‘Lane just opened up’ for Bay State’s AG
Ally’s ouster focuses spotlight
Attorney General Maura Healey lost a key political ally in former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman when he resigned amid a sex scandal yesterday, but it could be an opportunity for her to step more into the national spotlight, experts said.
“Healey was sharing the spotlight with Schneiderman on a lot of these lawsuits and going after the Trump administration, now she’s the only attorney general left standing,” said Rob Gray, a Republican political strategist. “The spotlight is all hers.”
Yesterday, Schneiderman formally stepped down as attorney general, after a report by The New Yorker detailed accusations of physical violence and verbal abuse by four women, including being slapped and choked.
Schneiderman, like Healey, had become one of the most prominent Democratic opponents to the Trump administration, suing or opposing many of the president’s policy decisions.
“Her lane just opened up in front of her. She does quite well getting national attention from Massachusetts, but the attorney general from New York is in a much, much larger position,” said Scott Ferson, a Democratic political strategist. “Not having that ‘competition’ politically is going to make Maura Healey, I think, the premier go-to counterpoint to the administration.”
In a statement, acting New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said she would continue Schneiderman’s work.
“The work of this office is critically important,” Underwood said in a statement. “Our office has never been stronger, and this extraordinarily talented, dedicated, and tireless team of public servants will ensure that our work continues without interruption.”
Since Trump was inaugurated, Healey and Schneiderman have been co-plaintiffs on eight lawsuits against the Trump administration, and have both signed a dozen letters to administration officials and Congress. The two offices both led a lawsuit aimed at halting Trump’s decision to end the DACA immigration program. Schneiderman and Healey also targeted Exxon with a suit alleging it hid the effects of climate change, and the use of personal information by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
Healey told reporters yesterday the work she has been doing in cooperation with Schneiderman’s office will continue.
“The work of AG’s offices in New York and around the country will go on, we’ll continue to be there to represent the interests of our states and continue the work we’re doing,” she said. “All these offices, it’s about something much bigger than any one AG.”