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A lawyer representing former President Donald Trump has been told he must apply to join the bar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit before the court can accept an appeal from him against Trump's recently imposed gag order.
The clerks of the D.C. Court of Appeals sent a letter to attorney John Lauro on Wednesday advising him that the court could not accept filings from attorneys who are not members of the court's bar. However, it appears that Lauro was the victim of a chain of events outside his control.
Lauro and fellow Trump attorney Todd Blanche filed notice to appeal a narrow gag order imposed on Trump by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that aims to prevent him from tainting a jury pool with his frequent attacks on those connected to the case, including Special Counsel Jack Smith, potential witnesses, and the judge herself.
The letter from the clerks of the court to Lauro has circulated on social media, and some users reacted to the news by appearing to mock Lauro—though it appears they were unaware of the background to the issue. Others pointed out that the process of joining the court's bar isn't complicated and will likely pose little difficulty.
Attorney Tristan Snell wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday: "Trump's lawyers aren't admitted to practice before the DC Circuit. They tried anyway. They failed."
Responding to Snell, former assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Weissman wrote: "Embarrassing."
The clerks' letter said: "Our records reveal that you are not a member of the bar of this court. It is the policy of the court that all attorneys appearing before it be members of the bar of this court. Our rules do not allow us to accept filings from attorneys who are not members."
The letter also notes that there is a deadline of November 2 if Lauro wishes to apply for admission to the court's bar.
"All experienced lawyers understand that I am trial counsel and have been admitted before the trial court for over 40 years," Lauro told Newsweek in a statement on Thursday morning. "As trial counsel, I properly filed a notice of appeal in the trial court, which was transmitted to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and fully docketed."
"President Trump will have appellate counsel in the appellate court—John Sauer who has noticed an appearance—and I expect to assist him in that court. This non-issue has arisen because of erroneous comments in the press regarding the distinct roles of trial and appellate counsel," Lauro added.
Lauro's statement does appear to be supported by the facts. He filed a notice of appeal in the trial court on October 17, as the legal site Above the Law first reported.
On October 18, Lauro's notice became the first item on the appellate docket. The appellate docket logged a filing attributed to Lauro.
However, as Lauro's statement to Newsweek makes clear, Trump had hired Dean John Sauer as appellate counsel, but only Lauro's name appeared on the docket, explaining why Lauro was sent the letter.
William Shipley, an attorney for more than 25 January 6 defendants and who uses the handle @shipwreckedcrew, said on X on Wednesday that the process is not complicated.
"If they are admitted to the District Court—and they are—then getting admitted to the Circuit Court is as complicated as filing a 4 page document and paying the filing fee. Big whoop," he wrote.
Update 10/23/23, 11:45 a.m. ET: This article and its headline were updated with additional information. It makes clear that while John Lauro was sent the letter, this was due to the differing roles of trial and appellate counsel, not due to an error on his part.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more