The Florida Bar dismissed a complaint against Attorney General Pam Bondi filed by 70 mostly left-leaning law professors, attorneys, progressive legal groups, and former Florida Supreme Court justices. It was the third politically motivated complaint that the bar has dismissed this year against Bondi.
The bar said in its dismissal letter to the coalition that it “does not investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office” since it could encroach on federal authority. The bar dismissed the previous complaints for the same reason, which were filed by two California congressmen and a California lawyer.
The Justice Department responded to the dismissal. “The Florida Bar has twice rejected performative attempts by these out-of-state lawyers to weaponize the bar complaint process against AG Bondi,” DOJ chief of staff Chad Mizelle said in a statement provided to The Miami Herald. “This third vexatious attempt will fail to do anything other than prove that the signatories have less intelligence — and independent thoughts — than sheep.”
The groups that signed the complaint were Democracy Defenders Fund, which is run by Norm Eisen, one of the master architects of coordinating lawfare by the left, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and Lawyers for the Rule of Law. The coalition of progressives criticized Bondi for issuing a memo to DOJ lawyers on her first day in office that called for “Zealous Advocacy on Behalf of the United States.”
Her memo said, “[A]ttorneys are expected to zealously advance, protect, and defend their client’s interests. Department of Justice attorneys have signed up for a job that requires zealously advocating for the United States.” Bondi said attorneys who do not represent the DOJ by failing to file briefs or skipping court hearings “will be subject to discipline and potentially termination, consistent with applicable law.”
The complaint claimed that Bondi “sought to compel Department of Justice lawyers to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of ‘zealous advocacy.’” They cited one of the broad, vague ethics rules most commonly used to target conservative attorneys, Rule 4-8.4(d). It prohibits a lawyer from “engag[ing] in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”
The coalition also accused her of violating another rule, Rule 4-5.1. They said it “imposes ethical duties on Ms. Bondi to take reasonable measures with respect to her managerial duties as Attorney General and her supervisory duties over subordinate lawyers to ensure that lawyers in the Department comply with their ethical duties.”
Rule 4.5-1 provides in part that a ” lawyer having direct supervisory authority over another lawyer must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the other lawyer conforms to the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
The complaint highlighted several attorneys who Bondi or her subordinates fired or forced to resign.
Bondi fired attorney Erez Reuveni after he testified about illegal immigrant gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Reuvini told the court that the DOJ did not have the authority to deport Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador. The Tennessee Star has extensively covered Abrego Garcia’s arrest during a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Although he was driving on an expired driver’s license provided to illegal immigrants in Maryland that was only valid in that state, driving a car owned by his boss who had served time for smuggling illegal immigrants, and despite the fact he was allegedly smuggling illegal immigrants, violating federal law, and allegedly transporting illegal immigrants for providing under market value construction labor, the Biden FBI told Tennessee law enforcement to release him.
Furthermore, the DOJ forced the resignation of attorney Denise Cheung after she refused to open a criminal investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency. Prosecutors said they believed an undercover Project Veritas video provided probable cause to warrant the investigation. The video revealed a Biden-era EPA political appointee comparing the grants to the organization as wasteful and “tossing gold bars off the Titanic.”
Also, several other attorneys were fired for objecting to the dismissal of charges against Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams. On top of this, several prosecutors resigned after refusing to drop the charges against Adams, claiming there was a quid pro quo with the Trump administration dropping the charges in exchange for Adams assisting with illegal immigration enforcement.
However, even U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho, a Biden appointee, dismissed the indictment with prejudice, so charges cannot be filed again.
Adams had claimed that the Biden administration went after him for criticizing their lack of enforcement of illegal immigration laws, which wreaked havoc in New York City with crime and overflowing hotels. The DOJ asserted that instead of a quid pro quo, the administration was merely trying to allow Adams the opportunity to conduct his job without the distraction of a criminal trial, which included enforcing those laws.
Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, alleged prosecutorial misconduct, including leaks of sensitive information to the media by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York. These leaks were cited as undermining the fairness of the case and justifying dismissal.
The coalition stated the bar’s dismissal, hinting at legal action, the Miami Herald reported. “All we asked for is The Florida Bar to do their job,” the statement said. “We will now evaluate all appropriate next steps to ensure they have the opportunity to do so.”
The Florida Bar recently suffered a setback when Florida Supreme Court officials expressed skepticism during a hearing last week over the bar’s attempt to discipline conservative attorney Chris Crowley for exercising his free speech during a political campaign.
– – –
Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pam Bondi” by DOJ.
Absolutely, if they belong to the bar, they should be disbarred. They filed this motion willfully and maliciously., and with no legal basis.
Time to go after these radical Marxist groups for flagrantly violating the civil rights of Conservative attorneys.