Lucas: AG’s defiance deserves a ‘No Queens’ rally

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio believes that Attorney General Andrea Campbell is a threat to democracy in Massachusetts Not on the scale of No Kings President Donald Trump of curriculum But authoritarian enough to block the will of the voters who in the name of transparency and accountability voted overwhelmingly to authorize DiZoglio to audit the Massachusetts Legislature Thanks to Campbell it has yet to happen despite the voters approving the measure in by a huge margin of votes or in favor and votes or against The voters spoke in such a clear and commanding fashion that people figured it was only a matter of time before the Democrat controlled Legislature would be compelled to open its books to Auditor DiZoglio like all other state agencies do They figured wrong Campbell s authoritarian stand on the issue is almost enough to stir up a No Queens rally No sooner did the measure pass than House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka circled the wagons to oppose its implementation They argued that it was unconstitutional for the executive branch of cabinet the auditor to infringe on the separate legislative branch the Legislature and that the Legislature audited its own books anyway The next step was for DiZoglio to sue the Legislature to compel it to cooperate To do so however she requirements the attorney general to represent her in court But Campbell who has bragged about filing lawsuits against President Trump has declined to do so thereby siding with the Legislature and against the voting community When DiZoglio proposed hiring an outside law firm to represent her in court Campbell opposed that too Campbell who released her candidacy for reelection last week has claimed that DiZoglio has not provided her with enough information to proceed to the courts which DiZoglio hotly denies If you can sue Trump you can sue the Legislature DiZoglio disclosed By not doing so she is denying the will of the people It s an obstruction of justice In return for blocking DiZoglio and siding with the Legislature the Democrat controlled Legislature increased Campbell s budget by more than million money that Campbell will use not to represent DiZoglio but to file more lawsuits against Trump DiZoglio calls this collusion if not an outright conspiracy The attorney general is getting millions more while other budgets are being cut she reported Ordinarily progressives would be critical of Campbell for not supporting DiZoglio on the issue of transparency accountability and shedding light on the Legislature Not so Campbell has been able to overshadow any progressive criticism of her over the issue because progressives are wholly impressed by her standing up to Trump They Trump will keep on coming and we will keep on fighting Campbell revealed at last Saturday s No Kings rally on Boston Common If they come for Massachusetts I say bring it on We don t back down We are just getting started Campbell who voted for the audit question when it was on the ballot is now backing down and obstructing its implementation She must figure that Trump is behind it Suing Trump is easy Everybody does it But she finds that taking on the Legislature is hard even if the people voted for it Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at peter lucas bostonherald com Protesters against the Trump administration gather on the Boston Common last weekend for a No Kings rally Mark Stockwell Boston Herald