Justice Department Botches Even The Simplest Of Tasks In Census Case

They can't even quit right.

Judge Furman’s reaction to the DOJ’s motion.

After staking their entire strategy on the claim that the census question had to be expedited and that America cannot afford even a moment’s delay, the Justice Department asked the court to authorize a wholesale substitution of its legal team days before briefs are due. As one might suspect, the judge was more than a little confused:

But [Judge] Furman said that before lawyers can get off a case, court rules require them to explain why they wish to withdraw and that the DOJ request was “patently deficient.” That’s especially true, he said, given that legal briefs are due in a few days on whether the judge should issue an order preventing any action by the government to put the question on the form.

Part of the reason this motion was so patently deficient is that there’s no honest reason to swap out attorneys. What’s most likely happening is the attorneys working this case have rightly come to the conclusion that the Supreme Court has spoken and the case is all but dead. That doesn’t work for Barr and Trump so they’re looking to replace the team quick with some hatchet men and women willing to just make stuff up in a desperate bid to keep the census ball in the air. But “we’d like to withdraw because we cannot make the unprincipled arguments coming next” isn’t the rationale the DOJ wants to put on paper no matter how honest it might be.

Judge Furman gave the DOJ a second bite at this apple if they can concoct some good reasons to replace the legal team. Though if you’ve been following this case, you know that “believable pretexts” are exactly this crew’s strong suit.

Federal judge blocks Justice Department from removing lawyers in census case [NBC News]


Sponsored

HeadshotJoe 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 if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

Sponsored