing the victim - but the robbery occurred after the victim lost consciousness.

So his argument, in short, is, “You can’t prove I’m the one who robbed him because he was unconscious. It could have been someone else.”

In response, my argument focused on four points:

• The opportunity for a different person to rob the unconscious victim was relatively narrow. (This was contested by defense and became a big disagreement.)

• The legal bar for these kinds of challenges is extremely high. My argument was that the jury should be allowed to infer that the person who pistol-whipped and stomped the victim was also the same person who robbed him.

• Several years prior, the defendant had pistol-whipped someone else and then robbed them - facts that are almost identical to this case and something the jury was allowed to consider as a factor.

• If the defendant’s argument were accepted, it could create an incentive for future robbers to knock victims out before stealing from them, and we don’t want to create an incentive for violence.

You can watch the argument for yourself on YouTube here.

Three general observations about the experience:

1. Our state Supreme Court justices (we have seven) were highly engaged and asked thoughtful questions. I got some real pushback regarding how long the victim was unconscious, and the defense attorney got real pushback on the defendant’s role in causing the unconsciousness. It was a good back-and-forth.

2. My preparation for this argument took a whole team. I may have been the one standing up there, but a lot of people came together at our office to help me think through the arguments, counter-arguments, case law, and likely questions. They also put me through a two-hour moot court the week before my argument. This is the kind of work attorneys in our office do every day, and it gave me a new appreciation for their dedication.

3. Frankly, the defense attorney did an outstanding job. It was her first time appearing before our state Supreme Court, but she was super quick and totally prepared. My whole team was impressed.

And to cap it off, Marisa took off work to watch, and we grabbed a quick photo at the end just before the next case was called:

9/11 stair climb

On September 11th, I joined a thousand people at UNC’s football stadium for a stair climb led by UNC’s ROTC, where I was once a cadet.

Together we climbed roughly 2,000 steps in remembrance of the firefighters who ascended the towers that day.

The event had an incredible turnout and a powerful spirit. They blasted music and kept the energy level high. My thanks to the cadets who organized it, and to everyone who joined us.

Best,

Jeff

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Let’s start here:

Robocall crackdown

When I became AG, I told my team we were going to get more aggressive on robocalls.

Why?

Because you told me to.

Everybody hates these things, and we’re getting more than ever. NC is a top five state for robocalls. We get about 200 million a month. It’s absurd.

So we’ve broadened our target list. We’ll still go after the folks making the robocalls, but now we’ve added the telecom companies that are patching them through.

Here’s why:

The average call to you passes through about six telecom companies - the last one being the one that sends you a bill each month. Each company in this chain has a legal obligation to help block illegal robocalls.

But some of them look the other way to make a few extra bucks.

So we just sent formal notice to 37 of those middleman companies. They’ve got three weeks to clean up their act.

Here’s the video I posted calling them out by name:

They say that we’ve never been more politically divided than we are today, but when it comes to robocalls, we all pretty much agree: the fewer, the better.

More from that battlefront soon.

New York Times profile

Two months ago, The New York Times sent a reporter and photographer to spend the day with me. They sat in on meetings, traveled with me around town, and did a long interview in my office.

Honestly, it was less awkward than I expected. You’d be amazed how quickly you forget there’s a reporter in the room - which is exactly what they’re hoping for. The only reminder came from the photographer, as he jostled around and snapped a thousand photos.

Now the article’s out, and here’s a gift link to it:

The piece turned out well because our team at NCDOJ is so strong. I’m proud to be part of it, but I’m not most of it. We’ve just got some great people working here, and I’m grateful for them.

And… he hit the shot

For some of you, I’m burying the lede.

In the last email, I left you with a brutal cliffhanger. Presented with a photo of me uneasily about to shoot a basketball, I asked you to place your bets (by way of contribution to our Lighthouse Fund) about whether I nailed it… or whether I air-balled.

Well, here’s the proof:

In case your computer doesn’t like GIFs, it shows me making the shot. Believe me, I was as surprised as anyone.

For the record, roughly 88% of you guessed correctly.

And for the 12% who thought I missed it, hey, I get it. A sensible bet.

If you missed your chance to bet but can still make a small contribution, that’s very kind. You can do that here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Best,

Jeff

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Friends,

I don’t get to write many emails like this.

In short:

Total victory.

Last month, I told you about the Department of Education suddenly freezing $165 million in funding for North Carolina schools - money that was supposed to arrive the next day.

No clear reason was given, and it would have meant laying off roughly 1,000 educators just a few weeks before school starts.

I told you it was unlawful because that money wasn’t the Department’s to cancel. It was appropriated by Congress, and we were going to court to enforce the law.

Well, faced with near-certain defeat in court, they folded - completely. All of the funds will arrive, a little late, but certainly welcome.

So, the question is, why?

Why the sound and fury to accomplish nothing?

As you’ve heard from me a few times, deliberate failure has become a media strategy. If the goal is attention, then picking high-profile losing battles works just fine for some folks.

Which means, this will happen again.

We’re already fighting similar battles - like FEMA’s cancellation of $200 million for water and sewer projects, which I wrote about last week. There are others. Not all are born-to-lose, but some clearly are.

Regardless, my job is to win. We did that here, and we’re gearing up for the next one.

Avery meets the sheriffs

North Carolina has 100 sheriffs - one for each county.

I spoke to a large group of them last week, and when I told my daughter Avery about it, she asked, “Can I come on stage?”

So she did.

I introduced her to the crowd, and Sheriff Roberson gave her a badge, which she proudly wore for the rest of the day. It was a great moment for her.

Many thanks to the sheriffs for being so kind to Avery and the rest of our family.

Did he sink it… or did he air-ball?

Here’s me lining up a shot with some students at the Dream Center:

So, did I make the shot?

Well, I’m giving you a chance to cast your vote one way or the other - with a donation of any amount.

You can pick one:

🟢 “He sinks it!”

🔴 “He air-balls!”

I just feel that, looking at my form here, this really could go either way. The footwear, the stance, none of this inspires confidence.

But then again, I’m not that far away, right? And even ugly shots can go in.

So it really is a tough call, and you’re going to want to weigh in.

A contribution of any amount let’s you cast a vote, and I’ll reveal the vote totals - and the correct answer - next week.

Best,

Jeff

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It was about 91 degrees. Reporters were sweating.

Here’s the story.

I’m suing FEMA.

Why?

Because they illegally cancelled more than $200 million that was headed to North Carolina for water and sewer upgrades.

It was basically a flood preparation fund. Congress created it, funded it, and told FEMA to run it.

Before FEMA pulled the plug, they had approved over 60 projects across our state - mostly moving pump stations and sewer lines to higher ground.

A few examples:

• $22.5m for Salisbury to move a pump station. The city already spent $3m of its own funds getting started.

• $5.9m for Gastonia to move sewer lines out of the floodplain.

• $4m for Mt. Pleasant to improve drainage in the town center, which regularly floods and damages businesses.

And then there’s the Hillsborough pump station, where I spoke yesterday. It was set to receive $6m to move to higher ground. Also cancelled by FEMA.

But here’s the thing:

Three weeks ago, a tropical storm hit. The nearby river rose 24 feet and submerged the entire station. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage poured into the river.

I spotlighted this pump station because it’s a perfect example of why this funding matters - and what happens when it’s taken away.

Most people agree that keeping drinking water flowing and sewage contained is a legitimate use of public dollars. I appreciate that Sen. Tillis and Rep. Edwards have also urged FEMA to reverse course.

Heck, President Trump signed this program into law in his first term. He wanted it.

So we’re going to court, along with a number of AGs, and I’ll report back.

Update on frozen education funds

Speaking of frozen funds that likely violate federal law…

Remember the freeze on $165m of education funding I told you about last week?

Two updates:

First, the Department of Education partially backtracked. It unfroze about $36m, specifically the funding for after-school and summer programs that serve over 10,000 kids in North Carolina.

That’s good, but it still leaves roughly $130m unlawfully frozen, so we’re going to court to get the rest.

Second, 10 Republican Senators signed a letter urging the Department to reverse course, giving us a strong bipartisan front going forward. That’s helpful.

The next step is a request for an emergency hearing to try and get this resolved before the school year starts.

By the way, I visited the Dream Center in Gastonia this week. It’s a nonprofit that provides high quality summer and after-school instruction - and receives about half of its funding from one of these programs. I wanted to see their work firsthand, and I was impressed. If more people could see what I saw, it might shift perspectives and lower the temperature a bit.

Lighthouse success

The response to our Lighthouse Fund has been incredible.

Over 1,000 of you have chipped in, making this a clear success.

If you haven’t joined yet, I hope you’ll consider it. The idea is simple: create a low-cost way to stay in touch with voters through a once-a-month digital message - like a steady beam from a lighthouse.

It’s a bit of an experiment, but given how many people are cutting the cord and going all-digital, we think it could be a really effective way to reach them.

The best way to support this effort is a small monthly donation, but of course, one-time contributions are also welcome. You can do either here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Thanks again.

- Jeff Jackson

P.S. - One more small request. I know anxiety levels are pretty high for a lot of people right now. I get it. In these emails, I try to replace some of that anxiety with information. People usually feel a little better when they’ve got a clearer sense of what’s happening. So if you know someone who might appreciate these emails the same way you do, please forward to them and encourage them to subscribe. That’s all. Wishing you all the best.

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Here’s why:

Two weeks ago - out of the blue - North Carolina received a three-sentence email from the U.S. Department of Education.

It said that $165 million in education funding, scheduled to arrive the next day, was being frozen indefinitely.

No clear reason was given. Since then, the department has refused to answer our questions.

It turns out that email went to all 50 states. The total amount frozen nationwide: roughly $7 billion.

In North Carolina, the impact will be severe.

These funds support afterschool and summer programs for over 10,000 students, STEM education, adult literacy classes, mental health support, services for English learners, and smaller class sizes for elementary school kids.

And if the freeze isn’t reversed soon, about 1,000 educators in our state could lose their jobs - just weeks before 1.5 million kids return to school.

Every school district in the state will take a hit, but rural communities will suffer most. The top three counties facing the deepest per-student cuts are Ashe, Polk, and Graham.

So, I’ve joined a group of attorneys general in suing the U.S. Department of Education.

Why?

Because this isn’t just harmful - it’s illegal. And not in a gray-area kind of way. This is clear-cut.

Congress created these programs. Congress reviewed and approved state plans for them. And then Congress authorized the funding.

The Department of Education does not have the legal authority to override that process. It’s not their money to freeze. The law here isn’t vague.

If we allow this kind of move to stand, we set a dangerous precedent - one where federal departments can undermine Congress and hold states hostage to their political whims. That’s exactly what the law is designed to prevent.

Our lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction - an immediate court order to end the freeze while the case proceeds. That would protect students and schools from further harm. We hope to get a ruling within a few weeks.

My thanks to Superintendent Mo Green for joining us in this effort. He’s been great to work with and has brought compelling details to the consequences facing our students if this isn’t fixed.

Here’s my take on what may really be going on with this last-minute freeze:

I don’t know whether the people behind this move at the Department of Education truly believe they’ll win in court. It was recklessly executed and the administration’s track record on similar overreaches is poor.

But my sense is that winning in court may not be the point.

When I was in Congress, I saw how often deliberate failure was used as a media strategy. A fringe member would pick an unwinnable fight, lose, and then claim their real prize: wall-to-wall press coverage.

This feels like the first stage of that cycle. The fight has been picked, the next step is losing in court, then we get the outrage and indignation that ricochets through various echo chambers - and that’s the payoff. If your claim to national attention is perpetual outrage, this whole thing starts to look pretty calculated.

That said, I still have to beat them in court, and I plan to.

The Lighthouse Fund

This is timely.

You might remember that, in my last email, I told you about our new Lighthouse Fund.

As you might recall, the idea is to ensure that, once a month, I can afford to send a strong digital message to roughly one million independent voters in NC. That costs about $9,500.

The goal is to maintain a baseline level of awareness so that when campaign season gears up, we aren’t starting from scratch with those voters.

Well, this moment is perfect for a digital message like that - and I can even show you the product in advance.

I made a video specifically addressing the education funding freeze and here it is on YouTube:

I think this is exactly the kind of message that voters need to hear at this moment, and I hope you’ll help me reach them.

The best way to support this effort is a small, monthly donation - but of course, we’d also appreciate a one-time contribution. You can do either one here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Thanks, as always, and I’ll keep you posted.

- Jeff Jackson

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We - along with AGs from all 50 states and 6 U.S. territories - have now reached the final settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family for their role in starting the opioid epidemic.

This goes back to the 1990s. Purdue Pharma - owned by the Sackler family - lied to a bunch of doctors by saying they had invented a new opioid pill that wasn’t addictive.

The pill was OxyContin, it was highly addictive, and it sparked the prescription pill crisis, which became the heroin crisis, which has become the fentanyl crisis.

There’s no erasing the damage they did, but this settlement is major accountability.

It’s another $150m for North Carolina, which brings us up to $1.6b for opioid-related settlements for our state.

Huge credit to my predecessor, Gov. Stein, who made this a top priority, as well as the team at NCDOJ who spent years fighting for this. They delivered.

Smashing orange cones

Last week, I got behind the wheel of a police vehicle and was given a simple instruction:

Don’t hit the orange cones.

I was at the ribbon-cutting for the new driving track at our Justice Academy - the premier course in NC for teaching law enforcement advanced driving skills.

I’ve got a video below, but before you watch it, just give me some grace. It’s a hard course. The washout rate is high, even among seasoned officers.

So did I smash some cones? Yeah, absolutely. But eventually I figured it out and did okay.

And this is why I’m grateful to our Justice Academy instructors - they’re training officers to hit far fewer cones than I did.

You can watch the video here:

The Lighthouse Fund

This might surprise you, but here’s the deal:

As things stand, millions of North Carolinians aren’t going to hear from me again until the next election.

Why?

Because newsletters like this, social media, and local news just don’t reach as many folks as you might think.

That’s not ideal. I’d love to share with them the fights we’re taking on, like this video from last week. I think they’d really appreciate it.

But we can’t run TV ads this early. Can’t afford it.

However, we can run a monthly digital message (on YouTube, Instagram, etc.) to roughly a million people in NC.

That’d cost about $9,500.

So we’re starting The Lighthouse Fund.

Once a month, we’ll deliver a clear beacon to a large group of independent voters in the form of a targeted digital message.

The goal is to maintain a baseline level of awareness so that when campaign season gears up, we aren’t starting from scratch with those voters.

Here’s the math: If we can keep in touch with roughly 50% of independent voters for the next three years for under 2% of what we spent for our last campaign, that should produce a strong return-on-investment in a state where elections often come down to less than 1% of the vote.

To my knowledge, this hasn’t been tried before - at least in NC. But with the number of voters you can now reach online, I think it’s time for a new approach.

The most effective way to support this is a small, monthly donation - but of course, we’d also appreciate a one-time contribution. You can do either one here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue).

Thanks for standing with me.

Jeff Jackson

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