This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday.
The number of lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies, rules and actions that Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has participated in, either as a named plaintiff, an amicus curiae, or an intervenor in federal and appellate courts across the country, according to a Montana Free Press review of Knudsen’s public statements and federal court records. These include challenging the administration’s cancellation of Keystone XL permits, vaccine mandates for health care workers, a bump-stock ban and many more.
Most recently, Knudsen and 10 other GOP state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in federal court attacking the Biden Justice Department for its court-authorized Aug. 8 raid of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. The feds searched the property as part of an investigation into whether Trump improperly retained classified documents after departing the White House.
The AGs accused the Biden administration of “ransacking” the home of a once-and-maybe-future political rival, and said they oppose a federal appeal of a lower court decision blocking federal investigators from using the documents they found until a court appointee can review the documents for attorney-client privilege concerns.
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