Maryland Democrats Say Larry Hogan’s Words About Trump Don’t Match His Past Performance

Former Gov. Larry Hogan considers himself one of the few Republicans who never conceded to former President Donald Trump, but the Democratic attorney general who served during Hogan’s two terms disagrees.

Hogan’s latest political ad for U.S. senator has sparked renewed fury from former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. As the ad’s video clips scroll through clips from Hogan’s two terms as governor, a folksy male voiceover describes Hogan as a Republican who criticized Trump — one who “never gave up” and “never backed down.” Text cut from the news headline calls Hogan a “non-Trump Republican.”

Frosh calls foul. The state’s former top lawyer recalled dozens of times when Hogan could have stood up to Trump but repeatedly chose to back down. Instead, lawmakers had to change state law to give Frosh unilateral authority to sue the Trump administration and bar Hogan from the lawsuit.

But Hogan recalled that he did not endorse Frosh’s actions on those issues — many of which are still at issue in the U.S. Senate race against his Democratic opponent, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks — and remain relevant now that both Hogan and Trump are back on the ballot.

During Trump’s term, Frosh has sued the federal government on behalf of Marylanders dozens of times. His reasons: protecting civil rights, preserving the Affordable Care Act, which benefits hundreds of thousands of Marylanders, protecting access to contraceptives and food stamps, and keeping offshore drilling out of the Chesapeake Bay.

“He let Trump do his dirty work on a lot of things,” Frosh said. “There are a lot of things Larry Hogan would have happily agreed to.”

Hogan criticized the General Assembly’s actions, calling them “unfortunate, extreme partisanship” and said Frosh should instead focus on state interests. The governor also withheld funding for Frosh mandated by the General Assembly because Hogan said the attorney general’s office could take money from other sources.

“He’s the antithesis of someone who stands up for something,” Frosh said. “He ducked and ran.”

Hogan has backed at least two of Frosh’s environmental lawsuits, according to news reports. One fought Trump’s efforts to weaken emissions standards. Another sued the administration over pollution from out-of-state power plants.

Campaign spokesman Mike Ricci did not say why Hogan did not support most of Frosh’s lawsuits, but said in a statement that the two men “approached their jobs in different ways.”

“While Mr. Frosh prioritized playing politics and tilting at windmills in Washington, Gov. Hogan focused first on Maryland and Marylanders,” Ricci said. “While Mr. Frosh was busy shuffling papers and filing memos, Gov. Hogan stood up to Trump on COVID, January 6, Charlottesville, the Chesapeake Bay, the Affordable Care Act, NIH, family separation, DACA repeal, the Supreme Court, etc. — no matter the political cost.”

Lawmakers limit Hogan’s power

Frosh and Hogan’s differences intensified after Trump took office. Days after Trump’s inauguration, the 45th president ordered a travel ban, barring people from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Frosh wanted to sue on religious grounds and on behalf of students and employees trying to come to Maryland. The quickest way to sue the federal government at the time was to seek permission from the governor. But Hogan never responded to Frosh’s request, he said.

The lawyer then turned to the General Assembly for help, an alternative allowed by law, and the Democratic legislature took action. They changed state law to strip Hogan of his authority, giving Frosh the sole right to sue if the federal government threatened the public interest and the well-being of Marylanders.

Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson co-sponsored the Maryland Defense Act of 2017, which brought the attorney general’s powers into line with dozens of other states. The Baltimore Democrat was a senator at the time and cited “great dismay and fear” among lawmakers about what might happen to Marylanders under Trump.

“We wanted the people of Maryland to be protected,” he said.

Ferguson recalled that Hogan criticized Frosh for abusing his unilateral powers and blocking funding for Frosh’s office.

With his new powers and no extra money, Frosh assembled a legal team, using lawyers from New York University and members of his staff who volunteered to work overtime. Almost all of the lawsuits he joined or filed against the administration were successful, he said.

One of the most notable cases Frosh has litigated involved Trump violating the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause by using the president’s power and influence for his own financial gain. Frosh and the Washington attorney general co-chaired the effort, but the case was put on hold after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it moot because Trump had left office.

Hogan is teetering on the edge

Hogan has said he did not vote for Trump in any election, but attended Trump’s inauguration. At the time, he said through a spokesman that he planned to work with the Trump administration. But the two have criticized each other on social media, and Trump helped sink the gubernatorial campaign of Hogan’s chosen successor two years ago.

This time, Hogan said he would not support Trump’s campaign or vote for him and walked out of the party’s national convention three times. Trump endorsed Hogan for the Senate race. Hogan declined the nomination.

It was Trump’s outsize influence on American politics that solidified Hogan’s decision to run for the Senate, Hogan said. After Trump’s meddling hardened a bipartisan immigration deal in Congress, Hogan filed his candidacy hours before the deadline.

To win Maryland again, Hogan must keep Republicans in his camp and win over significant numbers of independents and Democrats.

Since entering the Senate race, Hogan has portrayed his position as one of staunch defiance of Trump. On the trail, Hogan has portrayed himself as a strong, independent leader and a senator who will stand with both parties, vote his conscience and put “people before politics.”

In a recent interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Hogan said he was “disgusted” by Trump’s statements about the stolen 2020 presidential election and the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Hogan called on Trump to resign the next day, he told Tapper.

The campaign ad that irked Frosh calls Hogan “an early critic of Donald Trump, one of the few Republicans who never backed down.” On Jan. 6, 2021, a voiceover reminds viewers: “As we watched in horror, Hogan didn’t just talk about defending democracy. He did something by sending in the Maryland National Guard to protect the capital. This is the same Larry Hogan, tough, independent, never giving up.”

It’s true that Hogan has never been pro-Trump, but he wasn’t consistently anti-Trump during his time as governor either. If Hogan was truly disgusted, Frosh said there were plenty of other opportunities to show it.

The most “inhumane” act Frosh sued for was the Trump administration’s systematic separation of immigrant children from their parents at the southern border. In that case, Hogan acted under executive authority to withdraw members of the Maryland National Guard from the southern border, but the former governor remained silent as Frosh filed suit against the Trump administration to stop the family separations, Frosh recalled.

“Report it in writing”

Now, as Hogan runs for public office again, critics are comparing the former governor’s image with their own memories of his actions, or inaction, while in office.

The former governor’s record should be subject to “legitimate public debate,” said Sandy Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat.

“On one hand, we have the ad, and on the other hand, here’s what he (Hogan) didn’t do,” Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg co-sponsored the House version of the Maryland Defense Act of 2017. The bill became law without Hogan’s signature, and after it passed, Hogan was required to put his objections to Frosh’s lawsuits in writing. Rosenberg said he doesn’t recall any objections being filed, but he does remember Hogan airing his grievances in the press.

“If you have objections, put them in writing,” the Baltimore Democrat said.

Hogan “could teach a master class in how to appeal to all sides,” said Ferguson, the Maryland Senate president. Ferguson became the Senate leader during Hogan’s second term.

He recalled that outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hogan had “largely ignored” the Democratic-led Legislature.

““I find it almost laughable that it’s made out to be like he (Hogan) wasn’t following the (Republican) party’s orders at the time,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said that despite Hogan’s political skills in appealing to a broad base of voters, “I don’t trust him to defend Maryland’s values ​​when necessary in the United States Senate because I saw what he did when he was governor.”