After Idaho AG Wasden’s loss in primary, deputy attorney general accepts new gig
Idaho Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane, who worked for decades as a litigator for the state’s top attorney and advised the Idaho Legislature on legal matters, has accepted a new role to lead the National Association of Attorneys General.
Kane will be the new executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based group, a coalition of state attorneys that provides a forum for policy discussions as well as advocacy and training services.
“I am grateful to accept this opportunity,” Kane said in a news release. “I look forward to meeting with each (National Association of Attorneys General) member individually and continuing the great bipartisan work of our nation’s attorneys general.”
Kane told the Idaho Statesman that NAAG gained notoriety for facilitating the Master Settlement Agreement. The 1998 deal, which involved the four largest U.S. tobacco companies and 52 territory attorneys general, recovered billions of dollars for smoking-related health care costs.
Kane will start the new job in mid-September and exit the Idaho attorney general’s office before new leadership takes over in January. He has worked under Attorney General Lawrence Wasden since 2003. In May, Wasden lost his reelection bid in the Republican primary, ending a five-term run. Former U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador defeated the incumbent to secure the GOP nomination.
Kane said he didn’t know whether he could have secured a role under the next Idaho attorney general.
“I have worked with and served Attorney General Wasden for a number of years, and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for the opportunities and the confidence that he’s placed in me,” Kane told the Statesman by phone. “It’s also kind of a natural spot for me to think about a transition and next steps.”
Kane ‘has the right skill set’ for new role, Idaho AG says
A bipartisan selection committee, with five Republican and five Democratic attorneys general, unanimously chose Kane to lead the NAAG. He will facilitate member relations, lead day-to-day operations, and coordinate the group’s policy centers and training programs, the news release said.
“Brian Kane will be a great executive director. He has the experience, skill, judgment, sense of humor and humility necessary to navigate the challenges of this role,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat and president of the National Association of Attorneys General, said in the release. “He has won awards from NAAG for his ability to lead and teach AG staffers, and chief deputies around the country turn to him for counsel.”
Kane joined the Idaho attorney general’s office in 2001 and has held multiple titles. From 2005 to 2021, he served as assistant chief deputy attorney general until he was promoted to chief deputy last year.
Among his duties is providing legal counsel to the Idaho Legislature, which, in recent years, has involved interpreting the constitutional implications of anti-abortion laws and dissecting the Idaho House’s unprecedented decision last year to recess rather than adjourn the legislative session. Kane also provides counsel to elected officials, such as the Idaho secretary of state.
That experience will lend itself to his new role, which involves working with a “large, diverse group of attorneys general,” Kane told the Statesman.
“It is very similar to the work that I do with the Legislature,” he said. “We’ve got 105 folks here from different backgrounds and different experiences, different political parties. Corralling all of that into something productive isn’t easy. It’s challenging, and ... I think I’ve acquired that skill set through my work over the years.”
Wasden said the national group is “near and dear to my heart” and “I’m thrilled with Brian’s selection.”
“He’s been an integral part of my leadership team and has the right skill set to successfully lead NAAG in 2022 and beyond,” Wasden said in the news release.
Kane holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Idaho and a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran.
Kane’s first day in the new job is Sept. 19.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 12:59 PM.
