Democrats Can Launch Criminal Investigations into DOGE, Today. Dozens of investigations can bring accountability
Every state in the country can investigate and criminally prosecute the people who ran DOGE. That's a legal fact, and it fell out of a routine exchange between one of the Existentialist Republic's followers and the Washington State Attorney General's office.
Every state constitution grants its attorney general different authority. Some can prosecute independently; others need a referral from a county prosecutor or a governor. The specifics will vary. But what happened in Washington shows how reaching out and engaging the system teaches you exactly how it works and where to push next. The process is the same everywhere, even if the statutes aren't.
She wrote asking about investigating and criminally prosecuting corrupt federal officials. She got a letter back from a staffer in the Policy Division, a courteous and thorough response that explained the legal landscape, pointed to the AG's ongoing civil litigation, and offered contact information for her state legislators.
But the letter also explained that under Washington state law and the state constitution, the Attorney General can't investigate or prosecute crimes without a referral from a county prosecutor or the governor. The staffer then pivoted to the four dozen civil lawsuits AG Nick Brown has filed against the Trump administration, and Brown deserves credit for that. He's among the most aggressive AGs in the country right now on the civil side. Civil suits and criminal prosecution are two completely different tools, though, and the letter blurs that line. She asked about criminal prosecution, and the office answered by talking about civil suits. Those lawsuits can slow things down, block specific actions, buy time. They're a necessary but not sufficient part of the equation. The people dismantling federal agencies and looting public funds aren't afraid of injunctions. They're afraid of handcuffs.
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