Democrat AG Network Had Secret Plot Against Trump: Report

Nearly two dozen Democratic attorneys general across the United States developed a plot to sue Donald Trump’s second administration almost seven months before the president even won reelection, according to a “confidential” document obtained by The Center Square. Now, the network of attorneys general is reportedly coordinating to hide details surrounding the secretly planned litigation.

The Plot Against Trump

In April 2024, at least 22 Democratic attorneys general were already discussing legal challenges to hypothetical policies that the potential Trump administration could implement. The nationwide network even had a nickname for the plot, calling it the “Project for Federal Accountability.”

The Center Square noted that the effort “appears to have borne fruit, with approximately 100 multistate lawsuits filed against the Trump administration since January 2025.” Most of the attorneys general involved in the plot have dismissed calls for clarity on the situation, withholding “thousands of emails that would provide additional context.”

Releasing files related to the plot “would not be in the public interest,” according to the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who denied The Center Square’s request for public records. Deputy Attorney General Liberty Sacker also argued that fulfilling the records request would be too burdensome – but then she, perhaps unintentionally, may have given the game away:

“Your request could encompass emails pertaining to 82 lawsuits. ... We anticipate that any responsive email communications would be exempt from disclosure pursuant to the attorney-client privilege, the attorney work product doctrine, the official information privilege, the deliberative process privilege, the pending litigation exemption, and/or the investigative files exemption.”

Has the network of Democratic attorneys general filed more than 80 coordinated lawsuits against the Trump administration? Nothing inspires confidence in government quite like secrecy and a coordinated legal plot devised before either the targeted policies or the administration behind them even existed.

The Network

According to The Center Square, attorneys general in almost two dozen states and Washington, DC, have either withheld requested records or refused to comment.

The list of states reportedly involved in the plot includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Like California, the attorneys general of Nevada and Maryland were similarly resistant to records requests, with the Silver State’s AG, Aaron Ford, claiming the files are “protected by common interest privilege.”

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The attorneys general’s offices of at least California, Nevada, and Maryland reportedly signed such an agreement, which is a legal arrangement that can help state officials keep coordinated litigation strategies confidential.

However, according to retired Connecticut judge Thomas Moukawsher, such an agreement would not protect documents concerning potential lawsuits over possible policies that might never be enacted by a candidate running for president.

“Parties with the same interests need to be able to speak with their lawyers confidentially,” Moukawsher explained. “What is their common interest? We can’t establish what their common interests are. ... If I was sitting as a judge on the case, I’d say you need to have something a little more specific. ... I despise Donald Trump, but he's entitled to the law as much as anyone else is.”

Attorneys general from New York and Washington State released some records, but they were heavily redacted. Oregon’s attorney general’s office found more than 1,000 emails related to the Project for Federal Accountability, but they have not been released.

Given the plot began months before Trump even won the 2024 presidential election, and considering the network’s ongoing secrecy, it looks less like an effort to ensure accountability and more like organized obstruction. Either way, the American people deserve transparency – especially those who voted for Trump in the states involved.