by Paul Bass
Man, is William Tong pissed.
And he wants you to know it.
Don’t get him started about ICE. Don’t get him started about the Trump administration trying to stop Connecticut from enforcing a law requiring agents to wear masks and stay out of courthouses.
Well, do get Tong started. Because he’s running for a third four-year term as Connecticut attorney general. The 60-plus lawsuits he’s filed against the Trump administration on issues like that form a centerpiece of his argument for reelection.
“Connecticut is under attack every single day, and and we need to build an even stronger firewall to protect Connecticut families,” the 53-year-old Democrat declared during a conversation Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
“I’ve been doing that for eight years, and have stood up to the most powerful forces, the biggest, most powerful corporate monopolies, the president of the United States.
“I don’t care how big or bad you are. If you hurt Connecticut, I’m going to fight back.”
Add up his 220-attorney office’s legal actions against not just the feds but against corporate Big Tech and Big Pharma and utilities (often in conjuntion with other states), Tong said: Connecticut has taken in or protected $5.2 billion. Twenty-two times his office’s annual budget.
I got Tong started on ICE during the “Dateline” interview. I asked him about the argument made by Republicans — including Tong’s Republican opponent, John Bolton — that the supremacy clause bars Connecticut from interfering with federal immigration enforcement. Including where agents can go and how they conduct themselves. That’s a central issue as Tong’s office defends the state and city against a Trump suit against the TRUST Act. And how often to sue Trump is a central issue in the attorney general race.
“Let’s just do constitutional law again in 15 seconds,” Tong responded.
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