Trump Again Threatens Lawyers for Doing Their Jobs
This time he’s ordered the Justice Department and DHS to waste resources duplicating existing disciplinary rules.
The revenge crusade continues.
Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North AmericaPresident Donald Trump’s retribution tour made its latest stop late Friday with a new threat to the legal profession.
Trump issued a memorandum directing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to prioritize the enforcement of regulations governing attorney conduct and discipline. The memo further instructs Bondi to seek sanctions against attorneys who engage in “frivolous litigation” against the US “or in matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.” The attorney general also is to refer for disciplinary action lawyers who violate rules of professional conduct. Those directives alone do no more than recite the status quo. Existing rules provide for sanctions and other disciplinary measures for lawyers who commit misconduct.