America First Legal Files Amicus Curiae Brief Opposing Recommendation to Discipline Jeffrey Clark Based on New SCOTUS Immunity Ruling

America First Legal (AFL) filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark this month, objecting to a recommendation from the three-person panel of the D.C. Board of Professional Responsibility to discipline him over his concerns about illegalities in the 2020 election. The brief points to the Supreme Court’s new ruling in Trump v. United States, which held that presidents have broad immunity for their official acts. The D.C. Bar filed charges against Clark for drafting a letter that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options in dealing with the irregularities.

Authored by Gene Hamilton, AFL’s executive director and chief counsel, the brief summarized, “This proceeding should be discontinued because of its threat to our constitutional system’s separation of powers. … This proceeding appears to target Mr. Clark inappropriately for his political beliefs, partisan affiliation, and connection to former President Donald Trump. Such abuse of Bar oversight chills zealous advocacy in politically sensitive matters and should never be permitted.” 

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Arizona Republican Party Joins Two Other State GOPs Filing an Amicus Curiae Brief in Kari Lake’s and Mark Finchem’s Voting Machine Tabulator Lawsuit

Attorney William Olson

The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) submitted a joint Amicus Curiae brief on Thursday with the Georgia Republican Party and the Republican State Committee of Delaware supporting Kari Lake’s and Mark Finchem’s Petition for Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The pair are appealing the lower courts’ decisions against their lawsuit challenging the use of electronic voting machine tabulators in elections. Under the new leadership of AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda, who has a lengthy history in election integrity work including heading the Voter Reference Foundation, the AZGOP is heavily focused on election integrity. 

Authored by attorney William J. Olson, the brief argues that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals erred by dismissing the case claiming Lake and Finchem lacked standing. The court affirmed the trial court’s granting of the defendants’ motion to dismiss, asserting that the pair lacked standing because “speculative allegations that voting machines may be hackable are insufficient to establish an injury in fact under Article III.” The complaint emphasized that the lower courts “conflated standing with merits, twisting the standing rules to require much more — that the complaint prove facts sufficient to grant relief.” 

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Arizona Republican Leaders Submit Brief Defending Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby from AG Kris Mayes’ Prosecution over 2022 Election Integrity Efforts

Warren Petersen Ben Toma

State Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and Speaker of the House Ben Toma (R-Peoria) filed a Motion for Leave to File Brief as Amicus Curiae in the prosecution of Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby on March 8.

Crosby, along with Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd, was indicted by a grand jury in November 2023 for briefly delaying canvassing of the 2022 election in order to investigate the laws that were broken. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes charged them with the class 5 felonies of Interference With an Election Officer—even though they were in part administering elections themselves as officials—and conspiracy since they both voted together to delay the canvassing.

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