Luc Cohen, Reuters; Ahead of US election, lawyers fight over ethics breach accusations
"After Donald Trump's bid to overturn his 2020 election loss, an advocacy group was launched to take on the lawyers who aided in his doomed effort, hitting them with more than 80 ethics complaints.
With Trump again the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency, his allies have fired back at this group, named the 65 Project. A pro-Trump nonprofit known as America First Legal has accused the 65 Project of engaging in a left-wing attempt to intimidate conservative lawyers, filing a bar complaint earlier this week against the 65 Project's top lawyer Michael Teter. The Oct. 28 complaint said Teter was targeting lawyers "based solely upon their representation of a disfavored client...
The 65 Project, named for the number of unsuccessful lawsuits it says were filed to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden's win, says its mission is to deter lawyers from bringing false election claims. In September, the group pledged to spend at least $100,000 on advertisements in legal journals in battleground states warning lawyers not to risk losing their law license by helping Trump.
America First Legal, a nonprofit founded in 2021 by former Trump White House aide Stephen Miller, harshly criticized the ads on its website in announcing its complaint against Teter. The group has increasingly focused on the election this year after previously bringing suits challenging diversity and migration policies."
