This week, House Republicans are pushing forward with their bogus impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Instead of coming to the table with solutions to help fix our immigration system, Republicans have invited a slate of three MAGA attorneys general representing states thousands of miles from the southern border to testify at their first impeachment-focused hearing. All three have joined in on MAGA court efforts supporting former President Trump and have used their positions to score partisan points by attacking the Biden administration. This hearing is just the latest GOP distraction as they fail to take any action on immigration reform. They have sabotaged deal after deal on the border and spent nearly two decades walking away from the issue, rejecting bipartisan proposals over and over again.
House Republicans have made it clear that they are more interested in scoring points with their MAGA base than actually reforming our country’s immigration system. Trump’s MAGA allies in Congress are following the Trump playbook once again, playing partisan political games to harm the Biden administration and hurt Democrats.
WITNESSES
Austin Knudsen
Montana Attorney General, Vice Chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association
Knudsen Is Facing An Ethics Investigation on 41 Counts of Prosecutorial Misconduct. The Attorney General is currently facing an investigation by an ethics office into 41 counts of prosecutorial misconduct alleged by local attorneys: “The complaint alleges 41 violations of the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct stemming from 2021 litigation about the Legislature’s ability to subpoena judicial documents that marked a high point in that conflict. Many of the counts focus on a letter from the late Chief Deputy Attorney General Kris Hansen to Justice Jim Rice — who acted as chief justice in the stead of Mike McGrath during the lawsuit — flouting a court order that quashed legislative subpoenas for court documents and accusing the court of interfering with legislative business. […] The complaint alleges that ‘sending the Court a letter to reargue an issue, resist the ruling, or insult the judge constitutes a knowing disobedience of an obligation under the rules of a tribunal,’ a violation covered under professional conduct rule 3.4: ‘Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel.’”
Knudsen Serves As Vice Chair of the MAGA Republican Attorneys General Association. Knudsen is currently serving as vice chair of RAGA, a MAGA organization which vehemently supported Trump’s election fraud claims after the 2020 election and was involved in an infamous robocall inciting “patriots” to join Trump’s Ellipse rally on January 6th, stating, “We will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal. Though Knudsen was not part of RAGA at the time, the organization has continued to maintain ties to the group that commissioned the January 6th robocall.
Knudsen Has Used His Position to Defend Donald Trump From Criminal Proceedings. Over the past two years, Kundsen has used his office to defend the former president from the myriad criminal proceedings against him:
- Knudsen Joined a MAGA State Coalition Interfering In Court Proceedings Against Former President Trump, Defending Trump After He Attacked Judges, Prosecutors, and Potential Witnesses. In November 2023, Kundsen signed onto an amicus brief objecting to court penalties imposed on former president Trump for violating the terms of his indictment and attacking the judge involved in his case: “Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined 18 other state attorneys general in asking a court of appeals to reverse an unconstitutional gag order on President Donald Trump. […] The attorneys general filed an amicus brief Tuesday in support of Trump in United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump. In October, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the gag order on Trump barring him and his lawyers from criticizing the court, prosecutors, and potential witnesses – who could even be his primary opponents – leading into the presidential election.” [Attorney General Austin Knudsen Press Release, 11/15/23]
- Knudsen Joined An Amicus Brief Supporting Former President Trump’s Withholding of Classified Documents. In September 2022, Knudsen signed onto an amicus brief objecting to the Department of Justice’s investigation into the former president’s possession of classified documents. Knudsen’s coalition labeled the investigation a “ransacking” by the Biden administration.
- Knudsen Joined An Amicus Brief Seeking to Withhold Witness Testimony in Trump’s Georgia Grand Jury Probe. In September 2022, Knudsen signed onto an amicus brief arguing that a key witness in the Georgia grand jury investigation into former president Trump’s election interference, Senator Lindsey Graham, should not be compelled to testify.
Knudsen Has Repeatedly Been Called Out For Spreading Unsupported Election Allegations and Attacking Local Election Offices. In August 2023, Attorney General Knudsen told a radio audience that local election officials in Montana “stonewalled” state investigations into voter misconduct. Contrary to his claim, however, there have been no documented state investigations into voter misconduct in Montana since Knudsen took office in January 2021. Local journalists spent weeks working to “confirm the existence of such an investigation or to clarify Knudsen’s remarks,” finding: “No state investigation into local election-related allegations, or conflict between state and local election administrators, has previously been reported, documented, or otherwise referenced in the public record. Knudsen’s office did not respond to or acknowledge receipt of four emails from MTFP requesting information about state-level investigations into election allegations in Missoula County. A fifth email request last week seeking confirmation that the office had received MTFP’s requests and clarification of Knudsen’s comments elicited the following response, in full, from Department of Justice Deputy Communications Director Emilee Cantrell: ‘Got it. Looking into it is not something we have time to do for you.’ An email to statewide elections administrator and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s office inquiring about any such investigation also went unanswered.”
Knudsen Met With Election Conspiracy Ringleader Mike Lindell, Who Lobbied State Attorneys General To Challenge the 2020 Election Results. “After months of pressing their case with various elected officials in Montana, several people who have raised questions and allegations about the state’s 2020 election met last month with Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s staff. […] Lindell had presented Knudsen with information they claim supports their allegations of election fraud in the 2020 election. […] ‘The purpose of the meeting was to present evidence of election irregularities and vulnerabilities to the AG for consideration, with the goal of having him sign on in support of the lawsuit Lindell intended to drop on Nov. 23rd.’” [Montana Free Press, 12/3/21]
Knudsen Has A Long History of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment, Opposing Syrian Refugee Resettlement In The U.S. During The War Against ISIS. In 2016, Knudsen published an editorial piece opposing Obama-era policy allowing a small number of highly-vetted Syrian refugees escaping violence to enter the United States, writing, “Much of this Muslim culture is foreign and strange to us.” His comments came amid a U.S.-led intervention against an extremist terror group known as the Islamic State (ISIS) that seized large population centers in Syria. The U.S. admitted just over 12,500 refugees in 2016 – an extremely small contingent of the nearly 5 million civilians fleeing Syria at the time.
Andrew Bailey
Missouri Attorney General
As Missouri Attorney General, Bailey Has Used His Office To Litigate Right-Wing Grievances and Has Pushed To Expand The Power of His Office. “Bailey has shaped the attorney general’s office into his own battleground in the conservative culture wars. The unelected Republican has pushed the boundaries of the office, attempting to use state law to effectively ban gender-affirming care for both adults and kids in April. He deployed a rarely-used legal maneuver in an effort to take down the top elected prosecutor in St. Louis. He tried to circumvent Republican Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick to inflate the cost of a ballot measure to restore abortion rights. And he’s wielded the office to take on President Joe Biden and the federal government, although he has not led many of the lawsuits championed by his office.” [The Kansas City Star, 6/25/23]
Bailey Has Used His Position To Push Partisan Lawsuits and Defend Donald Trump From Criminal Proceedings. Over the past year, Bailey has used his office to defend the former president from the myriad criminal proceedings against him:
- December 2023: Bailey Joined a MAGA State Coalition Supporting Trump In the Federal Case Prosecuting His Involvement In January 6th. In December 2023, Bailey joined a multi-state amicus brief supporting former President Donald Trump in a case over his involvement in the January 6th insurrection. The attorneys general opposed holding the trial before the 2024 election, arguing that the case did not “require immediate determination.”
- November 2023: Bailey Joined a MAGA State Coalition Interfering In Court Proceedings Against Former President Trump, Defending Trump After He Attacked Judges, Prosecutors, and Potential Witnesses. In November 2023, Bailey signed onto an amicus brief objecting to court penalties imposed on former president Trump for violating the terms of his indictment and attacking the judge involved in his case: “The attorneys general filed an amicus brief Tuesday in support of Trump in United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump. In October, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the gag order on Trump barring him and his lawyers from criticizing the court, prosecutors, and potential witnesses – who could even be his primary opponents – leading into the presidential election.”
- May 2023: Bailey Joined A Partisan Lawsuit Against the Biden Administration Based On Policy Disagreements. In May 2023, Bailey joined a coalition of Republican attorneys general in a partisan lawsuit attacking the Biden administration’s border policy.
Gentner Drummond
Oklahoma Attorney General
Drummond Has Used His Position To Push Partisan Lawsuits and Defend Donald Trump From Criminal Proceedings. Over the past year, Drummond has used his office to defend the former president from the myriad criminal proceedings against him:
- November 2023: Drummond Joined a MAGA State Coalition Interfering In Court Proceedings Against Former President Trump, Defending Trump After He Attacked Judges, Prosecutors, and Potential Witnesses. In November 2023, Drummond signed onto an amicus brief objecting to court penalties imposed on former president Trump for violating the terms of his indictment and attacking the judge involved in his case: “The attorneys general filed an amicus brief Tuesday in support of Trump in United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump. In October, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the gag order on Trump barring him and his lawyers from criticizing the court, prosecutors, and potential witnesses – who could even be his primary opponents – leading into the presidential election.” [Attorney General Austin Knudsen Press Release, 11/15/23]
- May 2023: Drummond Joined A Partisan Lawsuit Against the Biden Administration Based On Policy Disagreements. In May 2023, Drummond joined a coalition of Republican attorneys general in a partisan lawsuit attacking the Biden administration’s border policy.
Drummond Said He Would Prioritize Investigating Misused COVID-19 Relief Funds – Even Though Drummond Himself Received Pandemic Relief Funds Provided By A Bank He Owns. Days before his inauguration, Drummond said that investigating the misuse of pandemic relief funds would be a priority early in his tenure. Yet Drummond himself should have been a target of such an investigation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Drummond received $3.6 million in pandemic relief funds for several of his businesses – but around half of the funds were provided by a bank he owned, Blue Sky Bank, which earned tens of thousands of dollars in processing fees and interest from the loans. A large portion of the loans were eventually forgiven by the federal government.