Statement

Request for Oversight of the ODC
in the Case of William Barr

June 28, 2021

Editorial credit: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock

June 21, 2021

Editorial credit: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock

Last July, twenty-seven attorneys, including four former presidents of the DC Bar, took the extraordinary step of filing a comprehensive ethics complaint against then Attorney General Barr with the DC Bar's Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC).

The complaint identified serious professional misconduct committed by Barr, including his deliberate efforts to whitewash the Mueller report.

The ODC subsequently refused to investigate Barr, citing its unwillingness to "intervene in matters that are currently and publicly being discussed in the political arena;” and the fact that Barr is a “public figure.” The ODC also stated that complainants “lacked personal knowledge of the facts or allegations concerning Mr. Barr.”

In a detailed letter to Matthew Kaiser, chair of the Board on Professional Responsibility, LDAD and its fellow signatories rebuked the grounds for the OCD’s rejection of the complaint, and urged the Board to exercise its oversight authority over the ODC to reverse its decision to reject the complaint.

The submission of the letter was coordinated by LDAD, along with the other distinguished D.C. lawyers.