FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL – A former Clinton election lawyer sought to team up with a key Democrat state attorney general to create litigation chaos in the early days of the Trump administration, documents obtained by The Daily Signal show.

Shortly after November’s presidential election, a legal organization led by anti-Trump Democrat super lawyer Marc Elias was advising the office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul about confronting the incoming Trump administration.

Since President Donald Trump took office, Illinois has taken at least 13 civil actions against the administration on immigration policy, election rules, federal funding, and other matters. In most cases, the lawsuits were part of multistate actions by Democrat attorneys general. 

Last week, Raoul joined a coalition of 20 Democrat state attorneys general challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to provide data to the Department of Homeland Security regarding illegal immigration. 

Elias is the chairman of the nonprofit liberal group Democracy Forward. He is a former lawyer for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign who helped instigate discredited theory that Trump’s campaign conspired with the Russian government to win the election. Elias’ law firm, the Elias Law Group, regularly sues states to oppose voter ID laws and other election integrity measures. He was also the former lawyer for the Democratic National Committee, Emily’s List, Priorities USA, and other prominent Democrat-leaning groups. 

The Daily Signal obtained redacted correspondence between Raoul’s staff and Democracy Forward staff dating back to Nov. 21 through a public records request to the Illinois attorney general’s office. The attorney general’s office informed The Daily Signal in writing that more documents are forthcoming. While the initial tranche provided little detail, the documents demonstrate the state’s link with the left-leaning litigation group. 

Just weeks after Trump defeated Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, an email from Carrie Y. Flaxman, senior legal adviser to Democracy Forward, said to Illinois Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Hunger, “Hi Sarah, Would you have a few minutes to connect sometime soon? Best, Carrie.”

The Daily Signal previously reported that records revealed Democrat attorneys general in multiple states were planning for litigation against the potential Trump administration by mid-2024, well before Election Day. 

Two days after Trump took the oath of office, Karyn Bass Ehler, the assistant chief deputy attorney general for Illinois, sent an email to Aleshadye Getachew, senior counsel for Democracy Forward. The subject line was “Accepted: DF/Illinois AG re EO Strategy.”

The Illinois attorney general’s office, along with other states, gained an initial victory over the Trump administration on Jan. 31 in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze. Illinois teamed with a coalition of 22 state attorneys general. 

In June, Raoul–along with 19 other Democrat state attorneys general–won a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration over illegal immigration conditions placed on federal transportation funding. 

Litigation also included an April lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order on election integrity. Raoul was part of a 19-attorney general coalition. 

Neither the Illinois state attorney general’s press office nor Democracy Forward’s press office responded to requests for on-the-record comments for this story.

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