FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2026
democracyrestored.org
Democracy Restored’s investigation spans 181 bar complaints and related filings and reveals a national campaign to punish Republican attorneys and deter others from representing conservative clients
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Democracy Restored (DR) released a new report that exposes a secret, well-funded, and coordinated national campaign by the Left to target conservative attorneys with lawfare and barfare.
DR’s report, “‘Shame Them and Make Them Toxic’: The Left’s Campaign to Attack Its Political Opponents Using Lawfare and Barfare,” examines the organizations, political operatives, funding sources, and publicity strategies behind what Democracy Restored calls the “Lawfare Consortium.” Democracy Restored Senior Counsel Karin Sweigart presented the report Wednesday at “BARFARE: Stopping Bar Discipline as Political Warfare.”
The report connects hundreds of data points to expose the Lawfare Consortium’s key figures, targets, publicity tactics, geographic strategy, and funding sources. Spearheaded by The 65 Project, this network of Democrat-aligned activist organizations includes Hillary Clinton insider and Media Matters founder David Brock and former Obama “Ethics Czar” Norm Eisen. As Brock told once told reporters, their goal is not merely to file grievances against their targets, but to “shame them and make them toxic” in their communities and firms.
While cases involving John Eastman (disbarred), Cleta Mitchell (resigned from her law firm), Rudolph Giuliani (disbarred), Kenneth Chesebro (disbarred), and Jenna Ellis (suspended from the bar) have attracted national attention, DR’s investigation examines the secret machinery behind those headlines. Drawing on disciplinary records, court documents, nonprofit disclosures, and organizational publications, the report identifies a recurring strategy: file complaints, publicize accusations, amplify coverage, and use subsequent developments to renew pressure on attorneys and their employers.
Between 2016 and 2026, DR counted 181 bar complaints and related filings targeting 122 lawyers, five firms, and 44 non-lawyers across 34 jurisdictions in 26 states. Ninety-two of those filings were tied to the 2020 election.
DR has traced the Consortium’s activities, from a 2017 “proof of concept” attack on President Trump’s vice-chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity Kris Kobach, through the 2020 election fallout, to the 22 complaints the Consortium has filed thus far in 2026. Pam Bondi, Boris Epshteyn, Todd Blanche, Jeanine Pirro, and others from the current administration have been targeted, with dozens of other victims reportedly being scoped out for similar treatment.
“Our report shows how the Left’s weaponization of the legal system became a sustained national campaign,” said Houston Keene, director of Democracy Restored. “Every lawyer they target sends a warning to the next attorney considering representing a Republican client, arguing a conservative case or serving in the Trump administration: Your career could be in the crosshairs. Attorneys should not be targeted for taking on clients, issues or employment because political ideologues disagree with them, and Americans should be free to choose their legal representation without the same threat looming over them.”
###
