Group behind AG recall effort plans to focus on election instead

An attempt to recall Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson for violating the law and his oath of office was thrown out by a King County Superior Court judge Friday morning.

Matt Marshall of pro-Constitution group Washington State Three Percent was attempting to call a statewide citizens’ recall, a process through which citizens could have voted on whether or not to remove Ferguson from office before his term ends in a year.

The case was dismissed for failing to show all evidence in its initial filing with the Washington State Secretary of State’s Office. While the initial filing listed every law that Ferguson has broken, the 60 pages of evidence presented in court Friday covered these violations in far greater detail, with information such as dates, locations, and quotes.

Marshall listed as one example of a violation the fact that Ferguson sponsored a ballot initiative — 2018 gun reform measure I-1639 — while serving as the state’s chief attorney and legal adviser.

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“As the executive branch, he was trying to introduce legislation,” Marshall said to KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “And then he sponsored, helped with, and supported the initiative process.”

He also had in his documentation Ferguson’s refusal to uphold the Washington State Constitution, as well of his conflicts of interest in the I-976 lawsuit, in which Ferguson serves as the state’s defendant while having a years-long campaign finance lawsuit against the initiative’s sponsor, Tim Eyman.

“He’s obviously a corrupt politician, and we were really hoping we’d get a little more traction with this,” Marshall said. “But now it’s time to support other candidates and make sure he doesn’t get reelected.”

They do not plan to appeal the judge’s decision, but instead to focus on defeating Attorney General Ferguson in the upcoming November 2020 election.

“It’s a better use of our resources to find other ways to fight some of the legislation that’s coming up and support other candidates,” he said.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.