Mass. Bar Suspends Biden's Former U.S. Attorney

But Not For Her Federal Felony…

Former-U.S. Attorney Rachael Splaine Rollins is suspended from practicing law in Massachusetts (Justice Department photo).

What is a bigger deal to the Massachusetts bar association than a U.S. attorney’s “knowingly and willfully” committing a federal felony?

One answer, apparently, is her failing to pay the bar’s annual $300 registration fee.

Ten months ago a bar suspension seemed likely for Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, but not for unpaid bar dues. The Justice Department had just released a pair of reports scandalizing Rollins, one by the Office of the Inspector General (O.I.G.) and the other by the Office of Special Counsel (O.S.C.). (The O.IG. “investigates alleged violations of criminal and civil laws by DOJ employees.” The O.S.C. “enforces the Hatch Act, which puts certain restrictions on partisan political activity by government employees.”)

Rollins, federal investigators agreed, abused her federal office to try to sway a local election and violated federal campaign finance law. The O.I.G. also found that Rollins used her personal mobile phone to store and send official communications and “knowingly and willfully” lied to federal investigators, which is a felony.

More specifically, Rollins wanted Ricardo Arroyo to win the Democratic primary to succeed her for her old district attorney’s job. She tried to manufacture a misleading federal document to get the press to print that Arroyo’s opponent was the target of a federal investigation, which he was not.

And, though federal prosecutors are forbidden from participating in partisan politics, Rollins attended a Democratic Party fundraiser alongside Jill Biden.

The Rollins revelations sent shockwaves through the Massachusetts legal community. She soon sent Joe Biden her resignation. Neither the feds nor the bar officially sanctioned her.

As surprised as many were, the allegations against a sitting Massachusetts U.S. attorney were not unprecedented. Boston politics has always been a contact sport, and Rollins’s predecessor under Obama was Carmen Ortiz.

Ortiz indicted two of then-Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s staffers in an apparent effort to soften him up so she could run for mayor herself. The charges were eventually dropped because a federal judge found that, even if true, they did not constitute a crime. But first Ortiz used the investigation to wiretap the mayor. Then she likely leaked the audio to reporters friendly to her and hostile to Walsh, in violation of a court order.

At the same time, in another doomed case, Ortiz indicted state officials for what she deemed to be their impermissible political considerations.

Former U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz (Justice Department photo)

Ortiz remains a member in good standing with the Massachusetts bar. Perhaps the biggest difference between her and Rollins is that Ortiz paid her bar fees on time.

MartyG Reports has verified that the Massachusetts bar has suspended Rollins “for Non-Registration[sic],” i.e. nonpayment.

Screenshot, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers (massbbo.org)

Rollins would almost certainly be reinstated if she pays the fee.

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