{"id":109898,"date":"2025-03-06T17:57:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T01:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/06\/pam-bondis-brother-and-ed-martins-assistant-running-to-lead-d-c-bar-no-way-this-is-a-bad-idea\/"},"modified":"2025-03-06T17:57:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T01:57:54","slug":"pam-bondis-brother-and-ed-martins-assistant-running-to-lead-d-c-bar-no-way-this-is-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/03\/06\/pam-bondis-brother-and-ed-martins-assistant-running-to-lead-d-c-bar-no-way-this-is-a-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Pam Bondi\u2019s Brother And Ed Martin\u2019s Assistant Running To Lead D.C. Bar\u2026 No Way This Is A Bad Idea!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The D.C. Bar occupies a key role in licensing and discipline for the nation\u2019s capital. It\u2019s the entity that permanently disbarred Rudy Giuliani<\/a> and is considering the same for Attorney General cosplayer Jeff Clark<\/a>. When coups happen, the D.C. Bar is the ethical bulwark of the profession and a critical institution for checking back future erosion of the rule of law brought on by lawyers in Trump\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s probably totally fine that Pam Bondi\u2019s brother and interim US Attorney\/Internet Crank Ed Martin\u2019s Principal Assistant are running for senior D.C .Bar leadership roles! Nothing to see here. Move along.<\/p>\n

Brad Bondi of Paul Hastings, brother of newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, is running for president of the D.C .Bar and newly installed Principal Assistant United States Attorney of D.C. Alicia Long is gunning for treasurer.<\/p>\n

In the abstract, both boast qualified resumes. Brad Bondi is the co-chair of Paul Hastings\u2019 investigations and white-collar defense practice and Long has served the Department of Justice in various roles since 2014. <\/p>\n

But timing, as they say, is everything. <\/p>\n

Running for control of Washington\u2019s ethical watchdog while your sister describes her department as the \u201cpersonal lawyers\u201d<\/a> of the guy who got his last crop of lawyers disbarred, indicted, or both? Treasurer while your immediate supervisor flirts openly with conspiracy theories<\/a>? Does not look great! <\/p>\n

To be clear, the president and treasurer don\u2019t hold omnibus power over the Bar\u2019s ethical work. There\u2019s a separate board running disciplinary matters and it reports to the courts. That said, the vote smacks of both symbolic significance and concrete importance to the extent bar associations perform valuable pro bono and professional development services in areas that the Trump administration actively attacks other bar associations<\/a> for championing.<\/p>\n

While one suspects both candidates will tout their independence \u2014 and they may be sincere about it \u2014 this doesn\u2019t feel like the moment to turn over the District\u2019s lawyer association to candidates with deep personal and professional ties to an administration already blowing past historical guardrails.<\/p>\n

In fact, the optics are SO bad that it\u2019s hard to extend the benefit of the doubt here. Knowing the perceived conflicts and the risk of undermining the organization\u2019s credibility, the decision to go forward with a campaign reads like an intentional infiltration effort no matter how strenuously they deny it. Which is a shame if they\u2019re being genuine, but life isn\u2019t always fair.<\/p>\n

Just wait to run until 2028! Or, alternatively, whenever Trump leaves office.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

My take on President @realDonaldTrump<\/a>\u2019s address tonight: Inspiring, funny, compelling and the Democrats\u2019 worst nightmare. <\/p>\n

Trump 2028!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The D.C .Bar\u2019s 2025 elections will take place exclusively online from mid-April to early June. Active D.C. Bar members in good standing as of February 28 will receive an email link to vote. \u200bBar elections often suffer from low turnout due to a lack of awareness or perceived insignificance. However, the stakes in this election seem inordinately high.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Pam Bondi\u2019s Brother And Ed Martin\u2019s Assistant Running To Lead D.C. Bar\u2026 No Way This Is A Bad Idea!<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The D.C. Bar occupies a key role in licensing and discipline for the nation\u2019s capital. It\u2019s the entity that permanently disbarred Rudy Giuliani<\/a> and is considering the same for Attorney General cosplayer Jeff Clark<\/a>. When coups happen, the D.C. Bar is the ethical bulwark of the profession and a critical institution for checking back future erosion of the rule of law brought on by lawyers in Trump\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s probably totally fine that Pam Bondi\u2019s brother and interim US Attorney\/Internet Crank Ed Martin\u2019s Principal Assistant are running for senior D.C .Bar leadership roles! Nothing to see here. Move along.<\/p>\n

Brad Bondi of Paul Hastings, brother of newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, is running for president of the D.C .Bar and newly installed Principal Assistant United States Attorney of D.C. Alicia Long is gunning for treasurer.<\/p>\n

In the abstract, both boast qualified resumes. Brad Bondi is the co-chair of Paul Hastings\u2019 investigations and white-collar defense practice and Long has served the Department of Justice in various roles since 2014. <\/p>\n

But timing, as they say, is everything. <\/p>\n

Running for control of Washington\u2019s ethical watchdog while your sister describes her department as the \u201cpersonal lawyers\u201d<\/a> of the guy who got his last crop of lawyers disbarred, indicted, or both? Treasurer while your immediate supervisor flirts openly with conspiracy theories<\/a>? Does not look great! <\/p>\n

To be clear, the president and treasurer don\u2019t hold omnibus power over the Bar\u2019s ethical work. There\u2019s a separate board running disciplinary matters and it reports to the courts. That said, the vote smacks of both symbolic significance and concrete importance to the extent bar associations perform valuable pro bono and professional development services in areas that the Trump administration actively attacks other bar associations<\/a> for championing.<\/p>\n

While one suspects both candidates will tout their independence \u2014 and they may be sincere about it \u2014 this doesn\u2019t feel like the moment to turn over the District\u2019s lawyer association to candidates with deep personal and professional ties to an administration already blowing past historical guardrails.<\/p>\n

In fact, the optics are SO bad that it\u2019s hard to extend the benefit of the doubt here. Knowing the perceived conflicts and the risk of undermining the organization\u2019s credibility, the decision to go forward with a campaign reads like an intentional infiltration effort no matter how strenuously they deny it. Which is a shame if they\u2019re being genuine, but life isn\u2019t always fair.<\/p>\n

Just wait to run until 2028! Or, alternatively, whenever Trump leaves office.<\/p>\n

The D.C .Bar\u2019s 2025 elections will take place exclusively online from mid-April to early June. Active D.C. Bar members in good standing as of February 28 will receive an email link to vote. \u200bBar elections often suffer from low turnout due to a lack of awareness or perceived insignificance. However, the stakes in this election seem inordinately high.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The D.C. Bar occupies a key role in licensing and discipline for the nation\u2019s capital. It\u2019s the entity that permanently disbarred Rudy Giuliani and is considering the same for Attorney General cosplayer Jeff Clark. When coups happen, the D.C. Bar is the ethical bulwark of the profession and a critical institution for checking back future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Headshot-300x200-KiGNz9.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}