GOP group held ‘war games’ to plan for possible Trump loss in 2020, report says

Republican attorneys general filed more than 40 lawsuits against Biden administration since president’s inauguration

A Republican attorneys general group reportedly held a two-day "war games" event to plan strategies for a Donald Trump election loss in 2020.

The in-person conference, held in Atlanta six weeks before the November election, was one of 20 meetings held by the Rule of Law Defence Fund, an offshoot of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), according to the Associated Press.

An email from then-RAGA executive director Adam Piper sent after the war games, obtained by AP, was addressed to the "generals" that attended the “series of conversations planning for what could come if we lose the White House".

“It was a fast paced, productive series of war games, which hopefully will not have to be utilized in November,” Mr Piper wrote.

Mr Piper resigned his role from RAGA after an investigative watchdog group, Documented, revealed the Rule of Law Defence Fund sent robocalls to Trump supporters before the 6 January riot saying:

"At 1 pm., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal. We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections."

Additional emails between the attorneys general offices of Kansas and Missouri showed that weekly calls were held for senior staffers, including a “virtual roundtable” with senior corporate attorneys in July and a Zoom "strategy session" in December, which touched on immigration policy.

The email from Mr Piper to RAGA’s "generals" listed the Georgia meeting’s agenda item as "WAR GAMES - 32 AG Staff Members are huddled in Atlanta for a series of conversations planning for what could come if we lose the White House".

Following Mr Trump’s election loss, a group of 18 attorneys general from Republican-controlled states, led by Texas, filed a lawsuit seeking to block electors from four states they claimed violated the Constitution by rushing through changes to mail-in voting procedures that were not approved by the state legislatures.

While it was dismissed by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds, Texas AG Ken Paxton has been successful in separate Supreme Court lawsuits challenging the immigration policies of Joe Biden.

GOP attorneys general have filed more than 40 lawsuits against the Biden administration since the president was sworn in on 20 January, according to RAGA spokesman Johnny Koremenos.

Mr Loremenos said in a statement to AP that the September meeting was “was strictly focused on administrative law and preparing attorneys general teams for a potential Biden Administration or a second term of President Trump — common practice in an election season."

John Milburn, a spokesman for Kansas attorney general Derek Schmidt, said two office staffers attended the summit to discuss the legal responses to the regulations or federal actions from a potential Biden administration.

"Just as state attorneys general were active in defending the authority of states against unlawful federal power-grabs during the Obama-Biden administration,” Mr Milburn told the Kansas Reflector, which was first to report the meetings.