(The Center Square) - Nearly two dozen state attorneys general banded together as early as April 2024 to plot litigation against President Donald Trump long before he was reelected, according to a confidential document obtained by The Center Square.
(The Center Square) - President Donald Trump said he was "not surprised" to hear of confidential documents obtained by The Center Square revealing plans to sue him nearly seven months before he was reelected.
Trump made the comments at a press briefing on Monday, acknowledging investigative reporting by The Center Square.
"I heard about that," the president said. "I'm not surprised because they've weaponized this country like never before. The Democrats – or the Dumbocrats, as I call them – they've weaponized the country. Nobody's ever seen anything like it."
The Center Square's Sarah Roderick-Fitch asks Pres. Trump about an article from The Center Square reporting Democratic AGs planned to sue his administration months before he was re-elected.
State attorneys general have sued the Trump administration approximately 100 times since January 2025. Documents obtained by The Center Square show the coordinated effort appears to have a nickname: the “Project for Federal Accountability.”
Not all of the lawsuits have been joined by each attorney general, and some offices take the lead on different cases. At last count, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has participated in at least 82 lawsuits. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined at least 76 lawsuits. Washington State Attorney General Brown has joined 72 lawsuits. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has joined 49 lawsuits.
Bonta characterized the lawsuits as "apolitical," although a confidential document obtained by The Center Square shows only Democratic attorneys general plotted the litigation.
“If (Trump) doesn’t want to get sued, all he has to do is follow the law,” Bonta said. “I don’t think our cases are likely to be dismissed… Trump shows no sign of slowing down, so we will continue to sue him.”
So far, 14 cases have been closed in favor of the plaintiff and four cases dismissed in favor of the federal government, according to Just Security — a nonpartisan digital law and policy journal at New York University.
Trump did not comment on any of the lawsuits specifically. He stated the documents are only being revealed now because he "won the election in a landslide."
"These are very dishonest people," Trump said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see that."
State attorneys general filed 122 multistate lawsuits against the Biden Administration during his four years in office, according to data previously collected in 2025 by Marquette University. Not all of them were launched by Republicans. Six of the lawsuits were launched by Democrats and two were bipartisan.
When attorneys general have sued prior administrations, it was typically after the administration took action — not before. For example, former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff pointed to a 2012 lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) after its passage in March 2010. He was one of 22 Republican attorneys general who signed onto the case, which ended with a partial victory and partial defeat before the United States Supreme Court.
Shurtleff, who now votes for Democrats, believes the sheer number of lawsuits on both sides are excessive.
“It's just horrible. It's a big, huge waste of attorney general time and the good things that you could accomplish together," he said. "It's a shame. It's way too much. I think it's ridiculous.”
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