DRAFT Disbar the lawyer/legislators who helped set our country on fire! – (copy)

(from Florida Bar complaint against Rep. Matt Gaetz)

  • We have a list of the lawyer legislators involved in possible ethics violations here here
  • We have a list of ALL the legislators involved in Trump’s campaign of election disinformation here.

Action #1: Put the American Bar Association on notice that their professionals has gone rogue.

“No lawyer should act in furtherance of sedition or destruction of the Constitution of the United States.”

We’re not focusing on the melting-sideburns guy or the kraken lady. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) has got that covered – he’s filed complaints in five states seeking to disbar Rudy Giuliani and 22 other lawyers affiliated with Trump’s campaign for frivolous lawsuits and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” More that 1,500 lawyers have already contacted the American Bar Association (ABA) to agree with him.

We’re just looking at the lawyers who also HAPPEN TO BE LEGISLATORS who are destroying democracy for political gain. Four years under a lawless president with no discernable consequences for his offenses, may have encouraged these dual-action figures to let their hair down a bit. They may believe that, as elected officials, they can enjoy the same immunity for lying, or sedition, as their non-lawyer colleagues. But they’d be wrong. Not if they want to remain as lawyers. So, let’s give them freedom enjoyed by their non-licensed friends, by having them disbarred for violating a foundational rule governing those licensed as lawyers, no matter what their current profession.

Instructions:

Copy/paste this letter or write a snappier one of your own and send it to the American Bar Association at gpsld@americanbar.org or snail mail to American Bar Association, Government & Public Sector Lawyers Division, 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036.

Action #2: Track ’em down, state by state. Ask governing agencies to disbar their seditionist lawyers.

Step #1 – Get warmed up with some quick petitions!

  • Sign this petition to the Florida Bar in support of the disbarment of Matt Gaetz here.
  • Sign Rep. Pascrell’s petition to disbar Giuliani and his gang here.

Step #2

#1 – Click here and choose a lawyer/legislator who interests you. You have a choice of federal representatives, senators and state attorneys generals. Pick one, or collect the whole set!

The codes:

Step #3 – Build-a-bear-grievance letter tool kit.

Note:

The letter below is just a suggestion. You are welcome to copy/paste whatever you want from it. However, inserting your own voice is always helpful and simpler, shorter letters from the heart are useful too.

Some states will let you submit directly online and add links in the text. Others will require you to print out your document and submit it, so we’ve provided the informational “footnotes” to add when necessary.

Here

Part A – Introduction:

My name ________________.  I am a resident of the State of ________, and am filing this Complaint against [Rep/Sen./A.G. ___________] [{IF OUT OF STATE – ADD THIS}: Though I’m not a resident of your state, this lawyer/legislator committed an act of sedition, an act which affects every American citizen equally, which is my standing for the following request.] [He/She] engaged in conduct that blatantly violated national ethics standards for ethical behavior1 as well as similar requirements for lawyers licensed in your state, contributing to a riot ending for five deaths. Therefore I am asking you to sanction [Rep/Sen./A.G. ___________] for this misconduct with disbarment.

Though not an attorney myself, I know that lawyers are licensed professionals who must not only swear an oath to support their own state laws, but federal laws and the Constitution as well. In addition, they are subject to ethics requirements from their state bar. Therefore, when lawyers become legislators, I know that their requirements for ethical behavior should be higher than that those set for non-lawyer politicians. The court in In re Woodward2 held: “[a] layman may, perhaps, pursue his theories of free speech of political activities until he runs afoul of the penalties of libel or slander, or into some infraction of our statutory law. A member of the bar can, and will, be stopped at the point where he infringes our Canon of Ethics; and if he wishes to remain a member of the bar he will conduct himself therewith.”

On Wednesday, Jan. 6th, 2021, Americans watched in horror as armed anti-democratic rioters, incited by claims of a “stolen” election by our own president, took over the Capitol Building to stop the constitutionally mandated counting of electoral votes and to force the reversal of the results of the November election. But Mr. Trump wasn’t solely responsible for this act of insurrection. His disinformation campaign was backstopped by both Congressional3 and state officials4, with the most effective efforts promoting the “allegations” of fraud over the reality of a well-run election5 being perpetrated by those who also happened to be lawyers. Despite 60 court cases and 90 federal and state judges6 confirming that there is no evidence of election fraud, these professionals misused the public trust given to them as both lawyers and public servants for political gain, violating every oath and code they’d ever sworn to. The grim results of this betrayal plays 24/7 on our media feeds.

  1. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_8_4_misconduct/
  2. https://law.siu.edu/_common/documents/law-journal/articles-2018/spring-2018/7%20-%20Tracz%20-%20sm.pdf
  3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-hawley-and-cruz-will-each-wear-the-scarlet-s-of-a-seditionist/2021/01/06/65b0ad1a-506c-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html
  4. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/106-congressional-republicans-join-17-state-attorneys-general-in-support-of-texas-suit-to-overturn-election-results-in-ga-mich-pa-wis-01607658751
  5. https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-general-elections-elections-4060823b211ce91959b26f46efb73636
  6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/judges-trump-election-lawsuits/2020/12/12/e3a57224-3a72-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html

Part B – Pick the code paragraph(s) that matches your person:

{TL} Texas v. PA – GOP Representatives

[Rep/ ___________] participated in Texas v. Pennsylvania1, the bizarre lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton2 claiming that his state had been harmed by the actions of the election procedures of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Rightly thrown out by SCOTUS with a single page order3 for lack of standing, this ridiculous case was labeled “a mockery of federalism4 and separation of powers5,” by both GOP lawyers and former senior government officials alike. Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro called it “a “seditious abuse of the judicial process6,” which “would would do nothing less than deny the fundamental right to vote to millions of Pennsylvania’s citizens.” Every one of the 126 legislators who signed onto the amicus brief7 did so to curry favor8 with our president and to posture to his followers for political gain in the next election. However, years of legal education and the canon of ethics against participating in actions9 for which there is no basis or fact for doing so, should have prevented lawyers/legislators like [Rep/ ___________] from joining in.

{AG} Texas v. PA – Attorneys General

[Attorney General ___________], along with 16 other attorneys general, signed a joint brief1 to A.G. Paxton’s lawsuit, Texas v. Pennsylvania2. This bizarre lawsuit claimed that Texas had been harmed by the actions of the election procedures of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Rightly thrown out by SCOTUS with a single page order3 for lack of standing, this ridiculous case4 was labeled “a mockery of federalism5 and separation of powers,” by both GOP lawyers and former senior government officials alike. Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro called it “a “seditious abuse of the judicial process,”6 which “would would do nothing less than deny the fundamental right to vote to millions of Pennsylvania’s citizens.” Every one of the 17 attorneys general who signed onto the joint brief7 did so to curry favor8 with our president and to posture to his followers for their political gain in the next election. Years of legal education and the canon of ethics against participating in actions9 for which there is no basis or fact for doing so, should have prevented lawyers/legislators like [Attorney General___________] from joining in.

{GO} – Rep. Louis Gohmert v. Pence…

In Gohmert v. Pence1, lawyer/legislator Rep. Louie Gohmert2 (R-TX) and a group of Arizona GOP fake-electors sued Vice President Mike Pence in order to grant him “exclusive authority and sole discretion under the Twelfth Amendment to determine which slates of electors for a State, or neither, may be counted.” Seriously. V.P. Pence himself asked the judge to dismiss3 this ridiculous waste of time and taxpayer money. Trump-appointed Judge Jeremy Kernodle threw it out for lack of standing, convoluted hypotheticals and that they weren’t even suing the right person. Rep. Gohmert’s plea to SCOTUS was just denied on Thursday4. In his quest for political gold, Gohmert violated not only common sense, but his professional ethics rule in which “A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.5” Frivolous. Embarassing. Wasteful. Dishonest.

{JH} Josh Hawley – “I will do/say anything to be president!”

(Note: Submit Josh Hawley comments to both the Missouri and the District of Columbia Bars.)

Although Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) clerked for a SCOTUS justice, he seems to have missed Article II and the 12th Amendment1 Day in law school, as his grandstanding2 involved loudly objecting to the counting of the electoral votes from Pennsylvania3. Votes that have already been certified. With results that have already withstood courtroom attacks. Over the objections of both PA’s actual senator Pat Toomey4, and the state’s A.G. Josh Shapiro5 who stated that “Sen. @HawleyMO is lying. PA’s vote by mail law got more Rep votes than Dem votes. No serious evidence of fraud exists. Fed & state judges upheld the law. This isn’t about partisanship or polarization. It’s about sucking up to Trump & throwing out the people’s will. Sedition.” Not only is Sen. Josh Hawley guilty of the ethical charges of deception over election results6 for political gain, he’s also broken his sworn oath to our Constitution by objecting to counting certified electoral college votes. That he was a former clerk to a SCOTUS justice,7 just makes this more venal. I am not alone in this analysis. Over 3,400 lawyers and law students have signed a petition8 to disbar him.

Notes:

  1. https://www.annenbergclassroom.org/12th-amendment/
  2. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/01/04/missouri-senator-josh-hawley-pat-toomey-comments/
  3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/03/two-republican-lawyer-senators-look-loopholes-democracy/
  4. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/01/02/sen-toomey-speaks-out-on-electoral-college-opposition/
  5. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/01/04/missouri-senator-josh-hawley-pat-toomey-comments/
  6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/judges-trump-election-lawsuits/2020/12/12/e3a57224-3a72-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html
  7. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-01-06/column-ted-cruz-josh-hawley-electoral-vote-challenge-constitution
  8. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdb1i4l8w–1XfdJaDEiEgqGClX5u0zsGqIbUh_M1HVD-ypYg/viewform

{HT} “House Team” – 139 GOP Reps. total, (26) lawyer legislators

(NYTimes list1) Rep. Mo Brooks2 (R-AL), a lawyer/legislator, led the House effort3 to overturn our election4, stating that he wanted to reject the electoral votes certified by states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania that he claims had “flawed election systems,” an issue for Congress only if there were competing slates of electors. Twenty-six lawyers, including [Rep. _________] then went ahead and committed professional violations5 in pursuit of political gain. In an act of sedition,5 [he/she] misrepresented the facts of the election results6 to [his/her] constituents, a violation of professional ethics, and objected to counting certified electoral college votes, breaking [his/her] oath to uphold the Constitution by violating both Article II and the 12th Amendment.7

{ST} “Senate Team” – (8) total, (4) lawyer/legislators

(Note: Submit Sen. Cruz’s comments to both the Texas and the District of Columbia Bars.)

{FOR SEN. TED CRUZ ONLY} – (NYTimes list1) Senator Ted Cruz authored a cynical letter calling for the rejection2 of certain electoral college votes for “unprecedented allegations3 of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.” Then, in what must be characterized as an act of sedition4, he then went ahead and committed professional violations4 in pursuit of political gain – first by misrepresenting the facts of the election results5 to his constituents for political gain, a violation of professional ethics, and then by objecting to counting certified electoral college votes, breaking his oath to uphold the Constitution by violating both Article II and the 12th Amendment.6 He also demanded a commission appointed to audit the results, another non-Constitutional demand under Article II and the 12th Amendment. Senator Cruz, a former law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, has no excuse for these violations except naked, toxic ambition,7 and he should be disbarred. I am not alone in this analysis. Over 3,400 lawyers and law students have signed a petition to disbar him as well.

{FOR SENs. RICK SCOTT, JOHN KENNEDY & CYNTHIA LUMMIS } – (NYTimes list1) [Sen. _________] followed the lead of Senator Ted Cruz, who authored a cynical letter calling for the rejection2 of certain electoral college votes for “unprecedented allegations3 of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.” By doing so, [he/she] committed professional violations4 in pursuit of political gain. In what can only be characterized as an act of sedition4, [he/she] misrepresented the facts of the election results5 to [his/her] constituents for political gain, a violation of professional ethics, and objected to counting certified electoral college votes, breaking [his/her] oath to uphold the Constitution by violating both Article II and the 12th Amendment6. [He/She] also demanded a commission appointed to audit the results, another non-Constitutional demand under Article II and the 12th Amendment.

Part C – Final paragraph

I charge [Rep/Sen./A.G. ___________] with violating the following codes.

  • {FOR ALL CODES} Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1, which requires that “A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.“
  • {FOR ALL CODES} Rule 8.4(c) the “Dishonesty Rule,” instituted after the Watergate cover-up, which prohibits lawyers from engaging “in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
  • {FOR ALL CODES} Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment – “No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.“
  • {FOR CODES JH, HT, ST ONLY} Article II and the 12th Amendment. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) warned her GOP brethren that “Objecting to these electoral slates would unavoidably assert that Congress has the authority to overturn elections and overrule state and federal courts. That would set an exceptionally dangerous precedent, threatening to steal states’ explicit constitutional responsibility for choosing the President and bestowing it instead on Congress. This is directly at odds with the Constitution’s clear text and our core beliefs as Republicans. She clarified further that the Article II, the 12th Amendment or any other Constitutional text did not provide for:
    • Any debate, objection or discretionary judgments by Congress in performing the ministerial task of counting the votes. 
    • Any implication that Congress is the court of last resort, with the authority to second-guess and invalidate state and federal court judicial rulings in election challenges. The Constitutional text reads: “The person having the greatest Number of [Electoral College] votes for President, shall be the President.”  
    • The right to require investigation committees. “The person having the greatest Number of [Electoral College] votes for President, shall be the President, unless Congress objects or Congress wants to investigate...”

Eliot T. Tracz, in his interesting paper “Lies, Liars, and Lawyers as legislators” An Argument towards Holding Attorneys Accountable for Violating the Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(c) Whilst Acting in a Legislative Role” stated “Many of the Founding Fathers were lawyers, and since the early days of the United States, lawyers have played a pivotal role as legislators in our government. As lawyers elected to public office, lawyer-legislators hold the trust of the public and are expected to fulfill the ideal that has been termed the lawyer-statesman.”

I just sentimental enough to believe that this was true at one time, and angry enough to demand disbarment of any lawyer/legislator who has contributed to the damaging propaganda campaign that’s set the county I love so much on fire. There is no lawyer/legislator “too big to disbar,” because we are on the verge of catastrophe. Pull your people back from the edge or let them go over. But put the interests of the public first.

Thank you for your consideration.

_____________________________________________________