Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who both work as lawyers, have been placed on what apparently amounts to professional probation in connection to the 2020 incident in which they waved firearms at a crowd of protesters in the vicinity of their home in a St. Louis community. As explained by a Missouri news outlet, the “Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday indefinitely suspended the law licenses” for Mark and Patricia, “but it stayed their suspensions and placed them on probation for a year.” In other words, the indefinite suspensions of their law licenses have not, as of this point, gone into effect.
Senate GOP Whip John Thune, speaking to @tedbarrettcnn on reports that Trump tore up documents, says “nobody should be exempt” from the law and adds: “He should be held to the same standards as all former presidents.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 8, 2022
Originally, both Mark and Patricia pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses in connection to the gun-waving incident, although Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parson later pardoned the duo. The terms of their professional probation mean that the McCloskeys will be required to submit “written quarterly reports” that document “any arrests, criminal charges, civil lawsuits, disputes with clients, investigations questioning their fitness to practice law and reports of additional disciplinary complaints,” as that Missouri outlet explains. Mark McCloskey indicated after the decision was handed down that he (and presumably Patricia) intended to comply with the requirements, although he also suggested that he might seek a review of the matter from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, told me that the RNC censure resolution didn’t come up in conference meeting today — likely because a lot of people were “embarrassed” by it.
“It was pretty damn embarrassing,” he said.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) February 8, 2022
Mark’s originally admitted offense was a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault charge, while Patricia pleaded guilty to the specific charge of misdemeanor harassment. Mark’s guilty plea came with a fine of $750, while Patricia’s had a fine of $2,000. Missouri Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan D. Pratzel, who originally asked the Missouri state Supreme Court to discipline the McCloskeys, insisted that the pair had demonstrated “indifference to public safety” — obviously not something that’s ideal for anyone engaged in the practice of law.
"He illegally destroyed items that don't actually belong to him. These records belong to the American people," Paul Butler says about reports that former President Trump illegally shredded documents by hand.https://t.co/RAcguRTe7B
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 9, 2022
The McCloskeys shared remarks as part of the 2020 Republican National Convention, although essentially, their only real qualification to have any kind of substantial political profile was brandishing guns at a crowd of protesters, including children. That’s the kind of behavior that the Republican Party seems most interested in promoting, apparently — after all, teenager Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people, has been basically carried around on a metaphorical chariot by these people after a jury found him not guilty of murder. Rittenhouse met with Trump, and at least a few Republican members of Congress made a show of saying that they’d be interested in having Rittenhouse come on as an intern. And to be clear, through all of this: Rittenhouse’s claim to fame is killing people. That’s simply the fact, no matter the outcome of his trial — and that’s what prominent Republicans have essentially rushed to tout.
BREAKING: The FBI has arrested Matthew Jason Beddingfield, a Trump fanatic who stormed the Capitol while he was out on bail on an attempted murder case. https://t.co/0CaW6VwE55
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) February 8, 2022
