Markeshia Ricks Photo
William Tong unveils bump stock bill in February at New Haven Church on the Rock.
Like other Democrats running for Connecticut attorney general, William Tong promises to use the position to fight back against Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans. If elected, he may very well find himself serving alongside a pro-Trump Republican governor. What to do then?
Well, he said, there’s always Section 3 – 125 of the state’s general statutes.
That section exempts the attorney general from representing the governor or other state officials in legal proceedings “in which the official acts and doings of said officers are called in question.”
“That’s a significant exception,” Tong, a 44-year-old state representative from Stamford, said during an appearance Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
In Connecticut, the attorney general does not prosecute criminal cases. (The state’s attorney’s office does that.) The AG handles civil litigation and advises state officials on legal matters. The office has taken the lead on environmental, financial fraud, consumer protection, and immigration lawsuits, often in conjunction with attorneys general from other states.
Other Democrats eyeing the seat include Clare Kindall and Chris Mattei; in the primary season they are vying to convince the party’s progressive base that they’d best carry the Resistance Banner. (Click here and here to read about interviews with them about their candidacies, and here for a story about GOP candidate Sue Hatfield.) Antoher Democrat, Michael D’Agostino, dropped out of contention on Friday.
Anecdote & Antidote
GHOSTGUNS.COM
Ghost gun available on the Internet.
Tong cited both his personal story and his legislative record to make the case for why he’d provide an antidote to the Trump agenda as the successor to retiring state Attorney General George Jepsen. He promised to protect Connecticut’s pro-immigrant “sanctuary” policies, for instance; he co-authored the Connecticut Trust Act barring the state from cooperating in most cases with federal “detainer” requests for immigrants targeted for deportation, and he has pushed to narrow those exceptions this term.
The first Asian-American elected to the state legislature, Tong is the son of Chinese immigrants who ran a restaurant in Hartford. He spoke in the interview of how his father received notice almost 50 years ago that he would have to leave the country because he had overstayed a tourist visa. The family made plans to move to Canada. His dad wrote a six-page letter to then-President Richard Nixon appealing for the right to stay— then received a visit from an immigration official informing him he would indeed get the chance to apply for citizenship, which he successfully did.
As a legislator, he continues to encounter prejudice, he said — for instance, repeatedly encountering colleagues and lobbyists who confuse him with the other Asian-American state legislator, State Sen. Tony Hwang. If elected, he’d be the first Asian-American state constitutional officer. He said that’s relevant to this campaign, including the value of a racially diverse state ticket. “Asian Americans are invisible ” during discussions of race, he said. he is the only non-Caucasian Democrat seeking the nomination; Kindall is the only non-male.
On his campaign website, Tong name-drops a certain ex-president in establishing his civil-rights bonafides. As a student at the University of Chicago Law School, Tong took an equal protection and due process course with the then-future president.
He was asked about that on “Dateline.”
“Everything I know about civil rights from a constitutional perspective, I learned from Barack Obama,” he said of that professor. U of C had many conservative students at the time. Professor Obama “would often challenge progressives like me to take the conservative position so we really worked it through in our heads,” he recalled.
In the legislature this session, Tong has championed legislation to ban “bump stocks” and “ghost guns” with the support of New Haven legislators and Mayor Toni Harp (who has endorsed his campaign). The bill squeaked through committee and is now headed for a tough fight on the House floor. (Read about that here and here.) In the past, he sponsored laws requiring people to report lost and stolen handguns within 72 hours and domestic abusers to surrender their guns while under temporary restraining orders.
“I’ve spent 12 years taking on the NRA” at the Capitol, Tong said. “When you take on the NRA, it feels like they’re everywhere.”
Tong also promised, if elected attorney general, to take advantage of a provision of the federal Dodd-Frank Act that enables state attorneys general to step in to sue payday lenders or crooked for-profit universities or other purveyors of financial fraud when the federal agency charged with the same mission fails to take action. Under a new Trump appointee, that agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — has stopped initiating new lawsuits and sought a zeroed-out budget from Congress.
Just A Minute, Governor …
Tong was asked how he would pursue progressive goals if he gets elected and ends up serving alongside a Republican governor and/or legislature.That’s when he cited Section 3 – 125.
“The attorney general has an obligation to defend state agencies and state officials unless their ‘doings and acts are called into question.’ That’s a significant exception,” he noted. “As a lawyer, I have an ethical duty not to advance frivolous or blatantly unconstitutional or unlawful positions.”
He was asked how he would approach giving legal advice to the governor or legislature when the law steers him to a conclusion at odds with progressive positions. AG hopefuls Mike D’Agostino and Clare Kindall disagreed on that question in previous WNHH FM interviews. D’Agostino argued that the AG should find a sound legal argument to come down on the side of a progressive result; Kindall argued that the AG has to follow where the law leads.
Tong sided with Kindall.
“The attorney general when issuing advisory opinions — and I disagree with Mike D’Agostino on this role — is not to be an advocate. You’re sitting in a quasi-judicial role. You’re trying to give your best advice to your client. Your advisory opinion can reflect not just your interpretation of laws, but also reflect broadly your values.”
“You have the opportunity to object that a legal argument is frivolous or unconstitutional or unlawful or question the doings or acts of a public official, [but] it’s still a very, very high bar,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean he has to side with whatever a governor wants him to do, he noted. “No, it doesn’t mean that. But it does mean that you have to think long and hard about your role and your obligation to defend state agencies, including the governor. I would say the blatant breach of a labor agreement without regard to the law is pretty extreme.”
He spoke of the other major role an AG plays the role of advocate: filing lawsuits.
The two most recent AGs — George Jepsen and Dick Blumenthal — have served alongside Republican governors, Tong pointed out. “I think I will do it a lot like Richard Blumenthal did. He’s a great example from the Rowland years and the Rell years. This is where experience as a legislator makes a huge difference. Dick Blumenthal and George Jepsen both trained to be attorney general on the Judiciary Committee. George Jepsen was its chairman a few years before I was.
“What they both understood was there are several levels of opposition. One is going into the building, using your relationships not just with Democratic legislators but Republican legislators. Understanding how the process works. And throwing those blocks and making those tackles to stop bad legislation before it gets there.”
D’Agostino Drops Out
D’Agostino, meanwhile, a state representative from Hamden, announced on Friday that he will no longer pursue the attorney genearl nomination.
“This campaign has never been about me, it has always been about how we can build a brighter future for our state and our country. At this time, I believe that the best thing that I can do as we work towards this goal is to run for re-election to the Connecticut House of Representatives. This decision is not the end of the road, it is simply a different path. I look forward to continuing the fight for progressive issues as we work together to lead our state forward,” D’Agostino wrote in an email to supporters.
Click on the above audio file or the Facebook Live video below for the full interview with William Tong on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
Previous WNHH interviews with candidates eyeing the attorney general nomination:
Click on or download the above audio file or the Facebook Live video below for the full interview with WNHH FM “Dateline New Haven” interview with attorney general candidate Chris Mattei.
Click on or download the above audio file or Facebook Live video below to hear the interview with attorney general candidate Clare Kindall on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
Click on or download the above audio file or Facebook Live video below to hear the full interview with attorney general candidate Michael D’Agostino on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.