Ethics
DOJ pushes to sideline state bar ethics probes
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to intervene in state bar associations’ disciplinary proceedings against current and former DOJ lawyers—a move criticized within the legal community. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to intervene in state bar associations’ disciplinary proceedings against current and former DOJ lawyers—a move criticized within the legal community.
The Trump administration posted a proposed regulation in the Federal Register on Wednesday that pitches a new system for halting state-level ethics proceedings against DOJ lawyers while the department conducts its investigation.
The proposed regulation comes as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with members of her leadership team and federal prosecutors involved in immigration matters, faces state bar complaints, according to reports by Bloomberg Law and the New York Times.
The DOJ revealed the unexpected policy by saying the change is necessary in light of the “weaponization” of the state bar complaint process, according to Bloomberg Law. Before the proposed regulation can be finalized, there is a public comment period.
If finalized, “whenever a third party files a bar complaint alleging that a current or former department attorney violated an ethics rule while engaging in that attorney’s duties for the department or whenever bar disciplinary authorities open an investigation into such allegations,” the attorney general “will have the right to review the complaint and the allegations in the first instance,” according to the proposed regulation.
The proposed regulation further says the attorney heneral or her designee “shall notify the appropriate bar disciplinary authorities whether she intends to exercise her right to review the allegations, and if she does, she or her designee shall request that the bar disciplinary authorities suspend any parallel investigations or disciplinary proceedings until the completion of the review.”
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