ETTD: Justice Department

The DOJ’s motion to withdraw certain attorneys is “patently insufficient,” Furman said in a scorching 3-page ruling.

Only two attorneys who left DOJ’s civil division, Brett Shumate and Alice LeCour, will be allowed to withdraw. Several others must stay. pic.twitter.com/E3zdTiVjkt

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 9, 2019

A few choice details:

3. But Judge Furman says every other DOJ attorney who wants to withdraw from #CitizenshipQuestion cases in NY has to submit signed & sworn affidavit that:

- provides "satisfactory reasons" for leaving at this stage of litigation
- confirms they'll comply with sanctions motions

— Hansi Lo Wang (@hansilowang) July 9, 2019

In other words, each lawyer will have to stand in front of the class, by themselves, and explain just HOW the dog ate their homework.  Or, in this case, file an affidavit personally testifying to why they can't make the arguments in court that the DOJ (read, Trump and Barr) are demanding they make, because there is no good faith argument they can make, and they are wasting the court's time and resources, and they know it.  Also, ETTD, and they've been as close to Trump as their careers can stand.

This is a trial lawyer's nightmare.  Closest I ever came was trying to withdraw from a divorce action where our client had quit talking to us or paying us, and lost all interest in the case.  It should have been an agreed order, but the wife's lawyer wanted her billable for court time, so to court we went.  I patiently explained (in about three sentences) the grounds for withdrawal, and the kindly judge smiled at me and turned to opposing counsel and said:  "Why shouldn't I grant this motion?"  But it could have gone the other way, and we could have been held to represent a client who was in absentia (he actually lived in New Hampshire; the case was in Austin, Texas.  That kind of helped us, too.)  And they face sanctions; oh, lovely.

The analogy to standing before the entire class while embarrassing yourself as much as possible is not misplaced.  These lawyers are probably better off quitting the DOJ now, and hoping somebody will still hire them.  Two made it out; the rest should follow their example.