U.S. District Judge Sanket J. Bulsara booted a Justice Department lawyer from being able to argue in a case over ICE arrests in New York, saying he believes Thomas Price violated a key rule of court procedure with a recent filing in the case.
Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows sanctions against a lawyer who files dishonest or frivolous briefs.
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Judge Bulsara said he’d found “prima facie Rule 11 violations” in a Nov. 4 brief filed by Mr. Price, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
“AUSA Price is barred from continuing appearances in this case,” the Biden appointee wrote. He suggested other punishments could be forthcoming.
The U.S. attorney’s office, in a statement to The Washington Times, acknowledged “the importance and seriousness of the court’s concerns” and said it would respond to the judge’s request.
Judge Bulsara’s scolding is the latest for DOJ.
In Washington, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, a Biden appointee, has ordered a special investigator to probe whether the government was truthful with her as it pursued changes to the golf course at East Potomac Park.
And in Florida, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama pick, was so upset by DOJ’s role in the settlement of President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS — and the creation of the now-defunct anti-weaponization fund — that she referred her scathing findings to the bar in New York.
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