DOJ Goes After DC Bar Association Over Alleged Lawfare Against Trump Admin Attorneys
The Trump administration is filing a lawsuit against the District of Columbia’s (DC) attorney disciplinary system, arguing that it preys on government lawyers for doing their jobs.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it has filed a complaint against DC Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton P. Fox III, the DC Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and the DC Court of Appeals Committee on Professional Responsibility. The suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., and the department filed it Wednesday evening, according to United Press International (UPI).
The department says the city’s disciplinary system enforces its rules unevenly. It would target current and former federal lawyers, particularly those who served Republican administrations, the Washington Examiner reported. The DOJ argued that the department is trampling on constitutional protections of executive branch independence, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Bondi DOJ attempts to rein in one of the left’s favorite legal weapons)
The case centers on Jeff Clark, a former assistant attorney general, and the department wants his disbarment overturned. The disciplinary case against Clark arose from confidential executive branch discussions about possible fraud in the 2020 election. The dispute remains in litigation nearly six years later, according to the Justice Department.
Justice Department Files Complaint Against D.C. Bar Disciplinary Authorities for Their Weaponization of the Bar’s Disciplinary Process Against Federal Attorneys
This filing advances President Trump’s executive order ending the militarization of the federal government and… pic.twitter.com/dXxS5gQXCn
– U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) May 13, 2026
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not minced words about the office his department is suing. “As our complaint and our history make clear, the D.C. Bar has long acted as an openly partisan arm of left-wing causes. No more,” he said in a statement released by the Justice Department.
Assistant Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who personally filed the complaint, said the suit was intended to insulate the government’s internal deliberations from outside scrutiny. “The D.C. Bar will no longer be allowed to investigate sensitive executive branch deliberations and target executive branch officials with whom it politically disagrees, and federal lawyers will once again be free to share their candid legal advice with their bosses and colleagues,” he said in the department’s statement.
Clark’s appeal received support from three former U.S. attorneys general. William Barr, Jeff Sessions and Michael Mukasey supported him.
The complaint also highlights the case of Ed Martin, a former acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who now serves as a clemency attorney. Martin filed ethics charges in 2026 for a letter he sent to the Georgetown University Law Center regarding the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, the Washington Examiner reported.
Clark and Martin are not the only administration officials who have raised ethics concerns. The left-wing group Campaign for Accountability filed a lawsuit against former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba in 2025, and a coalition of groups and law professors pushed the Florida Bar to investigate former Attorney General Pam Bondi that same year.
The lawsuit follows an earlier attempt to protect the department’s lawyers. In March, the Justice Department proposed a rule that would allow it to review ethics allegations against its attorneys before any action by the state bar, requiring those bars to suspend their own investigations until that review is complete. Blanche had signaled this change a few months earlier at the Federalist Society conference in November.
The Daily Caller reached out to the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Editor’s note: The titles have been updated.
