The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it filed a complaint against Washington’s attorney disciplinary system for allegedly unfairly targeting federal lawyers and improperly intruding into sensitive executive branch decision-making. 

The complaint, filed in federal court, targets the District of Columbia’s Bar disciplinary authorities, which oversee ethics investigations involving attorneys licensed in the nation’s capital. D.C. Disciplinary Counsel Hamilton P. Fox III, the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility were the subjects of the complaint.