GOP Letter: US Bar 'Biased, Ideologically Captured'

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and a group of Senate GOP legal experts sent a letter to the American Bar Association President William Bay, rebuking the ABA on allegations it has proved to be a "biased and ideologically captured institution" and is conflicted and complicit in defending USAID funding it receives.

"We write to express our disappointment with your recent statements on 'the rule of law' and 'the legal profession.' Both lead us to conclude the American Bar Association (ABA) is a biased and ideologically captured institution," Schmitt's letter co-signed by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, read.

The ABA had denounced President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at eliminating DEI initiatives, leading to Schmitt's letter and a call for the Senate to rebuke the ABA's bias and undue pressure on Congress.

"We call on our Senate colleagues to disregard the ABA's recommendations, as well as ratings of judicial nominees and pending legislation," the four-page letter received by Newsmax continued. "We also call upon President Trump and the Department of Justice to remove the ABA from the judicial nomination process entirely."

A memo from Schmitt on the introduction of the letter rebuked the ABA as once a "neutral" national advocate for the legal profession, that has traditionally held sizable influence in setting national legal policy and credentialing the federal judiciary.

But, as the memo said, "in recent years, the ABA has a developed a track record of taking partisan and progressive positions on a range of issues, including abortion, and the Second Amendment."

The ABA also excused President Joe Biden's executive order on the Equal Rights Amendment, at the time urging "all bar associations and the legal community as a whole to support implementation of the ERA," Schmitt's memo noted.

"The ABA claims it 'stands committed to its mission of defending liberty and pursuing justice,' " the letter to the ABA continued. "It does so by explicitly decrying the dismantling of USAID, though it provides no legal argument as to why such dismantling is illegal.

"The ABA further fails to disclose that the ABA has received millions of dollars in funding from USAID. It is questionable whether the ABA is committed to defending liberty or its own sources of funding."

Trump has been right about the ABA being an "ideologically captured, leftist institution," concluding it is a "failed institution," the letter argued.

"As such, we will not consider any ABA recommendations on pending legislation or nominees, and we call upon our colleagues to do the same."

Newsmax has sent a message to Schmitt's press secretary seeking further comment but has not heard back.

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