The lawyers behind it President Trump
Donald Trump McCarthy Offers UC Request To Revisit Foreign Spending In GOP Senator’s Omnibus Over Trump Pardon: ‘This Is Rotten To The Core’ Trump Pardons Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner In Final Round MOREThe failed attempt to reverse the election is facing growing ethical complaints as they bring to the fore what critics say is a frivolous legal campaign designed to delegitimize the president-elect Joe Biden
Joe Biden Trump Administration Promotes Bomb Sales to Saudis Klobuchar: Trump ‘Tries to Burn This Country on His Way Out’ OVERNIGHT ENERGY: EPA Refuses to Tighten Air Quality Standard for Smog | Green groups sue Trump for opening Alaska’s Tongass forest to MORE loggingand strengthen Trump’s post-election fundraising efforts.
Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani Louisiana-elected congressman in intensive care unit after COVID-19 diagnosis CNN’s John Berman on Trump pardon: ‘Good night to be a corrupt Republican congressman’ Dominion Voting Systems employee sues Trump campaign, allies MORE, as well as allies Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, have been charged with urgent lawsuits full of untrustworthy allegations, bland claims and even outright lies, in violation of their obligations as officers of the court.
As a result, judges and bars may soon be faced with the task of finding out whether these legal efforts amount to hard-won advocacy, or whether they have crossed a line.
According to legal ethics experts, disciplinary sanctions can include fines, private or public censure, suspension of legal licenses, or even suspension.
The possibility that Trump’s allied lawyers could face disciplinary action was fueled in many ways by their sad win-lose record in court. By some estimates, the campaign and its allies have prevailed in just one minor instance where some of the Pennsylvania postal ballots were hit, while simultaneously losing or retiring in more than 50 rounds in state and federal court.
“In essence, the rules require lawyers to keep rubbish out of the court in order to protect legal resources, which are limited. Lawyers act as gatekeepers, ”said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University. “The appalling failure rate of the campaign’s claims and the fact that claims were made even after many losses, almost reveal certain violations of these rules.”
On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) became the last public official to push for the punishment of pro-Trump lawyers. In a lawsuit, Nessel asked Michigan-based US District Judge Linda Parker to consider sanctions against Powell, Wood and their fellow advisers for what Nessel called an “unfounded lawsuit.”
The district judge, an Obama-appointed person, rejected the far-fetched bid earlier this month, which aimed to grant Trump’s election vote from Michigan, despite his loss to Biden by 154,000 votes. Since then, however, the Trump-allied legal team has only doubled down, filing a petition with the Supreme Court last week asking the judges to speed up the case.
“These are blatant lies that Ms. Powell mostly submits to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Nessel told CNN in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s troubling and I think it undermines our entire profession, and she should be held accountable.”
Separately, a Delaware judge presiding over a case unrelated to the election warned Wood that behavior he displayed while conducting pro-Trump lawsuits could put him in hot water. Wood represents Carter Page, a former advisor to Trump’s 2016 campaign, who is suing a media company in Delaware District Court for defamation.
Judge Craig Karsnitz, a Delaware court judge, on Tuesday indicted Wood for allegedly unprofessional conduct in lawsuits aimed at overturning the election results in Wisconsin and Georgia. The judge identified several alleged ethical violations, including Wood filing a lawsuit in the name of a plaintiff without permission and filing a false affidavit.
“It appears to the court that since the motion was granted by Mr. Wood, he has been guilty of conduct in other jurisdictions that, had it taken place in Delaware, would violate the Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, ”wrote Karsnitz in a Cause Demonstration first reported by the Law and Crime outlet.
When approached by The Hill for comment, Lin said he “hasn’t seen a request for sanctions, so I can’t comment.”
Powell did not respond to a request for comment; According to campaign officials, neither Powell nor Lin are officially part of Trump’s legal team.
Giuliani, Trump’s lead attorney, has also been the subject of ethics complaints for his role in trying to undo Biden’s victory.
In November, Rep. Bill Pascrell
William (Bill) James PascrellJuan Williams: US Government’s Betrayal of America On The Money: Congress Approves Bill to Prevent Closure as Coronavirus Talks Drag Over the Weekend | Federal Reserve Fights Emergency Talks Lawmakers Ask IRS If Its Systems Have Been Compromised by SolarWinds Hack MORE (DN.J.) filed complaints against Giuliani and more than 20 other lawsuit attorneys seeking to reverse Trump’s lost reelection bid and asking investigators to consider revoking the former New York mayor’s license.
“I have just filed legal complaints with the AZ, MI, NV, NY and PA bars against Rudy Giuliani and 22 other attorneys seeking suspension for filing frivolous lawsuits and trying to help Trump pass the election to steal and dismantle democracy, “Pascrell wrote in a Nov. 20 tweet.
When Giuliani was reached for a comment, he said he was unaware of the complaint Pascrell had made against him.
“Never heard anything like it ???” Giuliani said in an email reply 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 and identifying Giuliani, Powell and several other Trump allies by name.
“President Trump’s barrage of lawsuits is a pretext for a campaign to undermine public confidence in the outcome of the 2020 election, which will inevitably undermine constitutional democracy,” said the open letter drafted by the group of Lawyers Defending American Democracy. The primary agents and facilitators in this effort are lawyers, who are bound by their oath and ethical rules to uphold the rule of law. “
Steven Lubet, a law professor at Northwestern University, said he is generally opposed to what he called the “armament” of legal ethics. In 2017, he wrote an essay for Slate to withdraw from disciplinary action filed by law professors against former Trump advisor and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway
Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway Trump’s refusal to give in leads to confusion among staff Trump selects Hicks, Bondi, Grenell and other allies for positions Trump-nomination tarnishes honor at Air Force Academy MORE.
But Lubet said he views the election-related lawsuits differently insofar as it can be shown that the lawyers have made untrue claims in lawsuits.
“I wouldn’t make a similar argument in defense of a lawyer’s false claims in federal court disputes,” he said.
Legal ethics generally prohibit attorneys from making frivolous claims because they are not legal or factual support. But even if a legal argument isn’t considered frivolous, experts said, they can still violate ethical rules if made for an invalid reason.
“Federal rule prohibits lawyers from calling on the judiciary for an ‘improper purpose,'” said Gillers of New York University Law School, citing efforts to raise funds or question an election as cited examples of unethical purposes.
As Trump’s languishing legal campaign drags on, election science experts have said for weeks that the lawsuit has turned from an attempt to turn the election into a campaign to fuel Trump’s fundraising campaign – which has raised more than $ 200 million since November 3. brought in. scholars, it became apparent shortly after election day that the types of allegations and evidence needed to convince the courts were clearly absent.
Yet it is relatively rare for public sanctions to be imposed. Deborah Rhode, a law professor at Stanford Law School, says less than 10 percent of all disciplinary complaints end with public sanctions.
But Rhode said it’s possible that courts or disciplinary bodies could see Trump’s post-election lawsuits in a particularly harsh light, given the deep concerns that exist.
“The behavior of these lawyers was so blatant and the stakes so high, given how the lawsuits raised doubts about the legitimacy of the election and the reputation of lawyers, that some disciplinary authorities may be incited to act”, she said.