‘Junket to play with giraffes’: Del. attorney general took corporate-paid trips to resorts and enjoyed facials, safari

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Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and her husband settled into first-class seats on a jumbo jet.

It was November 2023, and the couple was taking a nonstop flight to South Africa, where Delaware’s chief law enforcement officer would attend a weeklong legal conference.

Her agenda included lectures and forums on issues such as human trafficking and cybersecurity with about a dozen fellow attorneys general and “other vital stakeholders,” the confab’s organizers said.

Once in South Africa, Jennings and her husband, David White, checked into Johannesburg’s luxury DaVinci Hotel and Suites, which boasts of being a “one-of-a-kind destination” that “seamlessly combines convenience with opulence.”

Between all the sessions on fighting crime, the couple enjoyed lavish perks.

Those extras included sumptuous meals at swank restaurants, a tour and dinner party at a wine estate, and a safari and overnight stay at the Aquila Private Game Reserve. They later stayed at the Table Bay Hotel, a five-star oceanfront icon in Cape Town.

Jennings and White didn’t pay their own way for a trip that cost well into five figures, however.

Instead, the couple from Delaware were guests of the nonprofit Attorney General Alliance, a California-based group that holds several events a year at foreign and domestic resorts.

The alliance’s roughly $10 million annual budget and its events in prime tourist destinations such as Maui, Paris, Barcelona and Qatar are funded by law firms whose focus is lobbying, as well as large public companies including Amazon, J.P. Morgan Chase, TikTok and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Those corporations pay $20,000 to $150,000 a year for sponsorships and the rights to join attorneys general on trips as those “other vital stakeholders,” alliance records show. On the South Africa trip, for example, executives and lobbyists from Amazon, Uber, grocery chain Albertsons and other companies attended.

Attorneys general and their states each pay thousands of dollars per year in membership dues using taxpayer dollars. Currently, Delaware spends $6,500 a year for Jennings’ membership.

Jennings defended her participation in the corporate-sponsored South Africa conference and a handful of others she has taken that were paid in full by the alliance. On those trips, she enjoyed free flights, meals, lodging and other extras.

Those include a 2024 “Women’s Empowerment Summit” near Tucson, Arizona, where Jennings stayed at the Miraval spa resort, which bills itself as “more than a luxury spa,” and a 2022 “Chairs Initiative” in the picturesque skiing and hiking enclave of Bachelor Gulch, Colorado, where the AGA put her up at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Jennings, a Democrat who is seeking a third four-year term in 2026, stressed several times in an interview with WHYY News that “no taxpayer dollars, zero, zilch” went toward her travels with AGA.

She said the sessions provide valuable face time with other attorneys general, with whom she has teamed up to successfully sue dozens of corporations and industries, including AGA sponsors Amazon and e-cigarette maker Juul. She said the getaways are also a chance to take mandatory continuing legal education courses for her law license.

Jennings said she understands how members of the public might disagree with her taking advantage of corporate freebies most taxpayers could never afford.

Her salary is $164,000 this year, state payroll records show. The 72-year-old attorney general also collects Social Security and a state pension from more than two decades as a prosecutor in the AG’s office before her 2018 election, her annual financial disclosure forms show.

“I get it. These are nice places and it’s a privilege to be able to be there,” Jennings told WHYY News. “It’s a privilege to have my job at all. But privilege also means you have a responsibility and my responsibility is to do everything in my power to get more for Delawareans.”

“The way I get more for Delawareans is to be with attorneys general to form relationships with them and to build on those relationships,” Jenninigs added. “These are bipartisan trips and each and every time I go I form a valuable relationship across the aisle.”

Jennings said she’s learned from working on multistate lawsuits — like one against opioid makers and distributors that has reaped Delaware some $250 million — that she needs to be aggressive on behalf of tiny Delaware, which has fewer residents than all but five states.

“We’re a small state and I quickly learned during the opioid settlement negotiations that unless I pushed my way into the room, nobody cared about Delaware,” she said.

But Thomas Jones, who heads the conservative American Accountability Foundation and provided WHYY News with documents about the AGA trips that he obtained from public records requests in Delaware and several other states, scoffed at the notion that they are necessary or benefit the general public.

Jones said Jennings and other attorneys general can hold conference calls or Zoom sessions if they need to talk and strategize, and can take legal education classes locally.

“The AGA exists as a tool for special-interest lobbyists to get access to attorneys general in a way that no one else can,” Jones said in an interview. “A citizen of Delaware just can’t arrange to spend a week on a safari with the attorney general, like the dozens of lobbyists who went on the junket to South Africa could, outside of public scrutiny and in a way no else can.”

“So what AGA has created is kind of this bait-and-switch program where the attorney general spends taxpayer monies to join the AGA,” Jones added. “And then the AGA says, ‘Oh, cool, we’re going to provide some educational activities for you. We’re going to fly you to South Africa to go on a safari. That’s going to be an educational activity.’ That’s covered by the [annual dues], but all the actual money that it takes to pay for that trip is all paid for by lobbyists. So it’s really a scam.”

WHYY News learned about Jennings’ trips from a CNN online and television exposé last month about the trip to South Africa. The CNN report listed Jennings as one of about a dozen attorneys generals who attended and showed her picture. Her office later provided additional information about her attendance at AGA events.

No one from the Attorney General Alliance would agree to an interview about the trips or Jennings. But its chief attorney, Tania Maestas, said in a written statement, which did not address its corporate-sponsored trips, that the group is “focused on fostering collaboration and providing educational trainings for our AG members and their staff on complex issues in law and public policy.”

Maestas said overseas events “strengthen bipartisan relationships within the attorney general community on issues that range from human trafficking, anti-corruption, money laundering, cybersecurity, as well as all types of organized crime.”

She called Jennings “a valued member of the attorney general community. She is trusted by her colleagues and respected by the private sector. We are honored to have her join us for any domestic or international trainings we may have.”

‘Serious lapse in judgment in not disclosing’ free trips

Jennings hadn’t previously disclosed the trips or the free flights, hotel rooms and other perks, either in news releases or on her annual financial disclosure forms to the state Public Integrity Commission. State law requires that dozens of elected and top government officials publicly report all gifts worth more than $250.

Jennings said the commission told her the disclosure of the free trips wasn’t required because the trip was of a bipartisan nature.

Commission officials would not agree to an interview. But chairman Ron Chaney said in a written statement to WHYY News that Jennings “was told the trip did not need to be disclosed on her financial disclosure form as it would not be considered a gift under the relevant statute and prior commission opinions.” Chaney did not elaborate or cite any previous opinions that pertain to corporate-paid travel.

John Flaherty, a board member of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, said he admires fellow Democrat Jennings for joining other states to sue drug companies and other corporations. Yet he’s disappointed that Jennings failed to report expensive trips that she took for free.

“I would say that the attorney general has a serious lapse of judgment in going on these trips, number one, and number two, a serious lapse in judgment in not disclosing that as required by law,” said Flaherty, who faulted the commission as well for not requiring such gifts to be reported. “The people of Delaware are going to probably look askance at going on a junket to South Africa.”

Joseph Fulgham, spokesman for Delaware’s House Republicans, said going on trips paid for by taxpayers or third-party groups “is part of the job for many state elected officials [and] can lead to valuable, sometimes unexpected, approaches and solutions.”

But when an outside group foots the bill, Fulgham said, “there’s another layer to the onion. It’s crucial not only to assess the risks of potential conflicts of interest but also to consider whether attending could create an appearance of impropriety.”

‘A mistake not to be in the same place as her colleagues’

The Attorney General Alliance is one of four organizations that represent attorneys general around the country. Formed in 1982 as the Conference of Western Attorneys General, in 2019 the organization began morphing into the AGA and expanded to include leaders in almost every state.

Jennings is also active in two of the other AG-centric groups — the National Association of Attorneys General, serving in 2020 on the executive committee, and the Democratic Attorneys General Association, of which she has been co-chair since 2021. The fourth group is the Republican Attorneys General Association.

Jennings isn’t an officer with the Attorney General Alliance but has traveled to five of their events since 2021, Jennings’ spokesman Mat Marshall said.

The first AGA trip was to Colorado Springs in August 2021 for a so-called “Chairs Initiative.” The conference’s aim was to “address the rising tribalism in our nation,” the agenda said. “We must renew and rebuild institutions that connect us to one another and foster empathy.”

The conference took place over two days in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at the sprawling Broadmoor complex, which calls itself “the world’s longest-running consecutive Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five-Diamond resort.” That’s where fellow attorneys general and other attendees, including corporate lobbyists, stayed.

Jennings was one of five panelists on the first day for what the agenda billed as “A Discussion of the Future of Collaborative Problem Solving in a Polarized Era.”

After the second day, attendees were invited to a golf outing, but Marshall, who attended but stayed at a less-expensive hotel at AGA’s expense, said neither he nor Jennings participated. The pair flew to Colorado and back in economy class, he said.

Jennings returned to Colorado for another “Chairs Initiative” in February 2022, and this time stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Bachelor Gulch, about 100 miles west of Denver.

The purpose of that conference was once again to address America’s divisive politics and to highlight “how leaders can address the rising levels of tribalism, or political sectarianism,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser later wrote in a blog on his state website.

Jennings introduced a panel that focused on “the state of American politics and the opportunities to heal and rebuild through compromise and working across the aisle, Weiser wrote.

Jennings told the gathering: “We cannot allow angry rhetoric to destroy that practice.”

Even though Bachelor Gulch is known for its prime alpine terrain, Marshall said Jennings did not ski. She flew in Friday morning and left Sunday morning — again in economy class — and the packed agenda didn’t allow her time for leisure activities, Marshall said.

Marshall added that Jennings passes up most invitations to AGA events, including trips to Hawaii in 2021 and Spain in 2022.

“Kathy rarely does this kind of travel, and frankly she rarely has the time to, but when there are several AGs gathering and a substantive agenda there’s value in her joining — even more so as she’s become a national figure,” Marshall said, noting her leadership roles in other attorneys general groups. “She would never allow tax dollars to pay for her to attend, or do so at the expense of local work, but at day’s end it’s business travel and it would be a mistake not to be in the same place as her colleagues when so much of her job requires us to play an outsized role as a small state.”

‘They offered generous travel allowance’ for overseas flights

When the opportunity came to visit South Africa around Thanksgiving in 2023, however, Jennings accepted the invitation.

Jennings said she and her husband, an attorney who is the Delaware State Bar Association’s president-elect, went to South Africa before the conference for a private vacation.

Their flight across the Atlantic Ocean in first-class seats was paid for by AGA.

Asked if she thought about how the public might view an elected official taking pricey freebies such as the round-trip overseas flight, Jennings explained her rationale.

“They offered a generous travel allowance,” she said. “It’s, I think, a 16-hour flight and if they offered it — no taxpayer dollars are being spent — then we used the opportunity.”

Jennings said one way the trip benefited Delaware is her relationship and collaboration with Republican Lynn Fitch of Mississippi.

“We’re currently working with Congress on an issue that’s highly important in human trafficking,” Jennings said. “And that is whether all complaints that a nonprofit collects should be filtered to us, and we believe they all should. And that’s a yearslong endeavor. So there are good things that come out of these that would not come out” if law enforcement leaders from different states didn’t spend time together.

One highlight of the event was the overnight side trip to the 25,000-acre Aquila reserve, which also has a spa and infinity pool and beckons guests with its promise of “luxurious African hospitality, traditional culinary delights, service excellence.”

Though Jennings and White went on the safari, she didn’t rave about it or exclaim with delight — as Georgia AG Chris Carr did — of photos and videos of a lion, giraffe, zebra and other wildlife shared by an event staffer.

“We had lectures on poaching, animal conservation, also, frankly, on climate change because it looked pretty grim out there. Bone dry, bone dry,” Jennings said about the guided excursion.  “But yeah, it was nice. Everybody went on the safari and we got to see animals and then we came back.”

Jones of the American Accountability Foundation said that if Jennings believed it was so important to visit South Africa and join the safari, she should have publicized the trip.

“If this is so important to the operation of the Department of Justice in Delaware to go to South Africa, why wasn’t she telling the taxpayers of Delaware about how she learned about all these great endangered species issues at the wildlife safari?” Jones asked. “We all know why she didn’t tell anybody. Because it’s a junket to play with giraffes. It’s not a real fact-finding mission.”

‘Women’s empowerment’ confabs at Arizona, California resorts

Since the trip to South Africa, Jennings has gone twice with a female aide to a “women’s empowerment summit” paid for by AGA and its corporate sponsors.

The first was in February 2024 at the Miraval resort, a 400-acre desert oasis on Tucson’s outskirts.

The other was last month, at L’Auberge, a Pacific coast resort in Del Mar, California, that boasts of its “authentic blend of style and elegance” and tells guests the estate-style lodgings will be their “dream home by the sea.”

The empowerment summits, Jennings said, are annual events held by Karen White, AGA’s executive director.

“They are completely substantive,” Jennings said. “They involve panels from the time you have breakfast until the time you finish dinner. And that’s one of the reasons I think those panels are productive.”

Asked if she enjoyed a massage or other amenities at corporate expense while at the Miraval resort, Jenning said she didn’t get a massage.

“I did some hiking in the morning before we started our classes,” she said.

“No pampering?”

“I think I might have gotten a facial,” she said. “Like, okay. No taxpayer dollars spent.”

Jennings said she attended the sessions last month in southern California because of an issue dear to her heart.

“I went because I was on a panel to talk about domestic violence and the ways that we can lower the rate of domestic violence and help victims,” Jennings said. “I flew out and I flew back early because I am too busy, but I committed to Karen [White] that I would be there, so I was there. And again, no taxpayer dollars were spent.”

Jennings did take time while at the L’Auberge resort, however, to enjoy another corporate-paid facial treatment.

Jennings: Lobbyists’ efforts have ‘not made a difference’

Jennings said despite the fact the AGA trips are paid for by companies and filled with lobbyists, talking and socializing with those who represent special interests doesn’t deter her from working for the Delawareans’ best interests.

“Look, any politician who tells you they’re never going to be around lobbyists is not telling you the truth,” Jennings said. “We don’t have that option. Lobbyists are paid to figure out where we’re going to be and they are there too. It’s a fact of life everywhere you go.”

She pointed to Dover’s Legislative Hall, where a host of lobbyists camp out every day the General Assembly is in session.

Jennings said she’s able to resist the pressure at home and on the road.

“The issue here is influence,” Jennings said. “So let’s cut to the chase and talk about that. Look at my record and show me where we’ve been pulling punches.

“Our consumer protection division has been more active in the last six years than at any time in my career. We brought in around a quarter-billion dollars from Big Pharma. We sued three dozen oil companies over their role on climate change in Delaware, the lowest-lying state in the nation.”

“We sued DuPont and brought in the largest environmental recovery in the state’s history,” Jennings said. “We’ve sued Meta, we’ve sued Amazon, we’ve sued Google. None of them have spared any expense on their lobbying budgets and it has not made a difference.”

Jones countered that Jennings and the other attorneys general are simply wrong to accept free trips to venues filled with lobbyists and paid for by their employers.

“It’s ridiculous. Once you kind of scratch the surface of what these guys are doing here, it is incredibly transparent,” Jones said. “If any of the lobbyists and general counsels who are on these trips were to organize the trips themselves, in most places it would not be permissible. The public would be outraged. These trips are a joke.”

‘We were advised it was not necessary to report’ AGA trips

While Jennings hasn’t disclosed the trips paid for by AGA, since 2021 she has reported five separate “gifts” that were trips paid for by the Democratic Attorneys General Association, according to her Public Integrity Commission filings.

State law defines a gift as “a payment, subscription, advance, forbearance, rendering or deposit of money, services or anything of value unless consideration of equal or greater value is received.”

In the reports, Jennings noted that each trip was a “required event travel expense” in her role as the DAGA’s co-chair.

The total value of the five trips was $14,479, her reports showed.

Those DAGA events were held in San Francisco, Louisville, Kentucky, Asheville, North Carolina, Newport, Rhode Island and last summer in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention.

Marshall said his boss disclosed the DAGA trips because they were “partisan” Democratic events and “given the overt campaign activity, PIC disclosure for the travel was deemed appropriate.”

Those trips, Marshall said, are distinctly different from AGA events, which “are bipartisan and deal with governing rather than elections.”

Jennings said she spoke with commission officials “about travel and what should be reported and we were advised that it was not necessary to report” her corporate-funded trips with the Attorney General Alliance.

Should that advice from the commission change, Jennings said, “I’m going to amend a report if I need to amend a report.”

Commission chairman Chaney said inquiries about disclosure by state officials are always welcome and the PIC “will make determinations based on the facts and the law.”

Delaware government transparency advocate Flaherty said disclosure of the journey to South Africa and other trips is a no-brainer under the law. He noted that Delaware’s gift statute doesn’t distinguish between whether a trip is of a partisan or bipartisan nature, or address that issue at all.

“I would say this definitely comes under the definition of a gift and she should have disclosed it,” Flahety said of Jennings. “And there’s a serious appearance of impropriety in taking this trip with these sponsors having business before the state.”

For now, though, Jennings said her trips with AGA are on pause. She won’t be joining other attorneys general in Italy this month or later this year in the U.S. Virgin islands, and has no current plans to attend future events.

Jennings said it’s not because of the scrutiny by CNN and WHYY News, but because she’s focused on protecting Delaware from tens of millions of dollars in federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump.

“No, I’m not going to be going for the foreseeable future unless there is some strategic advantage for me being there, a specific strategic advantage,” she said. “And the reason is that it is taking up way too much bandwidth right now for us to be doing what we’re doing, although necessary. And that is pursuing Trump when he harms Delawareans.”

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.