KY Attorney General Daniel Cameron explains why he didn’t join the Texas Trump lawsuit
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Thursday he supports President Donald Trump but his office did not participate in a Texas lawsuit that unsuccessfully tried to overturn presidential election results in four battleground states because of limited resources.
He said his office has been focusing on the Kentucky case dealing with Gov. Andy Beshear’s closing of religious schools to curb the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday declined to block Beshear’s order closing private and public schools to in-person classes, citing the fact that the order expires this week.
The state’s 51st attorney general, who marked his first year in office Thursday, also said he accepts Democrat Joe Biden as the next president, will convene a special task force soon to consider a ban on controversial no-knock warrants, backs the GOP-led state legislature in considering ways to limit the governor’s emergency powers and will take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cameron, the first Black attorney general in the state’s history and the first Republican elected to the office since 1944, remained mum about his future political aspirations. He often is mentioned as a replacement some day for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Louisville or a candidate for governor of Kentucky.
Cameron, 35, of Louisville, talked about his first year in office in a virtual interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Cameron and Donald Trump
President Trump has had nothing but praise for Cameron.
In September, Trump called Cameron “a star’ for his handling of the investigation of the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville that sparked racial injustice protests across the country. Trump also put Cameron on his short list of potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court after the death of Justice Ruth Ginsberg.
Cameron had called Trump “best for this country.”
The mutual affection between Trump and Cameron is why some Republicans were surprised when Cameron did not join the Texas attorney general’s lawsuit that tried to overturn election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin. The U.S. Supreme Court last Friday rejected the long-shot lawsuit.
Cameron said Thursday his office has been working hard on the Kentucky religious schools’ lawsuit and did not have ample resources to study the Texas lawsuit.
“We have been laser-focused” on the schools’ lawsuit, said Cameron, contending before a ruling was issued that it could have much to say about religious freedom in this country.
Cameron said Thursday night that the high court’s decision “should give the governor pause before he takes other executive action related to closing religious schools.”
Cameron did note that he joined several Republican attorneys general in supporting a lawsuit in Pennsylvania to challenge mail-in ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also rejected that election challenge.
Cameron , a protege of McConnell, said he did not discuss with McConnell his decision not to join the Texas lawsuit.
Asked if he consults often with McConnell on major decisions in his office, Cameron said, “Consult is a loaded word. There’s no secret that Sen. McConnell is a dear friend of mine.”
Cameron said the Electoral College decided the outcome of the presidential race earlier this week with Biden’s selection as the next president. “I think everything points to a peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 20,” he said.
Cameron and Breonna Taylor
Cameron’s presentation to the Breonna Taylor grand jury that did not charge Louisville police officers with her death showed “inappropriate bias” in favor of the police officers, the NAACP recently said in calling for a new investigation.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville apartment March 13, when three white officers forced entry in an investigation of drug dealing operations. Her death sparked outrage across the nation
Cameron, a special prosecutor in the case, said it was his decision to ask for an indictment on charges that could be proven under Kentucky law.
Asked if he believed that murder charges against the officers could not be proven under Kentucky law, Cameron said he was “proud of the way our team worked through this case.”
Taylor’s death “was a tragedy,” said Cameron, “but sometimes the criminal justice system is inadequate to meet and respond to a tragedy.”
He said his job was to uncover facts and apply them to the law. He noted there is an ongoing FBI investigation of potential civil rights violations in the Breonna Taylor case.
A key issue in Taylor’s death was the use of a no-knock warrant.
Cameron said his office will assemble a task force to study warrants. “I don’t want to prematurely speak because we are going to bring stakeholders together to have that conversation.”
Cameron and Gov. Andy Beshear
Cameron said Kentucky lawmakers need to have “a robust conversation” about the need to limit the governor’s power to issue executive orders during emergencies.
“The General Assembly has every right to look at this,” he said.
He said he respects Beshear’s efforts to keep people safe in the COVID-19 pandemic “but we have an equally important responsibility to make sure we are protecting the constitutional rights of our citizens.”
Asked if a constitutional amendment with voter support would be necessary to limit the governor’s emergency powers, Cameron said he thinks there could be revisions to existing state statutes.
Concerning the 2021 General Assembly, Cameron said he wants to “keep the ball rolling” on issues like consumer protection, utility rate intervention and human trafficking. “Stay tuned,” he said.
Cameron and his political future
Asked if he plans to seek re-election as attorney general in 2023, Cameron said, “I hope to finish out 2020. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in this office.”
So would he rather be a U.S. senator or governor of Kentucky? “I prefer to be attorney general,” Cameron said. “It is a blessing. And I do not take for granted the great responsibility that comes in serving this office.”
