Bloomberg reports:

The Justice Department is seeking to empower Attorney General Pam Bondi to suspend state bar ethics investigations into current and former DOJ lawyers—a step outside attorneys quickly criticized as an illegal intervention into state-run processes.

The proposed regulation, posted in the Federal Register Wednesday, would aim to halt state-level ethics proceedings against DOJ lawyers while the department conducts its own review, which would diminish local bar associations’ power. It comes as Bondi, members of her leadership team, and prosecutors involved in immigration matters face complaints probing DOJ misconduct in states where they’re licensed to practice law.

The department unveiled the unexpected policy by saying the change is necessary in light of the “weaponization” of the bar complaint process.

If finalized after a public comment period, “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,” the attorney general “will have the right to review the complaint and the allegations in the first instance,” the proposal states.

An attorney general who decides to exercise this right—or a designated official—will then notify the state bar agency and the lawyer facing the complaint and “request” that the disciplinary authorities pause the investigation until the review is completed.

If the DOJ finds no violation, that blocks the state from investigating the alleged infraction. And “should the relevant bar disciplinary authorities refuse the Attorney General’s request, the Department shall take appropriate action to prevent the bar disciplinary authorities from interfering with the Attorney General’s review of the allegations,” the proposed regulation states.

Hilary Gerzhoy, chair of the DC Bar rules of professional conduct review committee, said the proposal “is incredibly concerning.”

“It is inconsistent with all precedents, ” Gerzhoy said. “The way that the DC bar disciplines lawyers is an independent process that happens in the DC Court of Appeals. It is not a federal process.” [Continue reading…]