Bondi Demands 'Right' to Take Over State Bar Investigations of DOJ Lawyers

President Donald Trump directed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to examine attorney discipline and its role in what he called “government weaponization”.

The DOJ is seeking to limit ethics investigations conducted by state authorities into alleged misconduct by its attorneys, according to a proposed rule submitted and signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 5.

In the proposal, the DOJ outlined a new process for reviewing bar complaints and other allegations against department lawyers. Under the rule, the department would review the allegations before a current or former DOJ attorney could participate in investigative steps initiated by state, territorial, or District of Columbia bar disciplinary authorities.

“The Department will have the right to review the allegations in the first instance and shall request that the bar disciplinary authority suspend any parallel investigations until the completion of the Department’s review,” the proposal said.

The rule is now subject to a 30-day public comment period.

Additionally, the proposal said, “If finalized as proposed, whenever a third party files a bar complaint alleging that a current or former Department attorney violated an ethics rule while engaging in that attorney’s duties for the Department, or whenever bar disciplinary authorities open an investigation into such allegations without a complaint having been filed, the Attorney General will have the right to review the complaint and the allegations in the first instance.”

The attorney general or her designee will notify the applicable state bar disciplinary authorities and the affected lawyer whether she intends to exercise this right. “The relevant State bar disciplinary authorities must suspend any investigative steps that require information or other participation from a Department attorney in response to the allegations pending completion of her review,” the rule stated.

If bar disciplinary authorities refuse the request, the Department will “take appropriate action to prevent them from interfering with the Attorney General’s review of the allegations”.

Further, the Department said it has “long been committed to upholding the highest standards of ethics among its attorneys”.

If the attorney general decides not to complete her review, she or her designee will notify the appropriate bar disciplinary authorities so they may resume their investigations or disciplinary proceedings. “The Attorney General or her designee shall also inform the appropriate bar disciplinary authorities of the results of her review, including if the review finds that the attorney for the government did not violate any rule of ethical conduct while engaging in that attorney’s duties,” it stated.

Former Obama administration U.S. attorney Joyce White Vance criticized the proposal. “State bars license attorneys and consider misconduct allegations. Historically, state bars have deferred to the DOJ’s internal discipline process as a courtesy, but they are not obligated to, and the AG has zero authority to suspend state bar operations,” Vance said, according to Law&Crime.

“The DOJ can’t avoid an investigation into allegations of clear, ethical violations, like lying to or misleading judges and failing to follow court orders, if state bars want to pursue them. The process is usually long and involves wrist slaps instead of jumping straight to disbarment, but egregious cases deserve serious discipline," Vance added.