ETTD: Justice Department, chapter two

The New York court ordered the DOJ lawyers in the census case to file affidavits in order to even begin their withdrawal from the case. I assumed that was a punitive measure since the court has a sanctions motion pending against those attorneys. It turns out there is a local rule (all Federal Districts have local rules, supplemental to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) requiring an attorney file an affidavit explaining the need to withdraw, with the motion to withdraw. The lawyers themselves knew that, or should have; which makes me think the motion to withdraw didn't come from them. (I found the rules for the Maryland district in a simple Google search.  This isn't rocket science anymore.)  Oh, they would have signed it (they had to), but somebody above them, somebody unfamiliar with the local rules, drafted that motion.

So did the lawyers withdraw? Or were they told they were being withdrawn? The latter seems more likely, and it's very likely it was a response to the released transcript of the telephone hearing.  The motion to dismiss was a fait accompli;  "Here, sign this.  Thanks very much for your service.  Get to work on other cases."

The upshot?  Clear evidence that Trump's DOJ has been almost completely politicized. The lawyers on this case didn't file to withdraw. They were handed a motion and told to sign it. They were told they were through and to complete the formality so new lawyers could take over immediately. So immediately they didn't bother to inspect the local rules, something any trial lawyer would do (because the local rules of federal districts will always trip you up).  The lawyers in this case would have known that; or at least would have known to check the local rules before filing.

The lawyers who didn't are the ones who filed this.