Did James Baker violate Bar Association ethics?
Did James Baker violate Bar Association ethics?
Twittergate Vol 4 Dec 6, 2022
On December 6, the reason for the delay mentioned in part 3 became clear… apparently the FBI’s former general counsel, James Baker, was working as Twitter’s general counsel.
Without anyone’s knowledge or awareness, James Baker allegedly inserted himself in the process of vetting which files would be released to journalists, culminating in his firing from Twitter by Elon Musk. Credit for this discovery belongs to
and
In doing so, Baker seemingly violated the Model Rules of Professional Conduct of the American Bar Association, which can be reviewed here:
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/
Specifically, rule 1.7 states that (emphasis added):
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest. A concurrent conflict of interest exists if:
(1) the representation of one client will be directly adverse to another client; or
(2) there is a significant risk that the representation of one or more clients will be materially limited by the lawyer's responsibilities to another client, a former client or a third person or by a personal interest of the lawyer.
(b) Notwithstanding the existence of a concurrent conflict of interest under paragraph (a), a lawyer may represent a client if:
(1) the lawyer reasonably believes that the lawyer will be able to provide competent and diligent representation to each affected client;
(2) the representation is not prohibited by law;
(3) the representation does not involve the assertion of a claim by one client against another client represented by the lawyer in the same litigation or other proceeding before a tribunal; and
(4) each affected client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing.
This does not sound like informed consent. And based on the timeline, James Baker was representing the FBI when the FBI was supposedly telling Twitter to suppress American speech.