Bar Complaints Against Carr Rejected in Maryland and DC

Maryland’s AGC denied a bar complaint against Carr filed in September by the Campaign for Accountability (CfA) watchdog group because it was based on news reports and social media posts rather than personal knowledge, said a letter dated Jan. 8. Bar counsel “may decline” complaints in those circumstances, the letter said.

CfA had argued (see 2509240064) that Carr’s comments on The Benny Show podcast in September pressuring ABC and broadcast station groups to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! violated the bar’s rules of professional conduct. “As it does not appear that you have personal knowledge of the matters set forth in your complaint, we are declining the complaint pursuant to the above-referenced rule, and this file is now closed,” said the Maryland AGC letter.

“Clearly, the Bar was looking for an excuse to duck its responsibility to hold Carr accountable for potential misconduct,” said CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith in a news release last week. “The Maryland Bar Rules do not limit bar complaints only to those personally impacted by a lawyer’s misconduct. Although Maryland rules provide that Bar counsel ‘may’ dismiss a complaint that draws on public accounts -- leaving it fully within counsel’s discretion to investigate allegations of violations -- the Bar chose not to.”

CfA doesn’t plan to appeal the Maryland decision, a spokesperson told us. A similar bar complaint filed by the group in D.C. remains pending, Kuppersmith told us via email. "DC bar rules do not provide the same option to decline specifically based on the fact that a complaint is derived from third-party information, so we are hopeful that they will address the substance of the complaint."

Another bar complaint filed against Carr by the Freedom of the Press Foundation was rejected by the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) on Dec. 22 (see 2507290060). FPF had argued that Carr violated D.C. Bar professional conduct standards on the Skydance/Paramount merger review and the still-pending news distortion proceeding against CBS. Carr “slow-walked” the merger review and then approved the deal shortly after CBS agreed to a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump, FPF said in the complaint. “It is hard to imagine attorney conduct more brazenly unethical than helping a politician turn both the courts and the government agency they chair into conduits for bribery.” Carr has repeatedly said the FCC proceedings and Trump’s private lawsuit were unconnected. The agency didn’t comment Tuesday.

“We do not believe that the allegations of your complaint, if true, violate the Rules of Professional Responsibility or the attorney’s Oath of Office,” said the ODC in a letter to FPF. The bar complaint largely consisted of “disagreements with the policy decisions of a regulatory agency which present legal and political issues beyond the jurisdiction or competency of this Office to resolve,” it said. “The allegations involving the intimidation of broadcasters raise questions of First Amendment violations, potentially contrary to the attorney’s oath to support the Constitution. But broadcasting is a regulated industry, and there are limitations on the right of free expression. In this context, we do not believe that such conduct violated the First Amendment and therefore the attorney’s oath.”

FPF Advocacy Director Seth Stern said in an interview Tuesday that the denial was “disappointing and disingenuous,” and he blasted the ODC for ignoring Carr “assisting a sitting president in laundering a bribe through the court system.” FPF could file more bar complaints against Carr if he “continues to act unethically,” Stern added.