Trump Cracks Down On ‘Grossly Unethical’ Lawfare

After enduring years of bogus litigation, President Donald Trump has picked up his big stick, executive authority, in response to unethical lawyers and law firms that have wasted time and money in efforts to stymie his first term, his campaign, and now the implementation of this term’s agenda.

No more will lawyers and law firms be able to impede Trump’s every move with court actions, without risking consequences.

In an executive order issued late Friday that names one likely target, attorney Marc Elias, Trump calls on his administration to implement five policies to hold lawyers and law firms accountable for misconduct in federal cases or matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States. In simple terms, Trump has ordered the following:

1. Sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation.
2. Prioritize enforcement of regulations governing attorney conduct and discipline. 
3. Attorney General Pam Bondi must refer for disciplinary action any attorney whose conduct appears to violate professional conduct rules, particularly in cases that implicate national security, homeland security, public safety, or election integrity. Law firms should note, Bondi is instructed to consider the ethical duties law partners have when supervising junior attorneys. Firms won’t be able to blame junior attorneys for ethical misconduct while the partners remain unscathed.
4. When the attorney general determines conduct by an attorney or law firm warrants seeking sanctions or other disciplinary action, she must recommend to the president additional steps that may be taken.
5. Attorneys and law firms in litigation against the federal government will be subject to a review of their conduct and filings over the last eight years. If the attorney general identifies misconduct that warrants additional action, like filing frivolous litigation or engaging in fraudulent practices, she is directed to recommend to the president additional steps that may be taken.

“Additional steps” in the last two points could include “reassessment of security clearances held by the attorney or termination of any federal contract for which the relevant attorney or law firm has been hired to perform services.”

In the order, Trump mentions Elias, founder and chair of Elias Law Group LLP, as an example of someone who engages in, “grossly unethical misconduct.” The order cites Elias’ involvement with the phony dossier that became the foundation of the Russia collusion hoax and how Elias tried to hide that he was representing former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The order does not mention that Elias is the chair of Democracy Forward, a $14 million “nonprofit” focused on challenging the Trump agenda. It was Democracy Forward, in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), that rushed to court last week attempting to stop airplanes full of illegal aliens from being deported.  

Elias was hired as legal counsel for Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign, and he was behind legal challenges in Pennsylvania that tried to change election rules in a failed effort to keep former Sen. Bob Casey in office. He is the founder of Democracy Docket, a propaganda “news” platform that promotes cases Elias is involved in from his perspective, and offers leftist perspective on election integrity matters.    

Elias is not alone. There are others like him. Trump’s order also targets immigration litigation, “Where rampant fraud and meritless claims have supplanted the constitutional and lawful bases upon which the President exercises core powers under Article II of the United States Constitution — is likewise replete with examples of unscrupulous behavior by attorneys and law firms.”

It is worth repeating, the order is only for cases of misconduct in federal cases or matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.

It would not be surprising if the legal response to this order is for law firms to do what they do best: go to court and litigate their right to litigate.   

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.