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Every
year
—
or
at
least
most
years
—
in
honor
of
the
NCAA
Tournament,
Above
the
Law
runs
a
law-related
bracket
competition.
We’ve
crowned
the
Worst
Law
School
in
America.
We’ve
identified
the
Greatest
Work
of
Legal
Fiction.
This
year,
we’re
going
somewhere
new.
And
by
“new,”
I
mean
“depressingly
of
the
moment.”
In
January,
we
declared
that
the
profession
—
for
its
own
good
—
must
immediately
and
fiercely
press
licensing
authorities
to
pursue
discipline
against
the
Trump
administration’s
lawyers.
Disbar
them
all…
or
at
least
all
the
ones
with
even
a
modicum
of
decision-making
authority.
The
administration’s
lawyers
have
already
been
caught
lying
or
otherwise
misleading
tribunals
across
the
country.
They
have
signed
off
on
defying
court
orders.
They’ve
breached
basic
rules
of
prosecutorial
responsibility.
Expansive
conceptions
of
immunity
mean
there
is
no
other
recourse
to
hold
these
lawyers
accountable
other
than
for
the
state
officials
to
hold
these
lawyers
to
their
professional
and
ethical
responsibilities.
And,
if
the
allegations
prove
true,
protect
the
public
by
revoking
their
licenses.
So,
the
question
is…
Which
Trump
administration
lawyer
most
deserves
bar
discipline?
The
Department
of
Justice
understands
that
the
profession
itself
is
the
last
remaining
check
on
its
lawlessness.
That’s
why
Pam
Bondi
just
proposed
a
rule
to
circumvent
clear
statutory
text
and
block
state
bar
authorities
from
investigating
any
current
OR
FORMER
government
lawyer.
Under
the
proposed
rule,
Bondi
can
unilaterally
stop
a
state
from
probing
a
government
lawyer’s
ethical
breaches
and
prevent
that
investigation
indefinitely
until
the
Justice
Department
itself
chooses
to
allow
the
state
investigation.
If
you’d
like
to
comment
on
this
rule…
here
you
go.
For
now,
we
can
satisfy
our
professional
obligations
by
voting
in
a
series
of
polls
to
crown
a
bracket
champion.
Here’s
how
this
works.
We’ve
seeded
16
current
and
former
administration
lawyers
into
a
bracket
with
four
regions.
Each
region
is
named
after
a
Trumpworld
legal
luminary
of
the
past.
We
pay
homage
to
the
legal
minds
whose
professional
—
for
lack
of
a
better
term,
judgment?
—
inspired
and
continues
to
inspire
this
regime.
The
regions
are:
The
Roy
Cohn
Region
—
Named
for
infamous
Trump’s
mentor.
A
man
who
managed
to
leave
his
despicable
mark
on
the
country
as
the
actual
bridge
between
Joe
McCarthy
and
Donald
Trump.
The
Rudy
Giuliani
Region
—
From
America’s
mayor
to
disbarred
with
a
detour
through
the
parking
lot
of
Four
Seasons
Total
Landscaping.
Never
forget,
indeed!
The
John
Eastman
Region
—
The
Clarence
Thomas
clerk
behind
Trump’s
final
January
6
stratagem.
The
Stephen
Miller
Region
—
The
man
behind
America
First
Legal
is
not,
in
fact,
a
lawyer.
But
the
current
shadow
president
never
stopped
him
from
treating
the
law
as
a
hustle
for
attention.
Today,
we
unveil
the
first
two
regions
today.
One
in
this
post,
one
in
a
post
this
afternoon.
Tomorrow,
we’ll
roll
out
the
other
half
of
the
bracket.
Lawyers
will
advance
based
on
reader
polls,
in
which
we
ask
you
which
lawyer
is
most
deserving
of
bar
discipline.
You
can
define
“most
deserving”
however
you
choose
—
severity
of
misconduct,
brazenness,
incompetence,
or
simply
the
gap
between
what
they
did
and
what
the
profession
demands.
Voting
is
open
until
Monday
at
7:59
p.m.
Eastern.
THE
ROY
COHN
REGION
The
Simpsons
parodied
the
old
Paul
Harvey
biographical
routine
with
the
above
clip
in
1994
and
it’s
still
dead
on.
Roy
Cohn
was
scum.
He
was
disbarred
five
weeks
before
he
died,
which
was
already
38
or
so
years
too
late.
(1)
Pam
Bondi
vs.
(4)
James
Percival
1.
Pam
Bondi,
Attorney
General
of
the
United
States
(Stetson
University
College
of
Law)
Where
do
you
even
start?
More
than
70
lawyers
and
former
judges
—
including
two
former
justices
of
the
Florida
Supreme
Court
—
filed
an
ethics
complaint
asking
the
Florida
Bar
to
investigate
whether
Bondi
pressured
DOJ
lawyers
to
violate
their
ethical
obligations.
The
Florida
Bar
declined
and
the
state
supreme
court
rubberstamped
a
novel
theory
that
constitutional
officers
are
exempt
from
investigation
while
in
office.
Meanwhile,
Bondi
fired
career
DOJ
attorney
Erez
Reuveni
for
the
sin
of
telling
a
federal
judge
the
truth
—
that
the
government
had
erroneously
deported
Kilmar
Abrego
Garcia.
Bondi
said
Reuveni
failed
to
“zealously
advocate”
when
the
career
lawyer
declined
to
advance
a
knowingly
false
claim
in
court.
The
message
Pam
Bondi
wanted
every
DOJ
lawyer
to
understand:
lie
or
be
fired.
Just
another
day
in
Trump’s
personal
law
firm.
Oh,
and
there’s
that
lingering
question
about
her
brother’s
string
of
successes
against
her
DOJ.
And
then
there’s
that
aforementioned
proposed
rule.
Bondi
wants
full
authority
to
block
investigations
into
government
lawyers.
The
Fox
News
is
indeed
guarding
the
henhouse.
4.
James
Percival,
General
Counsel,
Department
of
Homeland
Security
(University
of
Virginia
School
of
Law)
You
might
not
know
his
name,
but
you
should.
While
a
“senior
advisor”
at
DHS,
Percival
was
neck
deep
in
the
persecution
—
and
that’s
not
a
typo
—
of
Kilmar
Abrego
Garcia.
Take
it
away,
The
New
Republic:
“Can
we
say
the
following?”
Percival
asked,
then
listed
several
things
he’d
like
the
administration
to
say
about
Abrego
Garcia,
one
being:
“This
guy
is
a
leader
of
MS-13.”“If
we
can
get
a
declaration
to
that
effect,
yes,”
Reuveni
answered.
This
meant
the
assertion could
not be
made
without
a
facts-and-evidence-based
declaration
from
ICE
on
Abrego
Garcia’s
status.
Percival
would
later
go
on
to
ask
if
lawyers
could
assert
to
the
court
that
Abrego
Garcia
was
not
“in
immediate
danger”
in
the
El
Salvadoran
slave
labor
camp
the
Trump
administration
sent
him
to.
On
the
one
hand,
there’s
room
for
a
manager
at
a
distance
to
the
facts
to
ask
questions.
On
the
other
hand,
this
was
all
after
everyone
understood
that
Abrego
Garcia
had
been
sent
to
El
Salvador
by
mistake
and
the
rules
of
professional
responsibility
do
not
cover
spin.
(2)
Ed
Martin
vs.
(3)
Brendan
Carr
2.
Ed
Martin,
DOJ
Pardon
Attorney
/
Weaponization
Working
Group
(St.
Louis
University)
Ed
Martin
is
a
gift
that
keeps
on
giving,
provided
the
gift
you
wanted
was
a
shit
sandwich
of
dubious
professional
judgment.
Even
the
Republican-controlled
Senate
couldn’t
stomach
confirming
him
as
D.C.’s
U.S.
Attorney
—
and
when
Judge
Jeanine
is
your
glow
up,
you
know
you’re
in
trouble.
But
that
didn’t
stop
the
administration
from
finding
him
work.
The
D.C.
Office
of
Disciplinary
Counsel
has
now
filed
formal
ethics
charges
against
Martin
for
threatening
Georgetown
Law
over
its
DEI
curriculum
while
serving
as
interim
U.S.
Attorney.
Georgetown’s
Dean
told
him
to
pound
sand.
But
the
underlying
conduct
—
using
federal
prosecutorial
authority
to
coerce
political
concessions
—
is
a
textbook
First
Amendment
violation
dressed
up
in
a
demand
letter.
When
the
disciplinary
office
came
calling,
Martin
didn’t
respond.
Instead,
he
fired
off
ex
parte
letters
to
the
chief
judge
of
the
D.C.
Court
of
Appeals.
While
copying
the
White
House
Counsel.
It’s
sort
of
like
getting
pulled
over
for
speeding
and
calling
the
governor.
Martin
has
spent
his
time
in
government
service:
dropping
federal
charges
against
his
own
former
client,
leaking
grand
jury
material,
and
admitting
he’d
use
DOJ
to
harass
people
he
couldn’t
actually
charge.
His
attempted
case
against
NY
AG
Letitia
James
was
so
bad
he
dressed
up
like
Inspector
Gadget
and
took
pictures
outside
her
home
to
intimidate
her
into
making
a
deal…
I
guess?
3.
Brendan
Carr,
FCC
Chairman
(Catholic
University
of
America,
Columbus
School
of
Law)
Carr
sees
his
role
as
broadcasting’s
chief
regulator
as
cover
for
punishing
political
speech
the
president
doesn’t
like.
Multiple
bar
complaints
from
the
Freedom
of
Press
Foundation
and
Campaign
for
Accountability
allege
Carr
weaponized
FCC
authority
to
threaten
broadcasters
over
their
news
coverage,
pressured
CBS
into
settling
Trump’s
personal
lawsuit,
and
tried
to
get
ABC
to
fire
Jimmy
Kimmel.
The
latter
move
earned
a
state
bar
rebuke
that
the
misconduct
was
—
weirdly
—
too
obvious
to
justify
further
action.
Most
recently,
he’s
threatened
to
revoke
broadcast
licenses
over
negative
news
coverage
of
the
Iran
war.
Ted
Cruz
—
Ted
Cruz!
—
called
Carr’s
conduct
“dangerous
as
hell”
and
compared
it
to
a
mafia
extortion
scheme.
When
you’ve
lost
Ted
Cruz
on
the
question
of
whether
something
is
too
authoritarian,
you’ve
accomplished
something
genuinely
remarkable.
Polls
are
open
now.
Voting
will
continue
through
Monday
at
7:59
p.m.
Eastern.
Get
in
there
and
vote.