California AG slams Trump, defenders in Comey dealings
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California’s top law enforcement official blasted his former congressional colleague, House Speaker Paul Ryan, on Friday for suggesting that a lack of political experience helps explain President Donald Trump’s questionable interactions with James Comey when he was FBI director.
In an interview with The Associated Press, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra labeled Ryan an “accomplice” for defending what he termed Trump’s incompetence or dereliction of his presidential duties.
Becerra served in Congress prior to being appointed attorney general earlier this year.
“How dare you say it’s a novice mistake?” Becerra said of comments by Ryan and others defending the president.
Becerra was referring to Trump’s potentially illegal efforts to get Comey to drop the investigation into then-national security adviser Michael Flynn’s interactions with Russian officials.
Ryan said Thursday that Trump should be forgiven because he is “new at government” and “learning as he goes.”
Becerra said ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse for Trump.
Ryan’s spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, did not immediately respond to an email request seeking comment.
Becerra was appointed after former attorney general Kamala Harris, another vocal Trump critic, was elected to the U.S. Senate. He and other Democrats who control all major political offices in California have positioned the state as the front lines of resistance to many Trump administration policies.
Becerra said continued political theater in Washington won’t stop California from enacting its own agenda on immigration, the environment and a host of other issues.
In a wide-ranging interview, Becerra also defended the death penalty, the state’s cooperation with federal agents in fighting drugs and sex trafficking, and said he sees no sign yet of a federal crackdown on California’s burgeoning recreational marijuana industry.
But he also promised to continue fighting Trump’s agenda, bringing legal action and joining other states when necessary.
Becerra said he has tried to engage with the Trump administration without much success. His efforts to meet with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly for more clarity on their plans to enforce federal immigration law have gone unmet despite multiple requests, Becerra said.
Meanwhile, California’s Legislature is considering making California a “sanctuary state” by limiting how much state and local law enforcement officers may collaborate with the federal government’s immigration enforcement efforts, as well as bills to make it harder for immigration authorities to raid businesses.
But even as state legislators work to resist federal enforcement, Becerra suggested there’s room for collaboration between state officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from sex trafficking to cracking down on illegal drug flow.
“I’m not trying to thwart ICE from doing its work, they’re doing some really important stuff and we’re doing some really important stuff with them,” Becerra said. “And so it just helps to have some clarity and predictability.”