Top DHS lawyer turns tables on 128 ex-judges after Bar declines Worst of the Worst complaint

EXCLUSIVE: DHS General Counsel James Percival is turning a complaint from 128 former judges back on its signers, calling on the Florida Bar to scrutinize those among them who are Bar members after it declined to investigate him.

The Bar said it does not investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office, a position Percival argued the complainants should have known before challenging his "Worst of the Worst Judges" series.

Percival accused the Florida Bar members who joined the complaint of potentially abusing the disciplinary process for political purposes, arguing their filing was frivolous and dubbing the tactic "Bar-fare."

"The 128 former judges are sort of an example of a tactic the left has used for a long time," Percival told Fox News Digital, comparing their appeal to professional authority to the 2020 controversy involving and Hunter Bidens laptop.

DHS EVISCERATES MEDIA FOR ABSOLUTE ABSURDITY OVER CONCERN ABOUT WORST OF THE WORST ACTIVIST JUDGES LIST

Percival pointed to the Florida Bar's previous handling of a complaint involving former Attorney General Pam Bondi, arguing that they already signaled refusal to probe sitting presidential appointees.

"[W]hat these 128 former judges did was frivolous, and they were on notice that it was frivolous because the Florida Bar is very clear about this. So, it's Bar-fare," he said, playing on the term "lawfare."

LIBERAL LAW PROFESSOR BREAKS WITH OBAMA JUDGE OVER TRUMP LAWYER CRACKDOWN: I REFUSE TO TEACH IT

Percival said the same tactic has been used elsewhere, including the Hunter Biden laptop controversy and the way dissent over COVID-era restrictions was met with echoes of "trust the experts."

"The left has just like often hid behind this veneer, this prestige [of expertise] and they've gotten people who carry weight to carry their water for them. And I really think the emperor has no clothes on this, but we have to call it out and expose it."

When the political left does not want to publicly debate the merits of their assertion, they get figures who appear authoritative to shut down dissent, he said.

The comments came after rule-of-law groups Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy and 128 former federal and state judges filed a 24-page complaint accusing Percival of violating Florida's rules governing statements about judges. The complaint alleged that Percival, a licensed Florida attorney, violated ethics rules through "public attacks on sitting judges."

"His statements mischaracterized the judges rulings and assailed their character and integrity. The ethics rules exist for a reason: Baseless attacks on judges by lawyers and public officials can undermine confidence in the courts and heighten the risk of physical threats against judges," Democracy Defenders Fund said in a statement after the Bar declined to investigate the complaint.

Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince, an appointee of Democratic ex-Gov. Lawton Chiles, led the judges consortium.

The complaint focuses on four judges featured in Percival's "Worst of the Worst" posts, whom he accused of actions including "open defiance of the Supreme Court," "judi