VIDEO | Can the Attorney General be wrong? Rep. Joshua Penner slams Senate Bill 5925 in his support for Amendment 2150
Rep. Joshua Penner, R-Orting, speaks on the House floor to urge the adoption of Amendment 2150 to Senate Bill 5925. This amendment seeks to provide a necessary check on the Washington State Attorney General’s investigative powers by requiring that civil investigative demands be approved in writing.
Penner highlights a 2023 case where the King County Superior Court fined the Attorney General’s Office and DSHS $2 million for a “cavalier attitude” regarding investigative power and the withholding of discovery documents. He argues that if the state can be wrong, as demonstrated by previous court rulings, the very least it should do is document the facts and circumstances that justify investigating small businesses. The amendment would ensure that an assistant attorney general provides written documentation of reasonable suspicion before a demand is issued.
