California Enlists Eric Holder For Legal Battles With Trump Administration
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vowing to protect California's values and constitutional guarantees, Democratic leaders in the state Legislature selected former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to serve as outside counsel to advise their legal strategy against the incoming Trump administration.
Holder will help legislators resist any attempts to roll back progress on issues like climate change, health care, civil rights and immigration, California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, announced Wednesday.
"With the upcoming change in administrations, we expect that there will be extraordinary challenges for California in the uncertain times ahead," their joint statement said. "We have an obligation to defend the people who elected us and the policies and diversity that make California an example of what truly makes a nation great."
The arrangement, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, will give Holder a broad portfolio including addressing potential conflicts between the state and the federal government. He'll lead a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling.
"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.
Holder served as the nation's top lawyer from 2009 through 2015, focusing on civil rights and criminal justice reform.
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