GOP State Treasurers Targeting AT&T Following BlackRock Divestment

State Treasurer of Nebraska John Murante (R), joined by the Republican State Treasurers of Louisiana, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming, has delivered a warning shot to AT&T, sending a letter to the telecom giant demanding answers regarding its blacklisting of the One America News (OAN) network.

The move comes amid a rapid escalation in the willingness of Republican state treasurers to flex their financial muscles against corporations that gave fallen to political partisanship.

Both Louisiana and Missouri have recently divested from BlackRock over its far-left turn, with over a billion dollars in pension funds removed from the financial giant’s management so far.

BREAKING NEWS: Another divestment for@ @Blackrock. This time $500 Million ⁦from @MOTreasurer @FitzpatrickMO⁩.

Missouri the latest state to divest from ⁦@BlackRock⁩ over #ESG initiatives: ‘Woke political agenda’https://t.co/WTMU7OqpvI

— State Financial Officers Foundation (@SFOF_States) October 18, 2022

AT&T, which blacklisted the conservative OAN network from DirecTV, its satelite TV distribution service earlier this year following pressure from Democrat politicians and Democrat-aligned activist groups, may be the next target for Republican states looking to check the rise of corporate tyranny.

In their letter to AT&T, the state treasurers accuse the company of prioritizing partisan concerns over its fiduciary duty to shareholders in dropping OAN.

The letter can be read in full below:

The state treasurers make it clear that they believe DirecTV’s decision to deplatform OAN was driven by political pressure and political bias.

“Based on the timing of DirecTV’s decision to coincide with politically-motivated pressure campaigns, the lack of a plausible business rationale, and DirecTV’s general decline in subscribers, it appears DirecTV acted based on political or personal motives, rather than out of financial concern for AT&T’s shareholders and other beneficiaries,” wrote the state treasurers.

“More than a breach of fiduciary duty, AT&T’s decision brands the company as a partisan operative, damaging its reputation with consumers, other cable channels, and the public writ large.”

The move by state treasurers comes as AT&T is facing scrutiny in other states, for different reasons. In Illinois, the telecoms company recently agreed to pay $23 million to resolve a federal investigation

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.