On May 5th, Vermont Attorney General Democrat T.J. Donovan announced he would not run for re-election. The next day, Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault announced he would run for Attorney General.
Thibault, who like Donovan is a Democrat, previously served as an Army JAG officer and later worked as a Washington County deputy state’s attorney. He has also been an assistant attorney general. He was appointed as Washington County State’s Attorney in 2018 and subsequently re-elected to the position.
Thibault tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley he had thought about running for Attorney General sometime in the future and decided to run when Donovan pulled out of the race.
Well, you know, it's something I had been considering. And I made the joke that while I expected someday to make an announcement like that, it maybe came two years earlier than I thought it would be. But coincidentally I was gearing up to announce my reelection campaign. So it didn't really take a whole lot to shift gears. And the issues that are facing Vermont are generally one in the same with the issues that I see in the county not just in the realm of criminal justice but beyond that whether it's environmental integrity or protecting and defending democracy.
So why do you want to be attorney general? How does that really help you move forward with these since you said it's very similar to what you're dealing with in Washington County?
Yeah, so when looking at the criminal justice system, you know, we often focus on just the concept of justice reform. What I found is that to really sustain changes in people and to make victims whole or to deal with problems we see in the community, it often goes beyond just the criminal justice system. I think a lot of times the traditional way a prosecutor's office works is to be a little bit more reactive: sit back and wait for a case to come in and then deal with the case. You know I haven't found that to be particularly effective particularly when looking at the opioid epidemic or looking at other threats to public safety. Having a close working relationship with law enforcement and having an idea of what's going on at the ground level in the community it's integral to making smart decisions. Just as much on the back end when someone does come into the criminal justice system we need to look at them beyond just the title of the offense. The focus needs to be on who is this person? What do they need? And what can we do to reduce the risks they present to the community or ultimately what needs to be done to rehabilitate them and ensure that they have the tools and are situated in the community to not go down that path again. And frequently it's the essentials. It's housing, employment, and in some cases the means to sustain recovery or absence from substances. And I guess looking at the whole person is really fundamental to how I've approached being a prosecutor.
Rory, you also indicate that if you are Vermont's next Attorney General there's four priorities that you want to focus on: criminal justice reform, defending democracy, fundamental rights, environmental justice, and public safety and protecting Vermonters. That doesn't seem to deviate too far from what current Attorney General T.J. Donovan has been doing? How would you change what he's been doing or is this more of an extension of what he's been doing?
You know I'll say this, I have a lot of respect for T.J. and I enjoyed working for him. While my time was brief at the Attorney General's office, I was an assistant Attorney General there and I wanted to be part of the office because I believed in him and because we share a lot of common values. So in that sense those priorities are similar. And yet the challenges we face today are different than the challenges TJ faced six years ago. I'll skip over the justice reform, public safety for a moment. But first and foremost focusing on protecting and defending democracy and our rights. You know I think two weeks ago everyone could appreciate that Roe v. Wade was a case that was under duress from the right wing in the country and in the courts. But I think to see in writing a draft Supreme Court decision overturning that precedent, you know, really, really calls into question what other rights are next? If we have a radicalized Supreme Court what other rights are at stake? What do we need to defend? And I think Vermont as a leader of advocating for individual rights needs to be ready to take a strong stand both for Vermonters and also to project our values out to the rest of the nation. Likewise I think like most Vermonters I stared at the TV in horror on January 6th. And it's clear that our election system in United States is going to face another stress test if not this November then certainly during the presidential election coming up, which is not that far away. And we need to be prepared to think outside the box about how do we make sure that Vermont's values are sustained, that they're safe and that some of these national trends and problems don't impact the way we live our lives here or impact the rights that Vermonters enjoy today.
Rory Thibault, you are the first candidate to announce a campaign for Vermont Attorney General. It is expected that other candidates will enter the race. So I'm curious. Why do you think you are the best qualified to be Vermont Attorney General?
So, I bring to the table both experience and leadership. I'm a veteran and I was on active duty in the United States Army as a judge advocate for eight and a half years. In that sense I followed a broadly skilled practice. I practiced administrative and civil law. I served as a defense counsel. I served as a prosecutor, as a senior prosecutor. And finally as an operational law attorney. Selfless service and leadership are foundational principles in how I approach my job today. As a litigator, I've lost track, but I have dozens of jury trial, or courts martial as they may be in the military, under my belt and I understand what it takes to litigate a complex case. So on day one as Vermont's Attorney General I'd be ready to stare down our most complex cases and our most serious public safety threats. And so in that sense, again, leadership and experience are what I feel that I bring along with a commitment to what I call Vermont values. You may have noted one of the things on my campaign is I want to pursue a system of justice that's rooted in Vermont values. And quite simply put I think those are equity, integrity, and empathy. These are foundational to good stewardship of a public position and a trusted position like Attorney General. So I want to bring my record and these values to the role of being Vermont's next chief law enforcement officer.
And how much more rooted in Vermont values can you be when you have a small farm, as I understand it?
Yeah, so that's been one of the interesting hobbies I took on during the pandemic, during lockdown. We had a lot of discussion about being more self-sustaining in terms of food. So between adding a garden and I had always had an interest in animals and I have a very close friend here in Cabot who he used to have dry heifers on his farm for another operation and when they moved out his barn was open and with another family, we jumped into having a family dairy cow. And from from that single dairy cow and calf we've expanded to have a few more cows and then we also have some sheep and so been learning a lot about shearing and wool making. But to be honest having the outlet of being connected to the land and being outside with the animals is a really incredible way to get away from the stresses of the criminal justice system. And it's been a fantastic way to bond with my family and make sure that we got outdoor time.
Rory Thibault is the first Democrat to enter the race for Vermont Attorney General.
On Monday, Attorney General TJ Donovan announced that his Chief of Staff Charity Clark had left her post to “explore new opportunities.” Clark previously told the newspaper Seven Days that she was considering a campaign for AG.
