The DOJ thought they’d found an infinite money glitch by having Donald Trump sue the same federal government that he controls and then “settling” that non-adversarial lawsuit to redirect taxpayer dollars to help MAGA child molesters. But, in a development so rare we honestly forgot it was possible, a handful of Republicans in Congress stood up and said “maybe stealing $1.8B to pay militia members who tried to kill Capitol Police officers is a bad move.” Taking his lead from Donald Trump’s work with Iran, Todd Blanche eventually surrendered.
But while the slush fund may be dead, the ethical cesspool that spawned it remains, and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward now faces a bar complaint filed in D.C. over his role in these shenanigants.
Of all the bar complaints coming for Trump’s DOJ leadership, this case against Woodward is among the most straightforward. The complaint Campaign for Accountability filed Monday takes Woodward’s old client list, his role in building the slush fund, and connected the dots. Stanley Woodward made his nut in Trumpworld representing Trump’s allies… and he set up a slush fund that would compensate those allies.
To borrow from an unrelated Woodward, “follow the money.” Except this involved fewer covert meetings in parking garages and more “I can’t believe he’s too stupid to get someone else to sign their name on this.”
Woodward, in his role as Associate Attorney General, executed, as the only signatory for the government, the settlement in Trump v. IRS, dumping Trump’s frivolous lawsuit in favor of the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to funnel public funds to January 6 rioters and other Trump loyalists.
The $1776 billion fund, payable from the federal Judgment Fund, is empowered to pay “monetary relief” to anyone the President deems a victim of “Lawfare and Weaponization,” with eligibility factors that expressly include time spent in federal prison.
Time spent in federal prison was a plus factor for getting payment.
While James Comey and Letitia James have strong claims that the administration weaponized the DOJ against them, the structure of this proposed fund — administered by a panel of cronies selected by and only answerable to Trump — was not paying either of them. The fund was much more likely to pay defendants like Walt Nauta and Yuscil Taveras from the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Or now-FBI Director Kash Patel for his role in Trump decorating his toilet with classified documents. Woodward also represented Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, who fought January 6 Committee subpoenas. And, of course, Oath Keepers Kelly and Connie Meggs as well as other Capitol riot defendants Ryan Samsel and Federico Klein.
Every one of those people became a likely claimant to the fund that Woodward attempted to create.
CfA’s complaint walks through the obvious traps — Rule 1.11 on moving from private practice to government work, Rule 1.7 on concurrent conflicts, and Rule 1.8(f) on letting a third party pay your fees — are all implicated in this issue spotter that your laziest professional responsibility professor would dismiss as too obvious. The complaint also includes the Rule 8.4 catch-all covering conduct involving dishonesty and prejudicial to the administration of justice.
There’s a second concurrent conflict piece, as CfA asks the Bar to examine Woodward representing Nauta and Taveras at the same time, in the same criminal case, after their interests turned directly adverse. A Trump-controlled PAC paid Woodward for both of those representations.
Of note, Woodward is also the one who signed the DOJ’s lawsuit against the DC Bar for aggravated rule enforcing. Now Woodward faces a bar complaint in the very jurisdiction where he’s suing to chill ethics enforcement. One of the arguments in that case is that government lawyers have the right to spitball illegal advice as part of their job and shouldn’t be held accountable for it later.
Hey, there’s no slush fund — for now — so no harm, no foul, right guys?!?
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
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