Bellevue - Washington State Republican Party (WAGOP) Chairman Jim Walsh has unveiled the State Party’s “Project to Resist Tyranny in Washington.” This project is designed to prevent elected officials with authoritarian impulses from ruining the lives of people living in Washington. It is also designed to protect free people from retaliation by state government agencies because of those people’s political beliefs or voting records.

“Not an insignificant number of Washingtonians voted for Donald Trump, right? Some elected officials get that,” says Chairman Walsh. “We all need to make sure those officials don’t act on their obsessive hatred of President Trump and infringe or impair the constitutional rights of those Washingtonians.”

The WAGOP is concerned about the incoming gubernatorial administration of Bob Ferguson violating foundational, constitutional rights of all Washingtonians. Specifically, Chairman Walsh cites three concerns that will be part of the “Project to Resist Tyranny in Washington”:

- The Ferguson Administration could continue the incoming governor’s longstanding “war” on law enforcement professionals by harassing and persecuting frontline police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and other first responders.

- The Ferguson Administration could try to enforce dubious state laws banning the sale of certain firearms or related equipment in such a way as to criminalize legal gun ownership or illegally “impair” Washingtonians’ constitutional right to self-defense.

- The Ferguson Administration could attempt to rewrite state law to remove protections for custodial parents and guardians in Washington-and to hide critical information about minor children from those parents and guardians.

Chairman Walsh says he does not want to preview the potential litigation strategies that are part of the “Project to Resist Tyranny in Washington.” Instead, the WAGOP will wait to see what tyrannical, illegal, or unconstitutional actions the Ferguson Administration could take.

With this in mind, Chairman Walsh highlights three key questions that have guided his approach from Ferguson’s 12-year span as WA Attorney General:

1. Is the action tyrannical, illegal, or unconstitutional?

2. Are Washingtonians, their rights or the cost of living being harmed?

3. Who has the clearest legal standing to go to court?

Chairman Walsh says Ferguson’s time as WA AG was sloppy and focused more on partisan political grandstanding than keeping Washingtonians and their families safe. He also notes that as WA AG Ferguson did not have as much bureaucratic authority as a governor has. So, there could be fewer constraints keeping Ferguson in check during his gubernatorial term.

“I hope to God, and I pray these things we’re talking about never happen. If the WAGOP never has to file a single lawsuit against the Ferguson administration, no one would be happier,” says Chairman Walsh. “But I’m not naïve.”

Chairman Walsh also points out that the “Project to Resist Tyranny in Washington” is not a new undertaking. Common-sense conservatives have been tracking Ferguson’s tendencies toward authoritarian excesses for years.

Adds Chairman Walsh: “We are not just waking up now thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, there is a Ferguson administration coming. We need to get ready for it.’ The WAGOP and ordinary people in Washington have been preparing for this for months. And we have not spent a dollar of Washington taxpayers’ money doing this work!”

Chairman Walsh says the WAGOP, and its allies have gone line-by-line through ‘The Communist Manifesto,’ a classic policy tome outlining sweeping changes sought by Ferguson-affiliated groups. Chairman Walsh calls that agenda, which Ferguson tried to downplay during the gubernatorial campaign, “an assault on property rights, free-speech rights, privacy rights, the cost of living” and other state priorities.

Chairman Walsh also cites Ferguson’s suggestion to use a state-funded “snitch line” to persecute political critics as “deeply un-American.” “The governor has a lot of power,” says Chairman Walsh. “That is the way our system works. But the Washington State Constitution explicitly protects your rights of free speech, privacy, and freedom of conscience. It does these things more forcefully than the U.S. Constitution does. WAGOP will fiercely protect and defend those rights.”

“To be blunt, what is in ‘The Communist Manifesto’ and Bob Ferguson’s campaign statements constitute an assault on our foundational rights, safe neighborhoods, and the cost of living,” says Chairman Walsh. “So, speaking for myself, I’m deeply concerned, of course, by potential implementation of the policies outlined in those documents.”

Chairman Walsh concludes his announcement of the WAGOP’s “Project to Resist Tyranny in Washington” with this: “Based on the incoming governor’s actions during his time as State Attorney General, I’m concerned that a Ferguson Administration will be heedless about protecting constitutional rights, the cost of living and the quality of life here in Washington. The good news is that WAGOP has tools to highlight ‘progressive’ efforts to wreck those things. Here in Washington state, nothing that Bob Ferguson or his administration does can take away our ability as free people to enforce our laws, protect our brilliant State Constitution, and defend the civil liberties of all Washingtonians.”