Ferguson, next AG Brown prepare for lawsuits against another Trump admin

Just two days after being elected governor, Attorney General Bob Ferguson told reporters at a press conference Thursday he is preparing his successor, Attorney General-elect Nick Brown, for potential litigation against the incoming Donald Trump administration.

Flanked by a group of state lawyers, Ferguson said he was “concerned” about Trump’s expected policies and campaign promises, such as mass deportations, restricting abortion rights and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA is an Obama-era program that has prevented the deportation of children who were brought into the nation illegally.

It could mean more future courtroom battles between the state’s highest legal office and the federal government — a familiar tone to many who kept up with politics in Trump’s first term when Ferguson’s office filed or took part in almost 100 such lawsuits.

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“My approach is not to seek an adversary relationship (with Trump), but if anyone takes an action that harms Washingtonians, well obviously, it’s my job as attorney general to do something if we think it’s illegal,” he said.

But in January, Ferguson will be sworn in as Washington’s next governor, replacing Governor Jay Inslee, who reportedly had an aid request ignored by the last Trump administration after wildfires ravaged the state.

“I want to be clear: I hope to God, I pray that the things we’re talking about don’t come to pass,” Ferguson said when asked how he’d handle Trump’s return to the White House. “Wonderful – if this team never has to file a single lawsuit against the Trump administration, no one would be more happy than me.”

Ferguson – who will become the commander-in-chief of Washington’s National Guard as governor — refused to go into specifics on how he would respond to Trump’s plan to use National Guard troops to carry out mass deportations in the state. He repeatedly cited the need to keep legal strategies confidential.

Instead, he laid out his criteria for taking action, which he said guided the attorney general’s office in the past.

“Is the action illegal, unconstitutional, are Washingtonians being harmed, and do I, as attorney general, have standing,” he said.

Figures from a Washington Office of Financial Management report show, as of 2021, about 304,000 people were living in the state illegally, about 3.8% of Washington’s total population.

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When asked about Trump’s suggestion of using the military against who he deems as “enemies from within” – a term in which Trump includes a nebulous group of Americans and the “radical left” – Ferguson called it “deeply un-American.”

“If he acts on that in a way that is illegal and un-American, obviously I’ll have thoughts about that as the governor and would do everything I could to protect whatever individuals that would be under attack,” Ferguson said. “I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that, but I did find those words to be especially concerning. That’s an understatement.”

Jim Walsh, the Washington State Republican Party Chair, told Axios on Thursday he wanted Ferguson to “reconsider” his approach, saying the governor-elect has “petty, partisan obsessions” with Trump.

Sam Campbell is a reporter, editor and anchor at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Sam’s stories here. Follow Sam on X, or email him here.

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