Pa. AG Sunday to defer to state's Democratic governor in Trump legal fights

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday says he’s not looking for a fight with the Trump administration.

The attorney general, during a wide-ranging interview with TribLive on Friday afternoon during a stop at the White Rabbit Cafe in Greensburg, said dealing with the political tension that has ripped through the nation is not among his priorities.

“As attorney general, like any lawyer, I know that when you file a lawsuit, everything changes and communication stops. And so one of the things that we have done is we have advocated and not litigated. We’ve advocated directly to leadership in Washington on a lot of issues facing Pennsylvanians,” Sunday said.

States have pushed back on proposed cuts and changes, resulting in dozens of legal challenges to the president’s agenda.

Sunday, a Republican who served as district attorney in York County before he became Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor, ended a three-day swing through Western Pennsylvania on Friday. Among his stops was the opening of a $650,000 office set up by Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli that is expected to serve as a joint command center for coordinated operations of county, state, federal and local law enforcement.

The center, at an undisclosed location in Hempfield, was modeled after a “fusion center” Sunday created in York.

The attorney general touted Westmoreland County’s center as a strong collaborative effort that will enable authorities to work together at a time when cooperation has been a flash point on the national political scene.

Legal fights involving federal law enforcement activities in state and local jurisdictions, as well as courtroom challenges to Trump administration policies on immigration, tariffs and funding priorities, have dominated court dockets across the country. Sunday has so far steered clear from those political land mines.

Governor leads response

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and former state attorney general, filed suit this year against the Trump administration over federal funding cuts and later announced a settlement with the White House to restore a portion of the allocation. Sunday said his priority is to keep the community safe and not score political points.

The governor will drive the state’s legal response regarding national issues while the attorney general will focus on community safety and protection, he said.

“I ran for AG to follow the law and keep the community safe. I’m not the type of guy who’s going to throw lightning bolts from in front of the courthouse. I believe that the best way to show success is by being effective at your job. And so, as attorney general, I’ve made it clear to my office that we are going to focus on our core competencies and do them well, because what I have seen over the years, this isn’t just about attorney generals. This is about society in general,” Sunday said.

“I would be doing a disservice to the commonwealth if I was running around trying to micromanage other people instead of focusing on what my job is. That’s what I vowed to do, and that’s what I’m going to do … and so I have chosen to use my voice for, again, for things that I think, you know, move us forward.”

Throughout his early months in office, Sunday has focused on the ongoing drug issues, both in terms halting the flow of illegal substances into the state and advocating for treatment for those addicted.

He highlighted an operation this spring that resulted in arrests in Philadelphia and confiscation of about $8 million worth of fentanyl, including about 400,000 packets of the drug that were earmarked for the Pittsburgh region. That effort is a key, Sunday said, to making the state safer.

“We were able to intervene and pull those drugs out of the system so that they would never arrive here and be in a place where kids or anyone can use them,” Sunday said. “And I think that’s really important for a couple reasons. Number one, because that’s the type of work I want people to see out of the attorney general’s office. But number two, it shows that we’re all connected. You know what I mean? We’re all connected.”

He also has lobbied for better programs to reintegrate prison inmates back into society upon their release.

OxyContin settlement

Sunday last week announced the $7 billion settlement of a federal lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin. Pennsylvania is expected to receive about $200 million from the settlement. About 70% of those funds will be diverted to county governments.

“I can’t overstate how important it is to get resources into the hands of counties so that they can do what they need to do to increase access to treatment and also help people to not turn to drugs in the first place,” Sunday said.

As Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor, Sunday has an opportunity to shape public policy in multiple ways by overseeing how laws are enforced. He said a strict interpretation of the existing laws is required and has vowed to enforce potential new laws.

Current debate among state lawmakers regarding the legalization of recreational marijuana is one such example of a potential new law on the attorney general’s radar. Sunday said marijuana presents a danger for the community but vowed to follow the law with regard to its potential legalization.

He said he is concerned about its influence on children and how the drug could impact residents on Pennsylvania’s roadways.

“I’m going to be a voice in public safety here. And if the Legislature and the governor decide that they want to legalize recreational marijuana, then I will certainly enforce the law just like I would any other law that they pass,” Sunday said.

“But, once you let the toothpaste out of the tube, it’s not going back in.”