California hires ex-AG Holder to lead legal battles with U.S.

LOS ANGELES — Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they had hired Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against Donald Trump’s White House.

The decision by the Legislature to retain Holder, who is now a prominent Washington lawyer, is the latest sign of the ideological battle that may play out over the next four years between the predominantly Democratic state and Washington. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, defeated Trump by more than 4 million votes in California.

“Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California,” Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said in an interview. “This means we are very, very serious.”

De Leon said he expected California to challenge Washington — and defend itself from policies instituted in Washington — on issues including the environment, immigration and criminal justice. He said California Democrats decided to turn to Holder as they watched Trump assemble his Cabinet and begin to set the tone for his presidency.

“It was very clear that it wasn’t just campaign rhetoric,” de Leon said of Trump’s proposals over the past year. “He was surrounding himself with people who are a very clear and present danger to the economic prosperity of California.”

Trump did not immediately return requests for comment.

The move by de Leon and his Democratic counterpart in the Assembly, Anthony Rendon, follows Gov. Jerry Brown’s appointment last month of Rep. Xavier Becerra as attorney general, to succeed Kamala Harris, who was elected to the U.S. Senate.

That appointment made Becerra one of the highest-ranking Hispanic officials in the state, and he is expected to be instrumental in battling with the Trump White House over any attempt to enforce stringent measures aimed at immigrants. Brown has made clear that he intends to challenge the administration on global warming and that his attorney general will be a key to that battle.

The Democratic Party controls two-thirds of both the Assembly and the Senate in California. Every statewide elected official is a Democrat.

Holder was Obama’s attorney general from 2009 to 2015. He was the first black person to hold that position. He is a partner at Covington & Burling, a law firm in Washington that specializes in representing states and companies against the federal government.

“I am honored that the Legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal adviser as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact California’s residents and policy priorities,” Holder said in a statement. “I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource to the Legislature.”

The Legislature has an ample stable of lawyers on staff, but officials said Holder and his firm hold specific litigation and political skills that could be needed in the coming years. De Leon said the final compensation for the firm had not been set but would be publicly disclosed once it was.

“The cost will be very minimal compared to the billions of dollars at stake if California doesn’t adequately make its case,” he said.

“Having the former attorney general of the United States brings us a lot of firepower in order to prepare to safeguard the values of the people of California.”

— Kevin de Leon, the Democratic leader of the California Senate

Holder