Last week, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams issued a critical ruling including a disciplinary referral to the New York State Bar for Donald Trump’s Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche.

In light of the fact, as documented by NYU’s Brennan Center of Justice, that the Trump regime dismantled and neutralized the federal Office of Professional Responsibility (“OPR”) via mass firings and politicization, it would be nothing short of irresponsible for New York state’s Attorney Grievance Committee to defer their investigation of Blanche to OPR.

This is especially true given the compelling argument presented by Lisa Graves, the former Deputy Assistant AG in the DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy, that Blanche has “mutated DOJ into Trump’s criminal defense firm, destroying its independence.”

The need for accountability, as opposed to impunity, mandates that the state’s Attorney Grievance Committee act as a check against the Acting AG’s well documented, unethical misconduct. Lord knows Trump’s corrupted OPR will not.

On July 13, Judge Williams issued a scathing 56-page decision finding that, in filing, and then purporting to settle, an “untenable”, “collusive lawsuit” against the IRS, Trump and others, including Blanche, conspired to defraud the United States. Indeed, as we previously reported, the Court’s decision substantiates the allegation made by 35 retired federal judges that Trump, Blanche and others attempted to “perpetrate a fraud on the judicial machinery itself.”

As part of her ruling, the judge found the behavior by Trump’s attorneys, including Blanche, to be so odious that she referred the Acting AG to the New York State Bar for a disciplinary investigation. The Court’s clerk was directed to forward a copy of her decision to them.

One week later, the Court received a July 13 letter from Rosario Milelli, a self described “Independent Scholar”. Milelli attached a copy of her May 5, 2026 Ethics Complaint against Blanche that was previously submitted to the NY Attorney Grievance Committee. She also attached a copy of a July 13 letter from the Grievance Committee’s Chief Attorney, Jorge Dopico.

In his response to Milleli’s NY State Bar Complaint, Dopico stated that Complaints against the Acting AG must be filed with the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, noting: “We will take no action in this matter at this time.”

While that deferral is consistent with past practices and a new policy enacted by Trump’s politicized DOJ to shield miscreants like Blanche from State Bar discipline, it is manifestly at odds with a dire need for preservation of the rule of law via checks and balances.

New York should follow the example of California’s State Bar and by the California Supreme Court. An aggressive but fair investigation ultimately led to the disbarment of Trump’s 2020 attorney John Eastman, architect of Trump’s fake elector scheme, and an attorney whose unethical actions and advice to President Trump contributed to the J-6 insurrection. Like California, the NY Attorney Grievance Committee must open and perform a robust, fair and independent disciplinary investigation of Blanche’s conduct as it relates to Trump v. IRS. Anything less cloaks Blanche with impunity.