Local prosecutors send message to U.S. federal agents: 'FAFO'
Dozens of state AGs and district attorneys refuse to bend to the Trump DOJ's threats against them investigating federal agents.
All Rise News conducted video interviews with three state and local prosecutors for this story.
Late last year, Donald Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer turned Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche threatened to prosecute state and local officials who tried to arrest and charge federal agents.
The list of state attorneys general and district attorneys ignoring him keeps growing longer.
On Tuesday, nine progressive prosecutors around the country formed the cheekily named Fight Against Federal Overreach (FAFO), forming the acronym for “F—- Around and Find Out.” Their founding members include Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who opened investigations into the federal agents who gunned down Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Moriarty has publicly stated that she expects to be able to reach charging decisions, even amid federal interference with her probes.
Another founding member, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Parisi Dehghani-Tafti for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, told All Rise News that their group won’t be bullied.
“State prosecutors are a scrappy bunch,” Dehghani-Tafti said. “We see the worst of the worst, and we support victims. And we try to rehabilitate defendants. We’ve seen it all, and it’s hard to intimidate us.”
Possible Action Item: Report Misconduct
State and local authorities in New York, California, Illinois, and Oregon have created online portals to report misconduct by federal immigration agents.
Call your representatives to learn about or encourage similar initiatives in your state.
‘Dangerous and inappropriate’
Also on Tuesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the guidance sent to state and local law enforcement created in coordination with Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“State and local law enforcement agencies maintain independent authority to investigate all potential violations of California state law even in instances where federal authorities may decline to cooperate,” the two-page guidance states in boldface text.
In October, Blanche posted a letter with a sweeping interpretation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which gives federal law precedence over conflicts with the state. The Trump Justice Department’s radical interpretation of that principle came with an explicit threat to California leaders: “Stand down or face prosecution.”
Unbowed, Bonta said it was necessary to correct the record.
“We felt it was necessary to issue this guidance now in light of the blatant misrepresentations by the federal government on this very issue,” Bonta told All Rise News in a video interview. “It's consistent with their ongoing attempts to bully and bluff and bluster to try to get what they want, but we know what the law provides for. And they have been saying things that were completely illegal and frankly very dangerous and inappropriate.”
Bonta rejected the federal government’s threats as “gaslighting” designed to intimidate.
“They want us to think it's futile,” Bonta said. “They want us to not even try, to not even exercise the authority that we have — frankly, the duty that we have — to protect the health, safety and welfare of our people, to protect them from being victims of crime, to hold criminals accountable when they hurt Californians on California soil.”
In December, California launched an online portal to report federal agents’ misconduct. Bonta described both the need for the tool and the public response as “unprecedented.”
“What we receive in the portal could add, complement, supplement, buttress what we know,” Bonta said. “Sometimes we’re hearing things that are completely unique through the portal. I can’t comment on it further except to say that it’s being utilized.”
‘Stood up and fought’
Bearing the brunt of the federal government’s attempted intimidation, California’s refusal to bend may be uniquely notable, but the playbook for the state’s counteroffensive has found an expanding coalition.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully rebuffed two efforts by Trump’s Justice Department to prosecute her, opened a similar portal to report ICE misconduct.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker established the Illinois Accountability Commission with a similar portal, and the Oregon Department of Justice’s official page directs visitors to the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition’s page for reporting ICE activity.
State attorneys general alliances are now commonplace in opposing the federal government’s actions, typically along party lines.
“Fortunately, there are really strong attorneys general across the country — at least 23 of them that have stood up and fought,” former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin told All Rise News in a video interview.
Before his term expired last week, Platkin joined one of those coalitions supporting the state of Minnesota’s effort to end, in the words of its lawsuit, the “federal invasion of the Twin Cities.”
“If left unchecked, the federal government will no doubt be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and to repeat it elsewhere,” the amicus brief said.
Platkin said that the public response buoys those efforts.
“I applaud every American who is out on the streets right now standing up for the rule of law,” he told All Rise News. “I applaud every attorney general who’s in court right now standing up for the rule of law. I think this is a battle for the soul of our nation. And I think if we want to say we stand up for core principles of who we are, who we’ve been, as we’re heading into the 250th anniversary of this nation, then we certainly can’t be a nation that allows federal officers to gun down innocent Americans with impunity.”
On Friday, a 22-state coalition sent a letter denouncing Attorney General Pam Bondi’s letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz linking the immigration surge to the state’s laws and policies.
Echoing an attorney for the state of Minnesota’s characterization of the letter as “extortion,” the states called it “an intolerable threat” to their sovereignty “as well as against our democracy.”
Editor’s Note: Look out for each of the video interviews quoted in this article on the All Rise News playlist of Legal AF.
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Bravo Moriarty, Bonta,and Platkin!