WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to constrain ethics investigations ?conducted at the state level into alleged misconduct by its lawyers, according to a proposed rule ?submitted on Wednesday that would shield prosecutors pursuing President Donald Trump‘s agenda.
The proposal would give the U.S. attorney general the right to review misconduct allegations against current or former Justice Department attorneys and request that disciplinary authorities at the state level suspend their investigations.
That would mean that ?the attorney general, by dragging out such a review, could stall any such investigation.
The proposal takes aim ?at the actions of bar associations and similar professional organizations, not government entities, that investigate alleged ?unethical conduct by lawyers and consider actions such as disbarment, which involves revoking a license to practice law.
For instance, ?an attorney ethics panel in Washington recommended last year that Jeffrey Clark, a senior Justice Department official during Trump’s first term ?as president, be disbarred for conduct involving dishonesty.
Clark sought to enlist the Justice Department in Trump’s failed attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss based on false claims of widespread voter fraud. Clark has denied wrongdoing. A District of Columbia appeals court will make the ?final determination on disbarment.
