Ken Cuccinelli is only interested in representing himself

July 2, 2012

The Washington Post reports, "It's clear that Cuccinelli's legal crusades serve primarily to win him right-wing acclaim and not to actually roll back the allegedly tyrannical liberal legislation he decries. The ambitious Virginia conservative, who's running for governor, lost big on Thursday when the Supreme Court upheld President Obama's health-care reform act... He suffered another setback on Tuesday when a federal appeals court in the District slapped down a legal case against the Environmental Protection Agency."

Progressive Point: Following yet another major legal defeat last week, Ken Cuccinelli refuses to move forward and do the job he was elected to do. The people of Virginia need an Attorney General that works as hard as they do, but instead Cuccinelli's only accomplishment has been losing his conservative legal crusades and preparing to run for Governor.

Cuccinelli suffered two major legal defeats last week, but it is clear he still hasn't gotten the message. His wrong-headed, frivolous law suits are costing Virginia taxpayers. When the Supreme Court of the United States and U.S. Court of Appeals disagree with you in the same week you should know you're doing something wrong. Ken Cuccinelli's job is to represent the people of Virginia as our lawyer, but it is obvious that he is only interested in representing himself and using our tax money to do it.

Get the Facts:

• Ken Cuccinelli's EPA decision defeat came just two days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against him on health care reform legislation, for which he also used taxpayer dollars to challenge. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 27, 2012)


• Cuccinelli has also used the office of the Attorney General to influence the regulatory process of women's health clinics in order to, in effect, end a woman's right to choose and access to safe and legal abortion services in the Commonwealth. (Virginia Coalition to Protect Women's Health, December 3, 2011)


• In another ideologically centered case where Ken Cuccinelli abused the powers of his office to pursue political priorities, he used his office to launch a two-year investigation into a professor at UVA where he put, "himself and his opinions above thousands of conscientious Virginians who are trying to maintain our wonderful streams, forests, oceans, and summer days for our children and grandchildren -- and that's elitist... A UVA professor named Michael Mann believes human activity is driving global warming. Ken Cuccinelli does not -- or, at least, the big donors, national extremists, and Tea Partyers who he likes to cater to don't. So Cuccinelli decided that because Professor Mann (an employee of a public university) was a beneficiary of taxpayer dollars, that his research (which Cuccinelli disagreed with) was 'fraudulent' -- and that the Attorney General's office could subpoena Mann's emails and records to prove the fraud. It was a breathtaking overreach, a plain abuse of power." (New Dominion Project, March 12, 2012)


• Cuccinelli is also refusing to resign from office while he simultaneously runs for Governor. "Having announced his intention to run for governor, Mr. Cuccinelli (R) is bucking more than 60 years of bipartisan Virginia history by refusing to do the right thing and resign. Instead, he is insisting on remaining the state's top lawyer 'until the last day of my term,' even as he holds fundraisers, attends events and campaigns for governor. Thus Mr. Cuccinelli will inevitably further politicize his office, adding a partisan cast to every significant move it makes." (Washington Post, December 7, 2011)

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