As ex-President Donald Trump’s team pursues appealing the recent order from federal Judge Tanya Chutkan partially silencing the ex-commander-in-chief in the criminal case against him alleging election interference, a clerk for the targeted appeals court has dinged Trump lawyer John Lauro for not actually being admitted to the relevant bar, meaning locally practicing lawyers’ institution.
“Our records reveal that you are not a member of the bar of this court,” a letter from the clerk to Lauro says. “It is the policy of the court that all attorneys appearing before it be members of the bar of this court. Our rules do not allow us to accept filings from attorneys who are not members.” The letter links Lauro to an application for admission to the referenced bar association and says he must apply by November 2 to continue in the dispute.
Journalist Darren Samuelsohn shared a predictably dismissive statement from Lauro. “I’ve been a member of the DC bar and the federal trial court bar for nearly 40 years,” the Trump lawyer said Wednesday. “This is a routine request from the federal appellate court to join its bar, which I will do in order to represent President Trump in this important matter.” You’d think he would have squared that requirement away before actually pursuing the appeal to this extent, however.
The underlying gag order from Chutkan applies to statements about individuals including Special Counsel Jack Smith, that federal prosecutor’s staff, and witnesses. Preceding concerns that spurred the restrictions stemmed from sources like Trump’s recent argument there is a historical precedent for the execution of Mark Milley, the now former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — who is also an established witness in this case alleging election interference. Trump’s extreme rhetoric in that instance again wasn’t enough to shake basically any major GOP support.
He’s facing new legal threats in Georgia, though, where co-defendant Sidney Powell pleaded guilty this week to charges from local prosecutor Fani Willis — agreeing in the process to provide future testimony, which could include statements against Trump.
Lauro in a statement just now: “I’ve been a member of the DC bar and the federal trial court bar for nearly 40 years. This is a routine request from the federal appellate court to join its bar, which I will do in order to represent President Trump in this important matter.”
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) October 18, 2023
