Federal Government
DOJ sues DC Bar amid fight over disciplining Trump administration attorneys
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the District of Columbia Bar over its efforts to discipline former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the District of Columbia Bar over its efforts to discipline former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark.
The complaint, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia on Wednesday evening, accuses the D.C. Bar of unlawfully punishing federal government attorneys. Clark worked as a government lawyer in the first Trump administration and tried to undo the results of the 2020 presidential race.
The complaint also backs Ed Martin, who now works as the DOJ’s pardon attorney. The D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel accused Martin in March of professional misconduct for sending a threatening to the Georgetown University Law Center’s dean last year, when Martin was the U.S. attorney in D.C.
The move escalates the administration’s fight with legal disciplinary entities and bar associations over the ethical conduct of government lawyers. The DOJ has been pushing for a proposal that would stall or delay state and city bars from conducting ethics investigations into its lawyers.
The New York Times had coverage.
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