D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles’ crusade against special education lawyers and his hardball negotiations with the city’s unions are drawing fire from the chairman of the D.C. Council’s judiciary committee.

In a recent letter to Nickles, Phil Mendelson, D-at large, says Nickles is “embarrassing” the city by bringing lawsuits against special-ed lawyers and by not paying the city’s dues in arbitration cases with the city’s employees unions. Mendelson says the attorney general is trying to intimidate victims of city incompetence by driving up their court costs.