前总统唐纳德·特朗普的辩护律师约翰·劳罗（John Lauro）在近期美国律师协会（ABA）会议上因称赞特朗普任内司法部而遭到反对，随后迅速获得保守派法律人士的线上支持。
据彭博法律（Bloomberg Law）对此次活动的报道，曾在特别检察官杰克·史密斯（Jack Smith）2020年大选案中为特朗普辩护的律师约翰·劳罗表示，特朗普任内司法部”状况更好”，这令其他小组成员和听众感到震惊。
劳罗周一在简短电话中告诉福克斯新闻数字版，该活动”充满了情绪化反应”。
“我批评美国律师协会（ABA）和其他精英法律组织没有谴责前政府进行政治虚假审判和表演式审判，特别是针对特朗普总统的审判——拜登政府曾希望在90天内对他进行审判，而这比在华盛顿处理交通罚单的时间还要短。”劳罗说。
劳工部下令律师与ABA切断联系，抨击该组织为’激进’活动力量
2024年1月9日，美国前总统唐纳德·特朗普的律师约翰·劳罗在华盛顿特区联邦地区法院外接受媒体采访。（贾宾·博茨福德/《华盛顿邮报》通过盖蒂图片社）
这场紧张的小组讨论凸显了特朗普政府与美国律师协会持续的冲突，促使司法部官员和律师表达对该组织的蔑视。
“美国律师协会就是垃圾，我很自豪从未成为其成员。”民权司司长哈米特·迪隆（Harmeet Dhillon）表示，”它诋毁法官[罗伯特]·博克的小动作让我下定决心不加入。”
“这简直是对美国律师协会作为绝对耻辱的又一证明，”副助理司法部长迭戈·佩斯塔纳（Diego Pestana）写道，”约翰·劳罗是该国最优秀的诉讼律师之一和爱国者，只因敢于表达与自由派白领律师不同的观点而受到恶劣对待。”
劳罗在圣地亚哥会议上的小组讨论中表示，他”拥有代表一位可能比美国任何政治人物都更多受到美国刑事司法系统虐待的政治人物的独特经历”。
“当前政府发生的一切都必须从一个被刑事司法系统迫害的人的角度来看待。”劳罗说。
支持劳罗的包括爱荷华州副检察长埃里克·韦桑（Eric Wessan），他称美国律师协会”代表极端党派派系”。
“这没关系！但他们不应在法学院认证（或司法人员选拔）中发挥作用。”韦桑说。
2020年大选案未被起诉的同谋者、前司法部官员杰夫·克拉克（Jeff Clark）称劳罗”是个有原则的勇敢之人”。
另一位社交媒体用户，一位匿名的佐治亚州法律评论人士表示，虽然他不同意劳罗的评论，但”嫉妒”劳罗”有机会告诉满屋子那种傲慢、矫揉造作的辩护律师——他们总在ABA会议上混日子——去他妈的。他本应这样做。”
劳罗的言论引发了参与者的反对。哈佛大学法学教授、退休联邦法官南希·格特纳（Nancy Gertner）回应称，任何围绕特朗普起诉的问题都不”足以证明美国民主的分裂是正当的”。
前联邦检察官米切尔·埃普纳（Mitchell Epner）表示：”我要感谢劳罗先生指出了’皇帝没穿衣服’。法治已经死亡，因为在座的人和司法部都惹恼了特朗普总统。”
2023年8月28日，曾担任总统唐纳德·特朗普辩护律师的约翰·劳罗离开华盛顿特区联邦法院。（阿尔·德拉戈/彭博通过盖蒂图片社）
“我不敢相信你认为一个人可以决定司法部调查和起诉谁是正常或好事。”律师兼小组主持人桑迪·温伯格（Sandy Weinberg）说。
共和党人长期以来一直认为美国律师协会（ABA）宣扬民主党立场，其在法律界的建制派地位对保守派不利。美国律师协会官网展示的工作包括支持”LGBTQ+”权益、堕胎权、更严格的枪支管制措施以及多元化、公平与包容政策。
美国律师协会还对特朗普政府持反对立场，其主席称该政府”大规模违背法治”。
2025年6月27日，美国司法部长帕姆·邦迪在华盛顿特区白宫简报室与总统唐纳德·特朗普就最高法院最新裁决发表讲话。（乔·雷德尔/盖蒂图片社）
美国律师协会数十年来一直拥有巨大权力，在联邦法官提名、诉讼参与以及法律行业招聘中发挥重要作用。其一个部门还负责法学院认证。
在特朗普任内，包括司法部和劳工部在内的多个部门和机构已告知政治任命官员，他们不能以官方身份与美国律师协会（ABA）结盟。
与此同时，司法部已着手终止对美国律师协会项目超过300万美元的联邦拨款，但一名法官裁定此举违宪。司法部长帕姆·邦迪去年告知美国律师协会，司法部不会提前通知该组织司法提名人选，这与美国律师协会在参议院提名流程中提前评级的数十年惯例相反。
福克斯新闻数字版已联系美国律师协会寻求置评。
阿什利·奥利弗（Ashley Oliver）是福克斯新闻数字版和福克斯商业频道的记者，负责报道司法部和法律事务。请将新闻线索发送至ashley.oliver@fox.com。
President Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer received swift backing from conservative legal figures online after facing pushback at a recent American Bar Association (ABA) conference for praising the Trump Department of Justice.
Attorney John Lauro, who defended Trump in special counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election case, said the DOJ was “in a better place” under Trump, causing fellow panelists and audience members to shudder, according to a Bloomberg Law report of the event.
Lauro told Fox News Digital in a brief phone call on Monday that the event “was a highly triggered environment.”
“I called out the ABA and other elite legal organizations for not condemning the prior administration in holding political sham trials and show trials, particularly the one directed at President Trump, where the Biden administration wanted to put him on trial in 90 days, which is shorter than it takes for a traffic ticket to get worked through in D.C.,” Lauro said.
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President Donald Trump’s attorney John Lauro, left, speaks to the media at following his appearance at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2024.(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The tense panel put a spotlight on the Trump administration’s ongoing fight with the ABA as it spurred DOJ officials and lawyers to voice their disdain for the organization.
“The ABA is trash and I’m proud to never have been a member,” Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon said. “Its stunt trashing Judge [Robert] Bork did it for me.”
“As if we needed anymore proof of the absolute disgrace that is the ABA,” wrote Associate Deputy Attorney General Diego Pestana. “John Lauro, one of the best trial attorneys in the country and patriot, treated terribly for simply daring to voice a view contrary to the liberal white collar bar.”
Lauro said during the panel, held at a conference in San Diego, that he had “the unique experience of representing a political figure who was probably more abused by the criminal justice system in America than any other political figure ever.”
“Everything that has gone on in the current administration must be looked at from the eyes of a man who was victimized by the criminal justice system,” Lauro said.
Among those rallying behind Lauro was also Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, who said the ABA “represents a hyperpartisan faction.”
“That’s fine! But they should play no role in law school accreditation (or judicial selection),” Wessan said.
Former DOJ official Jeff Clark, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 2020 election case, called Lauro “a bold man of principle.”
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Another social media user, an anonymous Georgia-based legal commentator, said that while he disagreed with Lauro’s comments, he was “jealous” that Lauro “had the opportunity to tell a room of the type of haughty, effete defense lawyers who hang around at ABA conferences to go f— themselves. He should have taken it.”
Lauro’s remarks had elicited pushback from participants. Nancy Gertner, a Harvard University law professor and retired federal judge, responded that any issues surrounding Trump’s prosecutions did not “justify the fracture of American democracy.”
Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner said: “I wanted to thank Mr. Lauro for admitting the emperor has no clothes. The rule of law is dead because the people in this room and the Department of Justice pissed off President Trump.”
John Lauro, who served as a defense lawyer for President Donald Trump, exits federal court in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 2023.(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I can’t believe that you think that that’s normal or good that one person can dictate who the Department of Justice investigates and indicts,” lawyer and panel moderator Sandy Weinberg said.
Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA’s website showcases work that includes support for “LGBTQ+” initiatives, abortion access, stricter gun control measures, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The ABA has also taken a stance against Trump, condemning what its president described as the administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks alongside President Donald Trump on recent Supreme Court rulings in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025 in Washington, D.C.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The ABA has for decades wielded enormous power, weighing in on nominations of federal judges, engaging in litigation and helping firms across the legal industry with recruitment. One arm of the ABA also handles law school accreditation.
Under Trump, several departments and agencies, including the DOJ and Department of Labor, have told political appointees they cannot affiliate with the ABA in their official capacity.
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The DOJ, meanwhile, moved to terminate more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs, though a judge ruled the move was unconstitutional. Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA last year that the DOJ would not give advanced notice to the organization about judicial nominees, a reversal of a decades-long practice of allowing the organization to rate the nominees before they advance in the Senate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the ABA for comment.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
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