Liberal law professor breaks with Obama judge over Trump lawyer crackdown: ‘I refuse to teach’ it
Legal minds across the political spectrum are admonishing an Obama-appointed federal judge for suggesting that bar associations should look into sanctioning lawyers working for the president or the Justice Department,...
By Fox News · Fox News
Legal minds across the political spectrum are admonishing an Obama-appointed federal judge for suggesting that bar associations should look into sanctioning lawyers working for the president or the Justice Department, with one liberal constitutional law professor refusing to teach his students that such a move is acceptable. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams formally referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar in an opinion released Monday and ordered the ruling sent to authorities considering existing disciplinary complaints involving Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. The disciplinary actions stem from Williams’s ruling in a case involving a settlement that shielded Trump, members of his family and affiliated businesses from certain federal tax audits and claims. Bar associations have the ability to suspend the law licenses of individuals practicing law in their jurisdictions, giving them significant power over the ability of lawyers — including powerful DOJ officials — to do their work. "The court would also have litigants believe that, in such a circumstance, it is not only appropriate to dismiss the case but also to sanction and deprive litigants and their counsel of their reputation, license, or money," constitutional law professor Christian Lee Gonzalez-Rivera, who identifies as a liberal, told Fox News Digital. "As a law professor, attorney and former judicial law clerk, I refuse to teach the former or accept the latter." OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ADMIN IN LATEST COURTROOM SHOWDOWN, REFERS ATTORNEY FOR BAR REVIEW The existing complaint against Blanche alleges that he mishandled evidence linked to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein , used the DOJ to attack Trump’s personal enemies and failed to properly represent the interests of the United States during the negotiations that led to the creation of the now-defunct $1.8 billion weaponization compensation fund. Woodward, meanwh…