Questioning Sanctions against Trump Lawyers
Legal experts across the political spectrum are criticizing an Obama-appointed federal judge for suggesting that bar associations should investigate lawyers representing President Trump or the Justice Department. This has led one liberal constitutional law professor to reject teaching such actions as acceptable.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams has formally referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar. Her ruling relates to complaints involving Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. The case involves a settlement that protected Trump, his family, and businesses from federal tax audits and claims.
Bar associations have significant power, including suspending law licenses and impacting the abilities of lawyers, including those in the DOJ.
Christian Lee Gonzalez-Rivera, a law professor identifying as liberal, opined, “The court would have litigants believe that it is appropriate not only to dismiss the case but also to sanction and deprive litigants and their counsel of their reputation, license, or money.”
The complaint against Blanche includes allegations related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, misuse of the DOJ, and mishandling negotiations leading to a compensation fund. Woodward faces a complaint over a conflict of interest involving the same fund.
Gonzalez-Rivera argues that Williams’s order sanctions the presentation of debatable arguments in first impression cases. Historic cases with losing arguments should not lead to professional punishment.
Jeffrey Clark, a former DOJ official, warns that if Williams’s order becomes standard, it could damage the legal profession by empowering a few insiders. Clark believes this trend could deter future Republican lawyers from joining the DOJ.
Clark remarked, “Power will instead be monopolized and moved only to the Left… The Framers would be shocked to learn that the real boss of Executive Branch legal power is not the singular President of the United States, but instead committees of insular coastal elite lawyers purporting to wield the meta-power of legal ethics.”
Clark also faced disciplinary actions in Washington, D.C., related to a proposed DOJ letter after the 2020 election. He denies these allegations as politically motivated.
Williams’s opinion has been forwarded to authorities concerning Blanche and Woodward’s existing complaints. Brito was specifically referred to the Florida Bar based on advancing the case in bad faith.
Jay Town, former Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, criticized actions against DOJ lawyers based on judges’ political viewpoints.
Williams was appointed by Obama in 2011. She previously ruled against “Alligator Alcatraz,” a Florida detention center for illegal immigrants, although overruled by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
This and similar future orders could challenge higher courts, such as revisiting judge-made doctrines if weaponized within the judiciary.
Conservative lawyer Mike Davis urges the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Williams’s ruling.
Clark stated, “The federal Judge in Florida strategically timed her referral of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the New York Bar before his confirmation hearing. This is flatly unconscionable non-judicial conduct.”