DHS Attorney Hit With Bar Complaint For Criticizing Rogue Judges

For the past several years, leftists have waged an all-out assault on conservative attorneys and their ability to practice law. And now, such egregious “barfare” tactics are being aimed at the Trump Department of Homeland Security’s top legal official.

On Tuesday, a pair of leftist organizations and 128 former federal and state judges submitted an ethics complaint to the Florida Bar against DHS General Counsel James Percival, who previously served GOP Sen. Ashley Moody’s chief of staff during her time as Florida attorney general. His alleged crime? Criticizing rogue judges for slow-walking implementation of a recent Supreme Court ruling and their activism in other immigration-related cases before the bench.

In Mullin v. Doe, the high court affirmed that the federal law governing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) prohibits federal courts from reviewing non-constitutional claims against the government’s TPS decisions. Rather than swiftly heed the majority’s decision, several Democrat-appointed judges entertained seemingly frivolous claims from challengers before finally allowing the administration’s TPS terminations to move forward. The last holdout, Judge Brian Murphy, finally lifted his blockade on the TPS termination for Ethiopians earlier this week.

The aforementioned ethics complaint takes aim at a series of July 23 X posts published by Percival. Titled, “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition,” the thread documents these rogue judges’ conduct in TPS and other immigration cases, as well as an explanation from Percival on how the rulings conflict with the administration’s policy agenda.

The complaint also highlights Percival’s other criticisms of activist judges in various media appearances. It even included a reference to his May article for The Federalist, in which he accused Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee, of “judicial misconduct” for her apparent mishandling of a case involving an illegal alien “wanted for murder.”

Along with the former federal and state judges, the left-wing Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) and Lawyers Defending American Democracy proclaimed that Percival’s criticisms “constitute serious professional misconduct.” Despite a lack of evidence of Percival calling for threats against these judges, they further accused him of “threaten[ing] the rule of law and increas[ing] the risk of violence against judges.”

“General Counsel Percival’s July 23 post was not, as he described it, a ‘legitimate fact based critique’ of either the Judges or their rulings,” the complaint reads. “The Florida Bar has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the judiciary against unfounded statements that denigrate judges and other parties. It is therefore imperative that The Florida Bar promptly investigate Mr. Percival to assess whether he violated Rule 4-8.2(a) and to take appropriate disciplinary action.”

The complaint was filed weeks after a pair of Obama-appointed federal judges appeared on an anti-Trump podcast to similarly advance the claim that Percival’s rhetoric amounted to an intimidation campaign and incitement of violence against judges.

“Notice the resources the Left is putting into silencing me. Why? Judicial activism is their golden goose, and they’re afraid if I keep talking about it then it will stop,” Percival wrote on X in response to the complaint.

This isn’t the first instance in which Lawyers Defending American Democracy has used barfare to target conservative attorneys. According to InfluenceWatch, the leftist organization filed bar complaints against former Trump lawyers Rudy Giulliani and John Eastman and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for their respective conduct in 2020 election challenges.

Meanwhile, the Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) also boasts a long history of left-wing activism.

As described by InfluenceWatch, DDF was co-founded by Obama lacky Norm Eisen in 2024 “to engage in legal advocacy opposing Republican efforts to implement changes to election administration and procedures such as efforts to remove non-citizens from voter rolls in Virginia and rejecting mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania with envelope errors including a lack of signature.” Reportedly bankrolled by Democrats’ dark money network, the group also notably supported a letter criticizing the 2025 arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan for helping an illegal alien avoid being detained by ICE.

As The Federalist previously reported, Dugan was given a light $5,000 fine for her crime despite sentencing guidelines calling for “15 to 21 months in prison.” The Clinton-appointed judge handling her case decided she was a “good person upset by immigration enforcement in this country.”

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood