Florida Bar failed to do its job on Bondi, and Miami Herald should have said so

Miami Herald

2 days ago

On June 5, three civil society groups and 70 prominent lawyers, law professors and judges filed a complaint with The Florida Bar, urging it to investigate how U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi misused the concept of 'zealous advocacy' to serve the Trump administration's goals.
As Miami Herald federal courts reporter Jay Weaver's June 7 article on the complaint documents, Bondi violated her fundamental ethical obligations by repeatedly firing Justice Department lawyers — or forcing them to resign — when they insisted on acting ethically. In the most glaring example, she fired a department lawyer for telling the truth in court.
The Florida Bar, which is responsible for enforcing the state's Rules of Professional Conduct fairly and impartially, rejected the complaint the very next day.
The Bar claimed it 'does not investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office.'
In doing so, The Florida Bar abdicated its responsibility to both the public and the legal profession.
Rather than calling on The Florida Bar to do its job, the Miami Herald Editorial Board wrote a deeply confused editorial criticizing the signers of the complaint — including two former Florida Supreme Court justices — for seeking accountability. The editorial argued that the complaint aimed to politicize Bondi's unethical conduct.
Ironically, the editorial acknowledged that Bondi is 'deeply political' and committed to advancing President Trump's agenda 'at all costs.' It even affirmed that 'ethical standards must be enforced' because they are 'a cornerstone of the legal profession.'
The editorial also conceded that Bondi's conduct warrants 'scrutiny' due to the 'enormous amount of power' she holds. Yet it rejected an investigation by the one entity Florida law charges with regulating attorney ethics.
In the Herald's Kafkaesque world, when political actors commit ethical violations, nothing should be done — because taking action might fuel partisanship.
Surely, it cannot be that Americans must accept a federal government that acts unethically and without consequence. That's intolerable in a nation governed by the rule of law.
The Florida Bar is simply wrong in claiming it cannot investigate ethical violations by federal 'constitutional officers.'
In passing the McDade Amendment, Congress explicitly rejected the Bar's argument that investigating federal officials would encroach on federal authority. The McDade Amendment states plainly: 'Attorneys for the Government shall be subject to State laws and rules... to the same extent and in the same manner as other attorneys in that State.'
Rather than attacking the complainants, the Herald's Editorial Board should have directed its criticism at The Florida Bar for evading its oversight duties.
A newspaper known for tough and independent investigative reporting should not shirk from holding the Attorney General — or the Bar itself — accountable.
James W. Conrad, Jr. heads Conrad Law & Policy Counsel, Abbe Smith is a member of the Georgetown University Law Center and Ellen Yaroshefsky is a professor at Hofstra School of Law. All three were were signatories to the complaint.