Uthmeier Demands FL Bar Toss Complaint Against DHS Attorney

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is demanding that the state bar dismiss a “meritless” complaint filed by left-wing activists against a Trump administration attorney for criticizing rogue judges.

In his Monday letter to Florida Bar Executive Director Joshua Doyle, Uthmeier slammed the Aug. 18 filing by the Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) and Lawyers Defending American Democracy against Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival as a “shameless publicity stunt.” The complaint was signed by 128 former federal and state judges, “only three” of whom “previously served on the bench in Florida,” according to the Florida AG.

As The Federalist previously reported, the left-wing groups and judges took aim at a July 23 X thread by Percival. Titled, “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition,” the DHS general counsel described rogue judges’ overreaching actions in several immigration-related cases involving the administration and how they conflicted with its policy agenda.

For this and his media appearances criticizing those activist judges, the left-wing groups and former judges demanded that the Florida Bar investigate Percival. They laughably claimed that his commentary constituted “serious professional misconduct” and accused him of “threaten[ing] the rule of law and increas[ing] the risk of violence against judges.”

While recounting Percival’s criticisms and the Florida Bar’s rules governing attorneys, Uthmeier noted that, “[e]ven if you disagree with his conclusions” about the judges’ rulings “or consider his opinions harsh, Mr. Percival had an objectively reasonable factual basis for sharing them.” The Florida AG said that Percival’s statements were “grounded in identifiable judicial actions” and that, “[t]aken together,” the facts of each case “provide an objectively reasonable factual basis” for his criticisms.

“Preserving judicial integrity does not require silencing sharp criticism. Judges who are faithful to the Constitution and render high-quality legal opinions do not need to suppress disagreement,” Uthmeier wrote. “But when the courts routinely exceed their authority, misapply the law, and produce destructive results, no attorney should be required to remain silent under threat of professional discipline.”

Uthmeier went on to note that existing ethical rules are “not meant ‘to protect judges from unpleasant or unsavory criticism,’ but rather ‘to preserve public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of our system of justice.’” He further underscored that when the judicial branch “has eroded that confidence all on its own, it is not unethical to hold it to account — it is a duty.”

“I respectfully urge The Florida Bar to apply rule 4-8.2(a) according to its text and constitutional limits. Criticizing any government official, including the Attorney General of Florida, is not professional misconduct. Judges are no exception,” Uthmeier concluded.

The complaint against Percival is the latest in the left’s ongoing “barfare” against conservative lawyers and their ability to practice law. Other attorneys targeted in recent years include John Eastman, Jeff Clark, and Ken Paxton.