Attorney General Bob Ferguson Says His Office Will Be Instrumental In Fighting Trump Agenda
Around 9 p.m. on election night, as the tables began to turn, and Washington state Democrats began to seriously doubt their certainty of a Madame President, Attorney General Bob Ferguson got up to the podium. He and other officials at the Democrats’ November 8 gathering at the Westin in Seattle weren’t ready to fully concede – not yet. But Ferguson assured the room, with some gravitas, that “if the truly unthinkable were to happen, I want to tell you who the most important officials in the country are: Your Democratic attorneys general. We can hold your elected officials accountable to the rule of law.”
Today, considering that the unthinkable did happen, he stands true to that promise. Ferguson and many other Democratic attorneys general across the country have made a number of public statements to support that idea: They say they can — and will — take an outsized role in the efforts to protect civil liberties, environmental regulation, and many other federal policies perceived to be under threat by the incoming Donald Trump administration. Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro, for instance, told the New York Times that he turned down the opportunity to run for U.S. Senate in favor of the AG position because “I believe it to be the most impactful job in government today.”
Ferguson agrees. “I believe that to be true,” he says. “Just look at the dysfunction of Congress. Getting things done in government today is not easy. And that’s an understatement. Attorneys general have tremendous freedom, and the ability to right wrongs. Frankly, that’s what I love about the job.”
Democratic attorneys general have certainly been agitating since November 8. They’ve noted their ability to defend civil rights – such as if the new administration makes good on Trump’s vague and volatile promise to create some kind of Muslim registry. (“Yes,” Ferguson says, very firmly, when asked if he would work to fight a move like that.) Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey — currently heading a fraud investigation against ExxonMobil for knowingly selling products that contribute to climate change — has vowed that she “won’t hesitate to take Donald Trump to court if he carries out his unconstitutional campaign promises.” Incoming California attorney general Xavier Becerra has said he’s prepared to protect his state’s policies on immigration, health care, energy, and criminal justice — and almost dared the the new federal government to “come at us” with threats to those policies.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/attorney-general-bob-ferguson-says-his-office-will-be-instrumental-in-fighting-trump-agenda/
