Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty hires PR firm of public defenders to fight ‘misinformation’

When Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty wanted to condemn the Laken Riley Act, she tapped a previously unknown partner for help: a communications firm that aims to “dramatically decrease the legal system’s footprint in this country.”

The act, signed into law in late January, requires law enforcement officers to work with federal authorities to detain and potentially deport undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for certain serious crimes.

Moriarty characterized the federal law as politicians “weaponizing” Riley’s 2024 kidnapping and murder for political gain.

“There is no due process of law. There is no requirement that there be an actual conviction,” she said during a news conference at the time. “This bill preys on a popular lie, that noncitizens are drivers of crime in their communities.”

The firm that helped craft that message, Wren Collective, is staffed by former public defenders with social justice credentials who have seen “the dramatic failures of our legal system” and its “antiquated policies, power-hungry officials, or false but widely held narratives about safety,” according to the organization’s website.

Moriarty’s relationship with Wren Collective came to light June 3 when she asked the Hennepin County Board to increase how much her office could pay the firm by $60,000 for a total of $150,000 through the end of the year. Commissioners approved the request Tuesday.

Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesman for the county attorney, said Wren Collective was hired in November and has already been paid $75,000.

The contract is less than one quarter of 1% of Moriarty’s $84 million budget — which includes $8 million for community affairs and engagement.

Sarah Davis, director of the Children and Families Division of the County Attorney’s office, told the board Wren Collective was tapped to help communicate “complex legal issues” to the public. Davis said they recently negotiated a 50% discount from the firm.

She also said the County Attorney’s office was down a quarter of its communications staff.

“The work that we do is very complex and spans a wide range of issues,” Davis told the board. “Especially now, at a time when there are broad misinformation campaigns, it is really critical we have the ability to communicate this complex work in a way that can allow our community to engage with us.”

The contract puts the County Attorney’s office in open, consistent communication with Wren, especially on national topics.

Moriarty, a former Hennepin County Chief Public Defender, easily won election in 2022 after running as a reform candidate. She used language similar to the Wren Collective during her campaign when talking about the criminal justice system and the flaws she sees in it.

She has continued to promote ideas of reform while dealing with backlash to some of her charging and policy decisions from other political and law enforcement leaders.

Most recently, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into Moriarty’s office after a new charging policy came to light that asked prosecutors to consider the racial identity of criminal defendants at key decision points.

Jessica Brand, founder of the Wren Collective, said in a statement that it was “smart policy” to have outside communications experts help craft messages for public safety officials like Moriarty.

Brand said it ensures the reasons for Moriarty’s policies are easily understood by residents, “which is not simple in a world where people have been told only jail and prison help safety.”

This isn’t the first time Moriarty has gone to the county for unique expenditures.

Last year, the board approved a request to hire Washington D.C.-based law firm Steptoe LLP to take over the murder investigation into state trooper Ryan Londregan after he shot and killed Ricky Cobb II, who had attempted to flee a traffic stop. Londregan was initially charged with murder and manslaughter.

The County Attorney’s office spent $578,000 hiring Steptoe after its lead prosecutor on the case stepped aside.

That money came from a discretionary fund that is collected from criminal and civil seizures. The money is typically used for training and special projects. Steptoe recommended that Moriarty drop criminal charges against Londregan, which she ultimately did.

There have long been coordinated PR campaigns and political lobbying around public safety in Minnesota, but that messaging has become more urgent as the role of law enforcement has come under attack in the state, especially in Hennepin County after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

Last year, the Hennepin County Chiefs of Police hired the public relations firm K2 & Co. specifically to combat anti-law enforcement narratives that they claimed were originating from Moriarty’s office.

Kirsten Kukowski, the president of K2, said that her company is working to “shine a light on how and why law enforcement does their work to keep us safe, to put a human face on the officers behind the badge.”

She added that the need for PR firms has increased as law enforcement organizations have become more aware of the need for transparency around community policing.

The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association [MPPOA], which has criticized Moriarty extensively, has spent more than $350,000 on lobbying and public promotion over the last three years, according to publicly available tax documents.

Brian Peters, the executive director of the MPPOA, said the news that Moriarty had hired an outside organization was a “slap in the face” to law enforcement officers and citizens of Hennepin County who expect her to focus on prosecutions, not public relations.

“She’s spending public funds to protect her reputation,” Peters said.

Sources familiar with the role of lead prosecutors, who didn’t wish to speak on the record about Moriarty’s decision, said it’s not common for a county attorney in Minnesota to hire an outside public relations firm.

Moriarty said in a prepared statement Tuesday that hiring Wren Collective was justified because of the unique, coordinated national attacks against reform-minded prosecutors by “well-funded groups like the Heritage Foundation and police unions.”

She said those attacks can undermine any work her office is trying to accomplish on a local level and “derail anyone who wants a more fair and equitable system” of criminal justice.