Brian Frosh

Brian E. Frosh (born October 8, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 2015 to 2023.

He also served five terms in the Maryland State Senate, representing Maryland's District 16 in Montgomery County.

Prior to serving in the Senate, Frosh represented District 16 in the Maryland House of Delegates, serving two four-year terms.

Born on October 8, 1946, Brian Frosh grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Frosh joined the Maryland Bar in 1971 and the District of Columbia Bar in 1972.

He was a partner at the law offices of Karp, Frosh, Lapidus, Wigodsky, & Norwood, P.A working in business litigation, commercial litigation, and real estate law.

As both a delegate and senator, Brian Frosh has represented Maryland's District 16, which includes parts of Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and Potomac.

Frosh is Jewish.

Frosh represented Montgomery County in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1987 to 1995.

In this role, he was a member of the Environmental Matters Committee, Tort and Insurance Reform Oversight Committee, and Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics.

Frosh brought state funding into the district to build the Capital Crescent Trail, build sound barriers, and fund programs like those at the National Center for Children and Families, the Ivymount School, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre and Glen Echo Park.

Frosh authored the Maryland Recycling Act, the ban on drilling for oil or gas in the Chesapeake Bay, the Maryland Brownfields Redevelopment Act, numerous energy conservation laws, Clean Cars legislation and other environmental initiatives.

In 2009, Frosh proposed changing the laws on protective orders to better protect domestic abuse victims against gun violence, and in 2011, sought to provide temporary lodging for domestic violence victims.

Frosh also sponsored legislation increasing the guidelines that courts use to set child support payments.

In 2010 Frosh supported legislation that would give the court the ability to put serious juvenile sex offenders on a registry.

As senator, Frosh worked to draft the law that provides a waiver of tuition and fees to state universities for children in foster care.

As senator, Frosh worked on a number of bills intended to promote energy efficiency, hold down energy costs and reduce the environmental impacts of energy production and use.

Frosh advocated the establishment of service standards and the imposition of penalties if electric utilities failed to provide reliable service.

In 2010, Frosh called on the Public Service Commission to investigate Pepco, and in 2011 introduced legislation calling for regulations and stiff penalties.

Although Frosh's original legislation passed the Senate, ultimately, the House would only enact penalties that were more lenient than Frosh's proposal.

As chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, former Senator Frosh had responsibility for legislation in the Senate dealing with privacy and consumer laws.

He sponsored bills protecting the privacy of citizens' personal information in Motor Vehicle Administration files and authorizing Maryland's Attorney General to prosecute violators of Federal anti-telemarketing regulations.

The Judicial Proceedings Committee approved legislation establishing a task force to recommend identity theft remedies, beefing up the original bill at former Senator Frosh's recommendation to pay specific attention to protecting social security numbers.

Former Senator Frosh has also sponsored bills banning minimum price fixing and creating new tools to crack down on people who defraud the State's Medicaid program.

On October 9, 2012, Frosh announced that he had formed an exploratory committee for election to Attorney General.

https://www.sierraclub.org/maryland/blog/2013/12/news-flash-sierra-club-s-maryland-chapter-endorses-brian-frosh-attorney

On July 30, 2013, he officially announced his decision to run.

Frosh, who was endorsed by Michael Bloomberg and The Washington Post, won a 3-way primary with 50% of the vote.

He then won the general election, defeating Republican Jeffrey Pritzker 56% to 41%.

In response to a 2017 lawsuit by Judicial Watch which sought the release of voter registration data for Montgomery County, Frosh's office filed a court document demanding that Judicial Watch "identify any Russian nationals or agents of the Russian government with whom you have communicated concerning this lawsuit."

Frosh was elected to his second term as attorney general on November 6, 2018.

In his first term, Frosh joined Karl Racine, attorney general of the District of Columbia, in filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump, alleging he had violated the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

On October 21, 2021, Frosh announced that he would not seek a third term in 2022.

During his tenure as attorney general, Frosh filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration.

On November 6, 2018, Frosh was elected for another term in office, having defeated Republican challenger Craig Wolf.

Frosh campaigned on progressive policies including reduced bail for poor defendants and litigating against the Trump Administration.

Frosh and opponent Craig Wolf debated at the University of Maryland Law School after Frosh declined an invitation to a televised debate.

Wolf attacked Frosh for focusing on national issues instead of Maryland crime, particularly crime in Baltimore.

Frosh said he had convicted hundreds of the most dangerous people in Maryland, including drug traffickers and gang members.