Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is one of 13 Republican attorneys general included in a left-leaning watchdog group’s campaign called “Enemies of Progress,” which published Thursday.
“Instead of fighting for their best interests, Attorney General Marshall is spending Alabamians’ taxpayer dollars on frivolous lawsuits against the Biden administration on behalf of his special interest donors,” said Accountable. US President Kyle Herrig in a statement to APR.
“Marshall heads one of the key organizations behind the rally leading to the deadly Capitol riot, and yet pretends he bears no responsibility for the massive damage caused to our democracy that day,” Herrig continued. “Someone at the helm of an organization that incited sedition has no credibility to now sue the government it tried to overthrow. It’s like a burglar suing a homeowner for injuries sustained during a break in.”
The watchdog group’s campaign highlights Marshall’s role as head of the Republican Attorneys General Association’s dark-money fundraising arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which helped promote the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally, which resulted in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Marshall has said he had no idea staff members had organized robocalls promoting the rally and promised an internal investigation. APR in the preceding months has asked Marshall through a spokesman whether that investigation has concluded but received no responses.
Numerous Rule of Law Defense Fund staffers resigned following public blowback over the robocalls. Pete Bisbee, the staffer one outgoing staff member said was responsible for the robocalls, was later named director of the Republican Attorneys General Association.
The watchdog group also notes Marshall’s role in clearing the police shooting death of E.J. Bradford Jr., who Hoover police mistook for a gunman inside the Riverchase Galleria before shooting him to death.
“Marshall told local cities and municipalities that their efforts to remove symbols of hate and racism were steps toward ‘utter lawlessness’ and only the ‘political winds of the moment,’” the group cites in the campaign, referring to Marshall’s role defending the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.
Lastly, the group highlights Marshall’s decision to join two other states in filing a lawsuit seeking to block the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The suit had asked the federal court to rule that the time to ratify the amendment has expired.
