The Standing Record

A daily, non-partisan record of US democratic norms — and the events that erode them.

DOJ files complaint against DC Bar to block disbarment of Jan. 6 ally Jeffrey Clark

On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a formal complaint against the District of Columbia Bar disciplinary authorities seeking to block the Bar from pursuing disbarment of Jeffrey Clark, a former senior DOJ official and Trump ally who had attempted to use the Justice Department to overturn the 2020 presidential election. DOJ argued that the state bar's disciplinary proceedings constitute improper interference with federal government functions — a legal theory that would effectively exempt former federal attorneys from professional accountability for conduct in their official capacity. The complaint was filed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Jurisdiction
federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a formal complaint against the District of Columbia Bar's disciplinary authorities, seeking a federal court order blocking the Bar from proceeding with disbarment of Jeffrey Clark. Clark, a former assistant attorney general, had in late 2020 drafted memoranda urging the Justice Department to pressure Georgia and other states to decertify their presidential election results — conduct that Senate Judiciary Committee investigators and a federal grand jury had documented in detail. After years of disciplinary proceedings, the DC Bar had recommended disbarment. The complaint was filed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

DOJ's legal theory held that state bar disciplinary proceedings against attorneys acting in their federal capacity constitute an infringement on executive functions — an argument that, if accepted by a court, would effectively bar state bar authorities from imposing professional consequences on federal attorneys for conduct undertaken in their official roles. The Brennan Center for Justice and legal scholars characterized the filing as DOJ deploying its institutional litigation capacity to shield a political ally from an accountability mechanism designed to operate independently of the executive branch.

The DC Bar's authority over attorneys licensed in the District is one of the few external checks that can impose consequences on federal prosecutors — unlike internal DOJ review, it is governed by the DC Court of Appeals rather than the executive chain of command. DOJ had separately proposed a rule in March 2026 granting the Attorney General authority to pause any state bar investigation of current or former federal attorneys (recorded separately in this archive). The May 14 complaint represents a distinct act: DOJ exercising litigation power directly to protect a named ally from a specific pending disciplinary outcome.

Why we recorded this

The DC Bar's disciplinary authority over attorneys—including those who serve the federal government—is one of the few external accountability mechanisms that reaches federal prosecutors, who otherwise answer only to their own chain of command. Jeffrey Clark's role in attempting to weaponize DOJ to overturn the 2020 election was documented in congressional testimony and grand jury proceedings; the disbarment recommendation was the bar's independent conclusion. By suing the DC Bar to block that proceeding, DOJ deployed its litigation resources to shield a political ally from professional consequences, neutralizing an independent accountability process and asserting federal authority over attorney discipline traditionally governed by state courts.

Sources

  1. Justice Department Files Complaint Against D.C. Bar Disciplinary Authorities Over Their Proceedings Against Jeffrey Clark — U.S. Department of Justice primary accessed June 22, 2026
  2. Blanche Is Targeting the D.C. Bar to Remove Ethical Guardrails for the Justice Department — Just Security secondary accessed June 22, 2026
  3. DOJ attempts to evade state ethics oversight of its attorneys — Democracy Docket secondary accessed June 22, 2026

See also