{"id":2568208,"date":"2026-02-10T08:25:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-director-of-bipartisan-attorneys-general-group-proposed-an-infiltration-of-trumps-2016-transition-team\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T08:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:30:49","slug":"docs-director-of-bipartisan-attorneys-general-group-proposed-an-infiltration-of-trumps-2016-transition-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-director-of-bipartisan-attorneys-general-group-proposed-an-infiltration-of-trumps-2016-transition-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Head Of AGs Group Proposed &#8216;Infiltrating&#8217; Trump&#8217;s Transition Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdocs-director-of-bipartisan-attorneys-general-group-proposed-an-infiltration-of-trumps-2016-transition-team%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2568208&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Federalist report centers on Karen White, executive director of the Attorney General Alliance (AGA\/CWAG), who is described as strongly anti-Trump and as having proposed an \u201cinfiltration\u201d of Trump\u2019s 2016 transition team. The article cites a 2016 email exchange in which White expressed opposition to engaging with anyone connected to Trump and suggested ways to influence or mislead the transition process, including passing off a former CWAG official as a Trump insider. It remains unclear what concrete outcome she hoped to achieve.<\/p>\n<p>The AGA\/CWAG is portrayed as a nationwide group that expanded from the Conference of Western Attorneys General to include offices in 48 states and several U.S. territories. While some outlets have noted a perceived shift toward the political right, the group has also launched initiatives on left-of-center race issues, according to InfluenceWatch. The Federalist highlights ongoing criticism that the AGA serves as a conduit for corporate interests to interact with participating attorneys general, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >including costly overseas junkets funded<\/a> by those interests\u2014raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest for lawmakers who may later investigate or sue such companies.The AGA disputes these concerns, arguing that its events foster collaboration and provide educational trainings for AG members and staff.<\/p>\n<p>White\u2019s profile on the AGA site states she has worked with the organization for more than 25 years and focuses on developing resources to help AGs access and use facts on matters significant to the membership. The article notes that White declined to comment,and a former CWAG official,JB Kelly,said he was not aware of any discussions about infiltrating the Trump transition team. It also notes that Chris Coppin, CWAG\u2019s former legal director, indicated in emails that there were discussions about involving the Clinton transition team, naming Democrats Ken salazar and Jennifer Granholm as figures associated with Clinton\u2019s team, which the article interprets as evidence of an expectation that clinton would win.<\/p>\n<p>American Accountability Foundation president tom Jones criticized the AGA as being infiltrated by anti-Trump leadership and urged the Trump administration to reevaluate taxpayer-funded grants to the organization. The piece closes with standard author attribution for Shawn Fleetwood, a Federalist staff writer.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Trump-hating leader of a &ldquo;bipartisan&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dems-include-money-for-abortion-providers-in-1-9-trillion-covid-aid-package\/\" title=\"Dems Include Money for Abortion Providers in .9 Trillion COVID Aid Package\">state attorneys general<\/a> organization suggested launching an &ldquo;infiltration&rdquo; of his 2016 presidential transition team, according to records obtained by The Federalist. She also expressed opposition to engaging with &ldquo;anyone associated with&rdquo; the incoming president. <\/p>\n<p>The remarks in question were issued by Karen White, who serves as the executive director of the nonprofit known as the Attorney General Alliance (AGA). Originally having begun as the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), which sought to promote &ldquo;collaboration&rdquo; among the AG offices of western states, the AGA was developed to expand such cooperation nationwide and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agalliance.org\/ag-members\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">includes<\/a> participating offices in 48 states and several U.S. territories.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disneylands-snow-white-ride-sparks-leftist-outrage-over-lack-of-consent-in-cartoon-kiss\/\" title=\"Disneyland\u2019s \u2018Snow ... Ride Sparks Leftist Outrage Over \u2018Lack Of Consent\u2019 In Cartoon Kiss\">left-wing outlets<\/a> like <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/fIXji\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Axios<\/a> have &ldquo;suggested that the alliance had shifted towards the political right in recent years, the group launched an initiative in 2021 to advance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agalliance.org\/social-justice-equity-initiatives-for-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-of-center race issues<\/a>,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/attorney-general-alliance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">InfluenceWatch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The AGA has become the subject of widespread <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/Z5rGR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporting<\/a> in recent years for its role in introducing corporate interests to <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/5CmsX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">participating<\/a> attorneys general &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktoo.org\/2025\/05\/08\/alaskas-attorney-general-flew-to-south-africa-and-france-a-corporate-funded-group-paid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">often<\/a> at lavish <a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/articles\/kathy-jennings-delaware-junket-safari\/#:~:text=The%20alliance's%20roughly%20%2410%20million,meals%2C%20lodging%20and%20other%20extras.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overseas junkets<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/b49jX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">funded<\/a> by these entities. Such activities have prompted critics to raise concerns about state AGs wining and dining with companies they could one day be responsible for investigating and\/or suing.<\/p>\n<p>For its part, the AGA has <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/Z5rGR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disputed<\/a> such worries and <a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/articles\/kathy-jennings-delaware-junket-safari\/#:~:text=The%20alliance's%20roughly%20%2410%20million,meals%2C%20lodging%20and%20other%20extras.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> that its events are important for &ldquo;fostering collaboration and providing educational trainings for &hellip; AG members and their staff on complex issues in law and public policy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agalliance.org\/about\/#our-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">profile<\/a> on the AGA&rsquo;s website, White has worked at AGA\/CWAG &ldquo;on behalf of&rdquo; state attorneys general for more than 25 years. In her role as executive director, she &ldquo;focuses on developing resources which enhance the Attorneys Generals&rsquo; ability to obtain, exchange and utilize information regarding issues of particular importance to the membership,&rdquo; and aims to develop &ldquo;programs and seminars, supports communication between and amongst the offices of the member and associate member states, and fosters a broad range of beneficial relationships.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The records obtained by The Federalist indicate that White had a distaste not only for Trump, but those who &ldquo;associate&rdquo; with him. This dislike was so great that White even floated launching an &ldquo;infiltration&rdquo; of the Republican president&rsquo;s 2016 transition team.<\/p>\n<p>The sentiments were expressed in an October 2016 email exchange that White had with whom appear to be several unidentified individuals and Chris Coppin, CWAG&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Powers-and-Duties-4th-Edition-Chapter-11.0-Indian-Law-Courtesy-Chapter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">then<\/a>-legal director.<\/p>\n<p>In her email, White noted that she has &ldquo;ZERO relationship with the Trump transition team other than the news that JB Van Hollen is somehow involved there.&rdquo; Van Hollen served as Wisconsin&rsquo;s Republican attorney general from 2007-2015 and has gone on to become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydefenseproject.org\/#team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leading member<\/a> of the Democracy Defense Project, &ldquo;a left-of-center nonprofit formed in 2024 to counter alleged misinformation and election disinformation,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/democracy-defense-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">InfluenceWatch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After referencing Van Hollen, White expressed hope that &ldquo;we could all attempt an infiltration of the Trump transition team and try to pass former North Carolina Chief Deputy JB Kelly off&rdquo; as Van Hollen, whom she described as a &ldquo;current Trump insider.&rdquo; &ldquo;If Trump comes to pass,&rdquo; White wrote, &ldquo;it definitely would up the average IQ of the Trump transition team.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s unclear exactly what White sought to accomplish with this proposed &ldquo;infiltration.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Now a private attorney, Kelly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlrk.com\/attorney\/jbkelly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previously served<\/a> as general counsel to then-North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who would later go on to become the Tarheel State&rsquo;s governor (2017-2025). Cooper is currently running for the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement provided to The Federalist, Kelly said that neither White nor anyone affiliated with AGA\/CWAG discussed with or approached him about an &ldquo;infiltration&rdquo; of the 2016 Trump transition team. He added that he was &ldquo;not aware of&rdquo; White&rsquo;s idea or her suggestion of trying to pass him off as Van Hollen.<\/p>\n<p>Van Hollen did not respond to The Federalist&rsquo;s request for comment. <\/p>\n<p>White wasn&rsquo;t finished with expressing her anti-Trump sentiments, however.<\/p>\n<p>Following her apparent trashing of the Trump transition team&rsquo;s intelligence, the AGA executive director told Coppin and Co. that there was &ldquo;[n]o need for any of you to answer that,&rdquo; and to &ldquo;not confuse me with endorsing either candidate.&rdquo; She subsequently expressed anger at Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;hot mic&rdquo; comments &mdash; an apparent reference to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-na-pol-trump-bush-transcript-20161007-snap-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">infamous Access Hollywood tape<\/a> of Trump making lewd remarks about women &mdash; and indicated her opposition to engaging with &ldquo;anyone associated with him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I am just one very p-ssed off female who happens to have been highly offended by Trump&rsquo;s [sic] &lsquo;hot mic&rsquo; remarks,&rdquo; White wrote. &ldquo;So if the man does get elected president, no one will ever have to worry about me wanting to be in any meeting, ever, anywhere, with anyone associated with him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Many of the Republican attorneys general who are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agalliance.org\/ag-members\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">members<\/a> of AGA\/CWAG have worked in conjunction with Trump in prominent legal matters through the years. More recently, Iowa and 24 other Republican state AGs signed onto an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25-365\/392808\/20260127135807779_SCOTUS%20Merits%20Amicus%20-%20Trump%20v.%20Barbara%20-%201.27.2026%20-%20Final%20-%20PDFA.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amicus brief<\/a> filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that supports Trump&rsquo;s efforts to end so-called &ldquo;birthright citizenship.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The records further show Coppin communicating with an unnamed individual (with White copied on the email) that same day, in which he relayed a purported suggestion that &ldquo;it would be a good idea to combine efforts to reach out to the new administration.&rdquo; Coppin specified that the idea originated from &ldquo;General Chin,&rdquo; which is seemingly a reference to Hawaii&rsquo;s then-Democrat Attorney General Doug Chin.<\/p>\n<p>(Chin was <a href=\"https:\/\/ag.hawaii.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/News-Release-2016-47.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">elected<\/a> CWAG chair for 2016-2017 and is known for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2018\/06\/26\/623513818\/critic-of-travel-ban-reacts-to-supreme-courts-decision-to-uphold-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leading<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2017\/17-965\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">failed legal challenge<\/a> to Trump 1.0&rsquo;s travel ban on countries with heightened terrorism-related risks.) <\/p>\n<p>Coppin wrote to the unnamed individual that Chin and White &ldquo;would like to be part of any meetings with the transition team.&rdquo; What&rsquo;s most notable about this email, however, is that the people Coppin identified as members of this &ldquo;transition team&rdquo; are Democrats Ken Salazar and Jennifer Granholm &mdash; two <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/08\/clinton-transition-team-white-house-salazar-227044\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">members<\/a> of Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s 2016 transition team. The comment indicates Coppin&rsquo;s apparent belief that Clinton would defeat Trump in the upcoming election.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[Chin] and Karen would like to be part of any meetings with the transition team: General Chin as the CWAG Chair and Karen because she has a special relationship with two of the transition leaders, Secretary Ken Salazar and Governor Granholm,&rdquo; Coppin wrote. <\/p>\n<p>The redacted individual acknowledged Coppin&rsquo;s &ldquo;assum[ption] it is the Clinton Transition Team,&rdquo; and wrote, &ldquo;I will keep that just between us!&rdquo; The unnamed person furthermore said they would &ldquo;coordinate as 8 November approaches.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>White declined The Federalist&rsquo;s request for comment. <\/p>\n<p>American Accountability Foundation President Tom Jones &mdash; a known AGA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktoo.org\/2025\/05\/08\/alaskas-attorney-general-flew-to-south-africa-and-france-a-corporate-funded-group-paid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">critic<\/a> &mdash; blasted the organization in a statement to The Federalist. He claimed that the AGA &ldquo;consistently flaunts how infiltrated it is by leaders who hate the president and the agenda the American people voted for,&rdquo; and further encouraged the Trump administration to &ldquo;take a hard look at this junket-fueled grant scheme run by a well-known never-Trumper.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The AGA&rsquo;s failed leadership and anti-MAGA bias make it an obvious choice to trim and relocate money to more effective and aligned organizations who don&rsquo;t make a joke out of programs funded by taxpayers,&rdquo; Jones said. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White urged infiltrating Trump transition; opposed ties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2568209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Karen-White.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[9550,7421,3634],"class_list":["post-2568208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-ags","tag-transition","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Karen-White.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2568208"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2568212,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568208\/revisions\/2568212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2568209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2568208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2568208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2568208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}