Taylor fundraiser in DC co-hosted by two former AGs at odds with Trump

Treg Taylor, Alaska’s former attorney general and a candidate for governor, is holding his first major fundraiser in Washington, DC, this Thursday, and his choice of co-hosts is interesting: Two former Trump Administration attorneys general, William “Bill” Barr and Jeff Sessions – both of whom have had famously rocky relationships with President Donald Trump.

Taylor, who resigned as Alaska’s attorney general in late August after hosting a cybersecurity conference for state attorneys general in Girdwood, is aligned with Barr and Sessions, who have been kept at a distance from Trump and are not revered by the Make America Great Again base, despite recent attempts at reconciliation with the president.

Jeff Sessions, once one of Trump’s earliest and most important backers, helped legitimize Trump’s 2016 candidacy as the first sitting US. senator to endorse him. But their relationship imploded after Sessions, as attorney general, recused himself from the Russia hoax investigation. Trump fired him in 2018, publicly ridiculing him as “weak.” In the years since, Sessions has sought to mend fence. While he remains influential among law-and-order conservatives, many Trump loyalists still see him as disloyal and part of what cost Trump his 2020 reelection bid.

Bill Barr’s relationship with Trump followed a similar arc. Brought in after Sessions’ departure, Barr was initially viewed as a staunch defender of the president. But their alliance fractured after the 2020 election, when Barr refused to back Trump’s election fraud claims. He resigned shortly before Trump left office, later calling the former president “unfit” while still supporting his 2024 return to the White House over Joe Biden. Barr has since maintained a wary distance, supportive of conservative governance but distrusted by the MAGA base.

The fundraiser’s guest list includes several state attorneys general who attended Taylor’s August event in Girdwood, which focused on cybersecurity and digital policy. That conference, held days before Taylor’s resignation took effect on Aug. 29, was seen as his final act in office and, in retrospect, as a networking prelude to his gubernatorial bid.

Critics see Taylor as having run a “stealth campaign” for governor throughout 2025, using taxpayer-paid official events to build his political base before stepping down to run. The Washington fundraiser marks his first formal foray into Outside campaign fundraising.

There are a dozen Republicans in the running for 2026: