The Arizona Supreme Court adopted an amended version of a rule on Tuesday to separate the State Bar of Arizona’s regulatory and non-regulatory functions.
The think tank sought to end the practice of the mandatory state bar using attorneys’ dues for political purposes. However, the state’s highest court also included an amendment that gutted the rule. The changes to R-24-0030 Rules 32(b) and (c), Rules of the state Supreme Court, will go into effect on January 1, 2025.
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During an interview on the Fox Business Network. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24) called to disbar New York Attorney General Letitia James for “weaponizing the justice system” and “trying to take Trump out.” James, who went after the Trump Organization in 2022, said during a press conference after this month’s election that she would use the law to “fight back” against Trump. “And my office has been preparing for several months because we’ve been here before,” she said.
Tenney said when the deep state went after Donald Trump over false allegations of Russian collusion, he could have turned around and went after those accusing him, like “Hillary Clinton, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page … Comey.” Instead, “He did not do that. And who is the one that didn’t make an enemies list, and didn’t prosecute people who committed actual crimes, instead of using all these people, these state operators, like in Georgia and New York state?”
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Progressive activists are warning conservative election attorneys to avoid getting involved in litigation over the 2024 election or they will have their jobs threatened, will be targeted for disbarment, and even prosecuted. Many attorneys who assisted with litigation over the disputed 2020 presidential election, such as Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman, underwent disciplinary proceedings and prosecution.
The New York Times published an op-ed a few days ago by law professor Kate Shaw warning attorneys not to represent Trump in election litigation. She said, “Lawyers cannot, consistent with their ethical obligations, participate in devising litigation that is retrofitted to support the position Mr. Trump seems to hold — that the only ‘real’ Americans are those who cast their ballots for him and that those who vote against him are by definition engaging in fraud.”
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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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Marc Elias, the controversial election fraud denying progressive election attorney who intervenes in election lawsuits and files bar complaints against conservative election attorneys, filed complaints with attorney regulation in Maryland and Washington D.C. earlier this month against Kari Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen. Elias, who has been nicknamed a “Democratic superlawyer,” also released a video discussing successes in targeting conservative election attorneys.
Elias’s Democracy Docket stated in a press release on July 12 that Olsen “spread election lies while representing Election Deniers, including Kari Lake, in frivolous election lawsuits.” Gillian Feiner, Senior Counsel at the States United Democracy Center, said in the press release, “Kurt Olsen has abused his law license to spread lies about our elections in the courtroom time and time again, and his pattern of unethical conduct shows he’s not going to stop.”
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Donald Trump’s former DOJ official, Jeffrey Clark, is fighting a recommendation from the D.C. Bar’s disciplinary panel to discipline him over his concerns about illegalities in the 2020 election. Last month, he filed a Post-Hearing Brief challenging a nonbinding preliminary finding of culpability for drafting a letter that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options in dealing with the irregularities.
The hearing panel found that Clark engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation and conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice, Rules 8.4(c) and (d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Those ethics rules have been accused of being broad, vague, and unconstitutional. State bars frequently use them to target conservative attorneys.
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