Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird spoke on “Iowa Press” Aug. 30, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Iowa PBS)
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said her recent decision to investigate a New York-based financial services firm comes amid rising concerns about antisemitism in businesses.
Bird launched an investigation into MSCI, a financial investment company providing data and analytics tools for investment funds, on Thursday over allegations of the company targeting Israel-affiliated businesses. Speaking Friday on “Iowa Press,” Bird, a Republican, said the investigation is based on concerns that MSCI’s scoring system for investments gives low scores to Israeli companies and businesses that work with Israel.
“We have a subpoena to get the documents to get to the bottom of what is going on here, because we cannot let antisemitism pollute the corporate world,” Bird said. “And we have seen, especially after October 7th and those brutal attacks, we have seen that showing itself in our society. It’s something that I personally believe very strongly in and I stand with Israel.”
MSCI uses a scoring system involves rating companies on environmental, social and governmental (ESG) factors, in addition to other financial standards typically used to measure investments. ESG strategies have become more common in businesses that say they want to pursue investments that look at impacts beyond maximizing returns, but Republicans in states like Iowa say ESG measures unfairly discriminate against businesses and industries like firearms manufacturing and fossil fuel production.
Iowa GOP lawmakers have previously advanced measures to ban the state from public fund investments with companies that use ESG strategies, but officials say systems like the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System already do not use ESG investing practices.
Bird led a coalition of attorneys general in a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department earlier in August that opposed limiting state restrictions on banks using ESG strategies when investing.
In addition to pursuing a subpoena of MSCI, Bird spoke on “Iowa Press” about her other efforts to combat antisemitism, including the statewide antisemitism task force established in May. Allegations of antisemitic hate crimes have risen following the Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli action in Gaza that spurred protests across the U.S., particularly actions on college campuses calling for a ceasefire.
The attorney general said the task force is planning a training session with law enforcement, prosecutors and professionals in education to address the issue of antisemitic hate crimes as well as the issue of “free speech within the education or university context.”
“I think it’s really important to do this, to realize that our law enforcement and prosecutors have to be trained on what is a hate crime (and) what do you need in order to prove that in court,” Bird said. “And if they don’t know that, they may not recognize it when they see it if they haven’t been trained on that. So, our goal with this training is to make sure that people have the tools they need so when they see it, they can gather that evidence, file the appropriate charge and then be able to pursue it and if they need help our office is there as a resource.”
She said the training on hate crime laws will be applicable to “many types of hate crimes,” but that there will be specific training on antisemitism as well.
Bird also spoke about her lawsuits against the Biden administration while serving as attorney general. She said she did not know the number of lawsuits she has filed against the Biden administration, but said that she did not see these legal challenges as politically motivated — a criticism she levied against the New York criminal trial of former President Donald Trump. Bird, who endorsed Trump for the GOP nomination during the 2024 Iowa caucuses, joined Trump at the trial earlier this year.
“To be clear, I have never sued President Biden or Vice President Harris personally, only in the official capacity over important matters of the Constitution and law, legal matters,” Bird said. “I have never prosecuted them. And what I saw in New York, and I went there to support President Trump because as a prosecutor I wanted to see what was going on. … But I think politics has no place in a criminal prosecution. I think that’s wrong. As a county attorney, I didn’t know the politics of defendants I would prosecute, and if I did it wouldn’t matter. And what happened in New York is something that hurts our whole justice system and hurts our rule of law.”