‘That’s absurd’: AG Nick Brown slams DOJ’s noncitizen voter claims, says Washington’s tax system is ‘exactly wrong’

Washington Attorney General (AG) Nick Brown is pushing back on the Justice Department’s claim that hundreds of noncitizens are on the state’s voter rolls. He questioned why federal prosecutors waited until a week before Election Day to raise the issue.

“The Department of Justice waited until seven days before the election, when ballots were in the mail, when people have already voted,” Brown said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “That’s absurd.”

Brown joined KIRO host Ursula Reutin and fill-in host Mike Lewis in studio days before voters decide whether to repeal Washington’s new tax on income above $1 million. He also talked about the state’s tax system and the parts of his office’s work that don’t make headlines.

Brown questions DOJ’s timing

Brown worked as an assistant U.S. attorney under President George W. Bush and later served as U.S. attorney under President Joe Biden. He said he used to have “a lot of respect and reverence” for the Justice Department.

“I say used to because I think what the Department of Justice has become is expressly an arm of Donald Trump,” he said.

Brown said Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ response to the federal list correctly pointed out its errors, including the wrong date for the election. He argued that some of the alleged cases go back 20 years, so prosecutors could have raised them months ago.

“What stopped them in May or June from raising these same issues?” Brown asked.

He added that the secretary of state’s office removes ineligible voters from the rolls regularly, especially in the run-up to an election.

When Lewis asked why federal officials would act so close to the election, Brown pointed to the president.

“I do think the motive is to cause chaos, is to cause fear,” Brown said. “He does not want people to vote, and I think what he’s doing is trying to intimidate people all across this country from voting.”

He also reminded federal prosecutors in Washington that state law and Washington State Bar Association rules set ethical standards they’re expected to follow, including against threats aimed at voters and election workers.

‘Exactly the wrong way to do it’

Brown was careful when asked about the millionaires tax, because his office will have to defend the law in court. The central legal question, he said, is whether a 1933 state Supreme Court ruling that treats income as property was decided correctly.

“I do think that law was incorrectly decided, but I’m going to let our words and actions speak in court on that one,” he said.

Lewis pressed him on the bigger question: Should Washington have an income tax?

Brown didn’t answer directly, but he said the current system puts too much of the burden on people with lower incomes. He said Washington used to have the most regressive tax system in the country and now ranks second-worst.

“I think our current tax system is exactly the wrong way to do it,” Brown said. “If we were starting from scratch, I don’t think we would ever devise the system that we have now.”

Ursula asked what would stop future lawmakers from lowering the $1 million threshold if the 1933 ruling falls. Brown said voters can hold them accountable. Ursula noted that many listeners texting the show pointed to the $30 car tab initiative, which voters passed but never took effect.

Brown said that measure ran into its own legal problems. He pointed to the natural gas initiative as another example. He said he didn’t support it as policy, but his office defended it in court because voters passed it. The state Supreme Court later struck it down.

“It is really important when people advance an initiative or when the legislature passes law that they do so constitutionally,” Brown said.

The cases that don’t make headlines

Lewis asked what work Brown’s office does that deserves more attention than its lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Brown pointed to consumer protection and antitrust cases. He said Washington recently joined other states in a $220 million national settlement with General Motors over claims the company shared drivers’ data with third parties without their knowledge. Just over $12 million of it is going to Washingtonians, he said.

He’s most proud of the state’s lemon law program. Brown said his office represents people who buy defective cars and recovers more than $1.2 million a month for them.

He also mentioned a recent lawsuit to block a merger between two of the country’s largest playground equipment makers. Brown said the merger would raise costs for cities trying to build safe playgrounds.

“It has nothing to do with Donald Trump, and I’m really proud of that work for the state,” he said.

‘Unchecked authoritarianism’

Asked what worries him most, Brown pointed to the growing power of the presidency.

“I worry about unchecked authoritarianism. I worry about absurd levels of corruption,” he said.

He said the concern goes beyond Trump.

“The next president, whoever that person is, she’s going to have more power than any president’s ever had before,” Brown said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.