The lawyers behind President Trump
Donald TrumpMcCarthy offers UC request to revisit foreign spending on Senator GOP omnibus over Trump forgives: “This is rotten to the end” Trump forgives Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner in the last round MOREFailed efforts to overthrow the election are facing growing ethical complaints for carrying out what critics say is a frivolous legal campaign designed to delegitimize the elected president Joe Biden
Joe BidenTrump administration advances bomb sale to Saudis Klobuchar: Trump ‘trying to burn this country on its way out’ NIGHT ENERGY: EPA refuses to tighten air quality standards for air pollution | Green groups sue Trump’s offer to open Alaska’s Tongass forest to extract MORETrump’s victory and strengthening Trump’s post-election fundraising.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani
Rudy GiulianiLouisiana elected congressman in intensive care after CNN’s COVID-19 diagnosis on Trump’s John Berman forgives: ‘Good night to be a corrupt Republican congressman’ Dominion Voting Systems employee processes Trump campaign, allies MORE, as well as allies Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, were accused of filing lawsuits filled with unreliable claims, fragile complaints and even blatant lies, in violation of their obligations as court officials.
As a result, judges and bar associations may soon face the task of deciding whether these legal efforts amount to a hotly contested defense or whether they have crossed the line.
According to legal ethics experts, disciplinary sanctions can include fines, public or private censorship, suspension of legal license or even impeachment.
The possibility that Trump’s allied lawyers could face disciplinary action was, in many ways, driven by his unfortunate record of victories and defeats in court. According to some estimates, the campaign and its allies prevailed in just one minor case that affected part of Pennsylvania’s ballots, while losing or giving up in more than 50 rounds in state and federal courts.
“Essentially, the rules require lawyers to filter the court’s waste to protect limited judicial remedies. Lawyers have a guardian role, ”said Stephen Gillers, a professor of law at New York University. “The abysmal failure rate of the campaign’s claims and the fact that the claims were made even after many losses, reveal almost certain violations of these rules.”
On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) became the last public official to press for the punishment of pro-Trump lawyers. In a court case, Nessel asked Michigan-based US district judge Linda Parker to consider sanctions against Powell, Wood and their co-attorney for what Nessel called an “unfounded process”.
The district judge, appointed by Obama, earlier this month rejected the far-fetched offer, which sought to grant Michigan’s electoral votes to Trump, despite his defeat for Biden by 154,000 votes. Since then, however, the legal team allied to Trump has only doubled in size, filing a petition with the Supreme Court last week and asking the judges to speed up the consideration of the case.
“These are blatant lies that Ms. Powell is submitting, everywhere, to the United States Supreme Court,” Nessel told CNN in an interview on Tuesday. “It is disturbing and I think it damages our entire profession, and it has to be held accountable.”
Separately, a Delaware judge presiding over a non-election case warned Wood that the conduct he displayed while conducting a pro-Trump litigation could put him in dire straits. Wood is representing Carter Page, a former adviser to the 2016 Trump campaign, who is suing a media company in Delaware state court for defamation.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz reprimanded Wood on Tuesday for alleged unprofessional behavior in lawsuits aimed at overturning election results in Wisconsin and Georgia. The judge identified several alleged ethical violations, including Wood having filed a lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiff without permission and making a false statement.
“It appears to the Court that, since Mr. Wood’s motion was granted, he has engaged in conduct in other jurisdictions which, if it had occurred in Delaware, would have violated the Delaware Laws of Professional Conduct,” wrote Karsnitz at the end to show the cause, which was first reported by the Law and Crime vehicle.
When contacted by The Hill for comment, Lin said he “did not see a request for sanctions, so I cannot comment.”
Powell did not respond to a request for comment; neither Powell nor Lin are officially part of Trump’s legal team, according to campaign officials.
Giuliani, Trump’s top lawyer, has also been the target of ethical complaints for his role in trying to undo Biden’s victory.
In November, Rep. Bill Pascrell
William (Bill) James PascrellJuan Williams: The Republican Party’s Betrayal of America On The Money: Congress approves bill to avoid shutdown as negotiations over coronavirus drag on over the weekend | Federal Reserve Fighting Risks Relief Negotiations Lawmakers ask the IRS if their systems have been compromised in the SolarWinds hack MORE (DN.J.) filed complaints against Giuliani and more than 20 other lawyers behind lawsuits seeking to reverse Trump’s missed reelection offer, asking investigators to consider revoking the former New York mayor’s license.
“I just filed legal complaints in the bars of AZ, MI, NV, NY and PA against Rudy Giuliani and 22 other lawyers in search of their dismissals for filing frivolous lawsuits and trying to help Trump steal the election and dismantle democracy” , Pascrell wrote in a November 20 tweet.
When asked to comment, Giuliani said he was not aware of Pascrell’s complaint against him.
“Didn’t I hear any of that ???” Giuliani said in an email response to The Hill. “Who is he?”
Earlier this month, more than 1,500 lawyers signed an open letter condemning the efforts of Trump’s legal team, identifying Giuliani, Powell and several other Trump allies by name.
“President Trump’s flood of litigation is a pretext for a campaign to undermine public confidence in the 2020 election result, which will inevitably subvert constitutional democracy,” said the open letter compiled by the group Advocating for American Democracy. “Unfortunately, the president, the main agents and facilitators of this effort are lawyers, forced by their oath and ethical rules to defend the rule of law. “
Steven Lubet, a law professor at Northwestern University, said he generally opposes what he called the “weaponry” of legal ethics. In 2017, he wrote an essay for Slate to counter disciplinary charges filed by law professors against former Trump adviser and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway
Kellyanne Elizabeth ConwayTrump’s refusal to grant confusion among the Trump team selects Hicks, Bondi, Grenell and other allies for positions Trump’s appointment tarnishes the honor at the Air Force Academy MORE.
But Lubet said he views electoral processes differently, in that it can be shown that lawyers have made false allegations in lawsuits.
“I would not make a similar argument in defense of a lawyer ‘s false allegations in a federal court case,” he said.
Legal ethics rules generally prohibit lawyers from taking frivolous actions, which are those that lack legal or factual support. However, even if a legal argument is not considered frivolous, experts say, they can still violate ethical rules if they are made for an invalid reason.
“The federal rule prohibits lawyers from invoking judicial power for an ‘improper purpose’,” said Gillers of New York University School of Law, citing efforts to raise funds or cast doubts about an election as examples of unethical purposes. .
As Trump’s legal campaign dragged on, election law experts for weeks said the litigation shifted from an attempt to turn the election into a campaign to fuel Trump’s fundraising effort – which has raised more than $ 200 million since 3 from November. For some scholars, it became clear shortly after election day that the types of complaints and evidence needed to persuade the courts were clearly missing.
Still, it is relatively rare for public sanctions to be applied. According to Deborah Rhode, a law professor at Stanford Law School, less than 10% of all disciplinary complaints end in public sanctions.
But Rhode said it is possible for courts or disciplinary bodies to view Trump’s post-election litigation in an especially harsh light, given the big concerns at stake.
“The conduct of these lawyers was so blatant and the stakes were so high, given the way the lawsuits raised doubts about the legitimacy of the election and the reputation of the lawyers, that perhaps some disciplinary authorities will be moved to act,” she said.