Can you stand one more post about Indiana’s infantile Attorney General? (I wouldn’t keep commenting if he didn’t keep pooping in his mess-kit…)
A lawyer friend sent me a copy of Rokita’s latest filing in the ongoing soap-opera tracing responses to his ethical lapses and his fury about those responses. After reading that pleading with some amazement, I have to agree with the Indianapolis Business Journal’s characterization of it as “bombastic.” (And then some…)
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita submitted a new and bombastic filing on Wednesday accusing the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission of caving to outside pressure in a “political melee,” saying it could no longer give him fair treatment.
“The Commission needs to be disentangled from ongoing politics driven by political commentators. If the Commission is not cordoned-off from the political stage, then its meetings need to be made fully public…” the filing read.
As my lawyer friend noted, the pleading was Trump-like, with Rokita lashing out at those he clearly perceives as his enemies : an amorphous “Left” and liberals in general, of course, but also “the establishment,” a nefarious Disciplinary Commission and its staff, a former Dean of IU’s Maurer School of Law, a reporter for the Indiana Lawyer, and others who have ever dared to suggest that he was in the wrong.
Clearly, they’re all out to get him, and it isn’t fair!
Many of the filings and decisions of the commission are private, unless the Indiana Supreme Court decides it would be in the public interest to publicize them — which the commission petitioned for in his disciplinary case. Rokita said he doesn’t oppose a motion to unseal the conditional agreement, so long as all of the deliberations and meetings related to him fall under the same “extraordinary circumstances.”
In his conclusion, Rokita said that his “style and content” were not grounds for the Commission to discipline him as a lawyer.
An excellent example of that “style and content” followed. Here is Rokita’s concluding paragraph (in which he continued to refer to himself in third person).
Respondent is vocal, aggressive, and successful regarding policies important to Hoosiers. He speaks in a manner that the ‘Establishment’ abhors. The content of his conservative message offends the Left, if not Liberals,” the filing continued. “… His press release (in November) made clear those facts in his combative style, but nothing written rendered his Affidavit false or defied the Supreme Court.”
His “combative style” reminds me of a couple of my kids when they were three-year-olds…
For those who’ve (mercifully) missed the preceding tantrums, the IBJ offered a helpful backgrounder:
In a November split decision and public reprimand, the Indiana Supreme Court found he had violated two of the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers:
They said Rokita’s comments constituted an “extrajudicial statement” that he knew — or reasonably should’ve known — would be publicly disseminated and would prejudice related legal proceedings.
They also said his statements had “no substantial purpose” other than to embarrass or burden Dr. Caitlin Bernard. The misconduct stems from his televised comments about Bernard, an OB-GYN who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio and was later disciplined before the Medical Licensing Board for discussing the procedure publicly.
In an interview with Fox News commentator Jesse Watters, Rokita called Bernard an “activist acting as a doctor” and said his office would be investigating her conduct.
However, both Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Christopher Goff dissented in a 3-2 split ruling, saying Rokita’s punishment — which included $250 in court costs — was too lenient.
Following the reprimand, Rokita shared a lengthy and unrepentant statement defending his “true” remarks in which he attacked the news media, medical field and “cancel culture.”
Shortly after, the disciplinary commission filed to unseal Rokita’s conditional agreement, saying, “Respondent’s actions flouted the authority of the Court, called into question the sincerity of Respondent’s assertions to the Court in his Conditional Agreement and affidavit, and caused damage to the public’s perception of the integrity and justness of the attorney discipline system…”
In his response, Rokita actually accused the Disciplinary Commission of knuckling under to “political pressure.” After all, it couldn’t possibly be the case that Todd Rokita had stepped over a line.
There’s more, of course, all along the lines of “how dare the Indiana Supreme Court and Disciplinary Commission respond publicly to my ethical lapses? How dare a commission set up for the sole purpose of sanctioning unethical lawyer behavior sanction me? Don’t they understand how important I am?”
I think the word is “self-important,” and I think our pompous and delusional Attorney General is beginning to feel the heat.
Todd is just using 45s victimhood attitude…I didn’t do anything wrong and if I did, it’s okay because I’m a republican… or something.
Did you see Biden’s speech yesterday? It was amazing. Be sure to watch a sincere and articulate commander in chief speak to America! I’m so proud!
If anything good came out of Rokita filing it appear he at least understand that “the left” and “liberals” are not always one and the same, a point I have to repeat when arguing with people from team treason who insist left & liberal are the same. They aren’t, and it appears “leftist” and “liberals usually know the differences, but in modern conversation they incorrectly get lumped together by both liberals, leftist, conservatives ( what few remain) and right wingers who are more akin to fascist.
Take that, all you leftist Hoosiers! Feels a like one of those old, really bad space movies, like Buck Rogers on steroids. It’s too bad that it’s a real life public office holder.
What would all of the criminals at heart do without politics? Would it be worse than what they do within politics?
IDK.
Bombastic. It sounds like the gentleman will be a perfect candidate for the Republican nomination for the US Senate.
Rokita really needs to be sent to the dust heap of lying loser politicians who got too big for their britches. His bombastic ‘how dare anyone, but especially the IN Supreme Court members, have the audacity to call out and expose my lies and misbehavior to the public’ by revealing legal documents that I agreed to and signed in order to avoid the punishment I should have received’!
I still recall how the IN republicans had a very difficult time choosing between their two awful candidates for AG at their convention. It was between the despised Rokita or the criminal Curtis Hill. Of course, the Dems had the well respected Weinzapfel as their candidate for AG that same election year, but the IN repubs prove over and over that they would vote for satan running as an R even if Jesus was the D candidate.
What office is Todd auditioning for next?
How convenient to lump “style and content” together. Style is how now says something, not necessarily grounds for censure, but content? That’s that old horse of a different color.
Yes, Pete, a good question. It’s not quite fashionable to run on the American Mafiosa ticket, is it?
Members of the Disciplinary Commission are appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court. See A&D Rule 23 sec. 6(b). The Commission’s executive director is selected by the Commission with the approval of the Court. See A&D Rule 23, sec. 8(a)(1). All the current Justices on the Court were appointed by Republican governors. Rokita’s perceived leftist persecutors play literally no role in the disciplinary proceedings against him after a grievance is submitted.
Rokita has taken a page out of Trump’s book in his attempt to characterize his own misconduct and control the narrative with his “They’re out to get me” and attacks on judges and prosecutors. Listening to this child is akin to watching pond scum on a hot August day. He should resign, go home and do divorces and DUIs, unless disbarred.
Not to worry, Hoosiers. Your AG has fetid company with the egregious, pardoned-criminal Ken Paxton of Texas. I guess the ethics classes they were supposed to attend were led by activities too.
“Respondent Attorney General, hereinafter “Asshole” . . .
It must be something in the water that he and the Texas AG shared at some national attorneys general meeting.
I’d like to add, Rokita is financing his press release, masquerading as a legal brief filed in his case, with funds from the AG’s coffers. We are paying for it which I find particularly troublesome. This phase of the process has nothing to do with the office of the AG. The comments made after he was reprimanded were personal observations and he should pay to defend himself out of his own pocket,in my opinion.
We need to get rid of all three of the 3 year old candidates in the May Primary so that we don’t have to deal with them again in November.
I am referring to Banks, Braun, and Rokita.
There is a means of accomplishing this: i.e. we all go to the primary and ask for Republican ballots and vote against them. The Tea Party Republicans used the method to get rid of Richard Lugar and we can use it to get rid of the Three Stooges of the former guy.