Kamala Harris’ Chief of Staff Fought to Shield Big Tobacco from Liability

Tina Flournoy, Vice President Kamala Harris’ chief of staff, was an executive at tobacco giant Philip Morris in the mid-1990s where she worked to shield the company from liability. 

New reporting from Fox News details Flournoy’s work at Philip Morris, including a memo that laid out her “goals for 1996.” Those goals included…

• Repealing a newly passed Florida state law that allowed the state to sue tobacco companies
• “Work with USA to kill medicaid liability bills as they arise – at the moment, dealing with one in MD.”
• “Work with USA to prevent additional medicaid liability suits from being filed”

Philip Morris was sued by the federal government and accused of leveraging its charitable giving to target minority communities who were disproportionately impacted by tobacco products. An Amicus Brief filed by a coalition of advocacy groups cited a letter sent to Flournoy by the NAACP’s Elaine Jones. 

Amicus Brief, USA v. Philip Morris: “The Defendants also acted to win over African American organizations by giving them hundreds of thousands of dollars of tobacco money each year. The tobacco industry funded the fortieth anniversary gala of The United Negro College Fund as well as events by the NAACP, the Urban League and other organizations.”

The Biden Administration recently announced plans to take direct aim at tobacco companies with a plan to ban menthol cigarettes. Philip Morris and its parent company Altria are opposed to the ban. 

The look into Flournoy’s career at Philip Morris comes as the Vice President’s office is in a state of disarray as staff complains of an abusive, unhealthy working environment marred by constant dysfunction. 

Bottom Line: Tina Flournoy’s tenure at Philip Morris is a revealing look at one of the administration’s most influential staffers. Her work at the tobacco giant is sure to spark questions from fellow Democrats who, as Politico reported, are already questioning her leadership of the Vice President’s office.