I had the opportunity to speak with California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday.
The main impetus was to get word out—to Californians, but also leaders in other states—about a system his office set up recently amid federal violence that allows witnesses to DHS abuses to quickly turn over evidence (witness statements, photos, videos, etc.) to state law enforcement officials.
He underlined it this week along with guidance to California law-enforcement officers about their prerogative “to investigate potentially unlawful conduct by federal agents that occurs on state soil, and where the facts warrant, file charges for violations of the California Penal Code.”
While I had him, though, I took the opportunity to pick his brain about a variety of related matters, including the election-related ulterior motives behind DHS attacks on blue jurisdictions, the posture of Senate Democrats in the fight over funding DHS, how states can protect lawful voters from federal agents, and more.
Some highlights:
In addition to being wildly unconstitutional and thuggish, Bonta thinks Pam Bondi’s letter to Minnesota officials offering to draw down the occupation of Minneapolis if the state first turns over its voter rolls could place her in contempt of court, though it may not rise to the level of criminal extortion. (4:44)
Bonta wants Dems withholding their votes for DHS funding to demand a provision that would provide citizens a civil cause of action against federal agents who violate their rights—known as a Bivens action, named after a precedent the Supreme Court has largely defanged. (10:38)
On duty California police are to intervene to help victims of crime by on duty federal agents. (28:37)
Democratic attorneys general have gamed out scenarios where DHS agents attempt to subvert elections, whether by “patrolling” polling places or sowing chaos across whole cities and counties. (31:50)
There’s “ongoing thinking” among the AGs about whether and how a federal tax protest might be structured. (40:37)
It was a good conversation; you can watch it here, pull clips on Substack, listen on your favorite podcast app, and download the audio.
This article has been updated to clarify the different timing of the guidance and the establishment of the evidence portal.
