Déjà vu all over again.

That describes the status of the lengthy tug of war between Attorney General Andrea Campbell and state Auditor Diana DiZoglio over the latter’s authority to inspect the inner workings of the Legislature.

The latest iteration of this Cabinet level battle of wills occurred after the attorney general’s appearance last week on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” program.

“I hope the voters get exactly what they voted for,” Campbell said in reference to the overwhelming support of a 2024 ballot measure that sought to give the auditor the power to review how lawmakers operate out of the public eye.

However, the AG laid the blame for this impasse squarely on DiZoglio.

“I hope the auditor stops the standoff,” Campbell added.

For her part, an obviously exasperated DiZoglio has accused Campbell of “public corruption” for stonewalling the will of the people.

Despite the support of nearly 75% of their constituents, the Legislature’s Democratic leadership has raised concerns about the constitutional validity of the voter-approved law.

Meanwhile, Campbell and DiZoglio have gone back-and-forth about who’s responsible for delaying the audit process.

During an October rally at the State House in support of the legislative audit, DiZoglio told the Herald that the attorney general was “working together with legislative leaders” to prevent the probe from unfolding.

In response to a Herald inquiry at the time, Campbell said “any audit must be conducted within constitutional limitations,” while saying there is “no dispute about whether Question 1 is the law.”

But a law in name only, without any actionable powers.

“In order to move forward, the auditor must address our unanswered questions,” the AG said in a statement shared with the Herald, “including assurances that the audit remains within the confines of the (state) constitution.”

Then and now, DiZoglio has asked: what questions?

DiZoglio previously said that the AG needs to “stop alleging to the general public that my office has in some way not provided or withheld information that she needs to do her job.”

The attorney general, in that recent GBH interview, doubled down on the auditor’s supposed intransigence.

DiZoglio responded to Campbell’s comments in a statement to the State House News Service:

“The Attorney General continues to falsely claim that she needs more questions answered from my office. This is why I have called on the AG to sue me, and my office, so we can end this so-called ‘standoff.’

“She won’t face me directly in interviews, however, and won’t sue me — as I have repeatedly called on her to do. Why? Because she is well aware that she needs nothing else from my office to be able to do her job,” the Methuen Democrat said.

According to Campbell’s office, the core questions DiZoglio needs to answer revolve around her position on key legal issues, including what she believes she can and cannot audit, whom she would sue and what the legal claim would be.

Asked by “Boston Public Radio” co-host Jim Braude whether it’s an “unreasonable request” to also ask DiZoglio about what aspects of the Legislature she might want to audit, Campbell said that the court would ask her the same question.

Well, it took a while, but it finally appears we now know the questions Campbell says must be answered.

But if the auditor believes those queries constitute AG overreach, then we’re likely back to square one.

Sentinel and Enterprise

Editorial cartoon by Steve Breen (Creators Syndicate)