DOJ lawsuit escalates fight over discipline for Trump administration attorneys

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Washington Post

The Trump administration is suing D.C.’s attorney discipline authorities over a recommendation to disbar Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who was found to have violated legal ethics in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in D.C. on Wednesday evening, accuses those officials of unlawfully punishing federal government attorneys, impinging on the powers of the executive branch.

The lawsuit is the latest example of the Trump administration asserting its authority to try to redeem Trump allies and supporters who were charged or accused of wrongdoing for their actions around attempts to thwart the 2020 election results.

It also marks an escalation in the administration’s battle with state bar associations and attorney disciplinary boards, which are regulatory groups for the legal profession that ensure practicing attorneys meet educational requirements and ethical standards.

Trump and his allies have denounced state and local bar associations as politically motivated, pushing back on scrutiny the bodies have directed at Trump administration attorneys as they pursue unusual cases and investigatory paths to carry out the president’s political goals.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/14/justice-department-sues-dc-bar/

---

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Bloomberg Law-Trump DOJ Pushes to Sideline State Bar Ethics Investigations

This lawsuit is part of a pattern. The DOJ wants to exempt its asshole attorneys from regulation by state bar associations

Link to tweet

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/trump-doj-pushes-to-sideline-state-bar-ethics-investigations

The Justice Department is seeking to empower Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend state bar ethics investigations into current and former DOJ lawyers—a step outside attorneys quickly criticized as an illegal intervention into state-run processes.

The proposed regulation, posted in the Federal Register Wednesday, would aim to halt state-level ethics proceedings against DOJ lawyers while the department conducts its own review, which would diminish local bar associations’ power. It comes as Bondi, members of her leadership team, and prosecutors involved in immigration matters face complaints probing DOJ misconduct in states where they’re licensed to practice law.

The department unveiled the unexpected policy by saying the change is necessary in light of the “weaponization” of the bar complaint process.

If finalized after a public comment period, “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,” the proposal states.

An attorney general who decides to exercise this right—or a designated official—will then notify the state bar agency and the lawyer facing the complaint and “request” that the disciplinary authorities pause the investigation until the review is completed.

If the DOJ finds no violation, that blocks the state from investigating the alleged infraction. And “should the relevant bar disciplinary authorities refuse the Attorney General’s request, the Department shall take appropriate action to prevent the bar disciplinary authorities from interfering with the Attorney General’s review of the allegations,” the proposed regulation states.

The regulation and discipline of attorneys is a job for the Bar Association of each state. Lawyers are regulated and disciplined by their state bar association. trump is ordering the DOJ to pursue meritless acts of vengeance and the attorneys who pursue these actions need to be subject to state bar discipline

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. MaddowBlog-Trump's DOJ files suit against the DC Bar, tries to protect key lawyer in 2020 plot

That Todd Blanche is even pursuing such a case is a reminder that this guy really wants to be attorney general.

Laughing my ass off
Over this stupid shit

Trump’s DOJ files suit against the DC Bar, tries to protect key lawyer in 2020 plot

That Todd Blanche is even pursuing such a case is a reminder that this guy really wants to be attorney general.

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Redeem the soul America (@rneagle.bsky.social) 2026-05-14T20:13:44.736Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-doj-files-suit-against-the-d-c-bar-tries-to-protect-key-lawyer-in-2020-plot

But bar associations are another matter entirely. In fact, Jeffrey Clark, a key figure in Trump’s 2020 crusade to remain in the White House, is facing possible disbarment in the nation’s capital as a result of an investigation from the District of Columbia Bar.

It’s against this backdrop that Trump’s DOJ this week filed a lawsuit against the D.C. Bar — not because it did something wrong, but because of its efforts to discipline Trump administration lawyers, including Clark. The New York Times reported:

The lawsuit defends Jeffrey Clark, a government lawyer in the first Trump administration who sought to undo the results of the 2020 presidential race, and Ed Martin, a current senior Justice Department official. The suit was filed by Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, and Stanley E. Woodward Jr., the No. 3 official at the Justice Department.

In accompanying statements, Mr. Blanche accused the D.C. Bar of acting as a “blatantly partisan arm of leftist causes.”

The same lawsuit goes so far as to say lawyers who work for the administration should necessarily be considered above scrutiny by legal ethics officials.

In case that weren’t quite enough, Benjamin Weiss at CourtHouse News noticed the same lawsuit against the D.C. Bar references the Supreme Court’s ruling that extended immunity to presidential “official acts,” suggesting Blanche and his team believe lawyers in Trump’s employ are also protected from punishments.

Time will tell what, if anything, comes of the case, but the fact that Blanche is pursuing such a case at all is a timely reminder that this guy really wants to be nominated for attorney general. His unsubtle moves in recent weeks includes: indicting people the president doesn’t like, advocating firing squads as a method of federal execution, releasing absurd reports critical of the Biden administration while gratuitously slamming Joe Biden himself and intervening in support of Trump’s ballroom crusade, which includes lobbying congressional Republicans to approve $1 billion in taxpayer money.