The state bar disciplined Rep. Alex Kolodin for serving as the attorney in challenges to the 2020 election results.
Kolodin received an 18-month probation, with the possibility of early termination after one year upon completion of five educational ethics programs.
The bar found that Kolodin violated Rule 42, ERs 3.1 and 8.4(d) for his conduct in Aguilera v. Fontes (CV2020-014083), Aguilera/Drobina v. Fontes (CV2020-014562), and Bowyer v. Ducey (CV2020-2321). These rules concerned prohibitions on bringing suits with too low a probability of success.
Kolodin shrugged off the victory lap from his ideological opponents. He said it was an honor to offer legal counsel for those conservatives maligned and shunned by “the radical left” and its activists.
“The radical left’s activists want to scare away every conservative lawyer so that there will be no one to challenge them and nobody to defend *you* when the knock comes at midnight. But I’m still standing,” said Kolodin.
https://twitter.com/realAlexKolodin/status/1735413639606337641
In response to criticism that Kolodin admitted wrongdoing by accepting the state bar settlement, such as that posed by radio host Barry Markson, Kolodin said he’d been dogged by cash-rich leftist organizations like Project 65 over the last three years.
“Fought for three years to keep my license bro after leftist orgs backed by tens of millions of dollars tried to get it yanked. So spare me the hysterics,” said Kolodin.
Fought for three years to keep my license bro after leftist orgs backed by tens of millions of dollars tried to get it yanked. So spare me the hysterics.
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) December 15, 2023
Kolodin also claimed that his ideological opponents aren’t held to the same standard.
“Can always improve but so weird that the left is never held to the standard of perfection!” stated Kolodin.
Going to keep fighting the good fight for as long as I can. Can always improve but so weird that the left is never held to the standard of perfection!
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) December 15, 2023
The sanctions came after a group — Victor Aronow, Roxana Bacon, Amelia Craig Cramer, Brendan Mahoney, Robert McWhirter, Gaile Natale, Diane Post, and Michael Teter (managing director of The 65 Project) — filed a complaint last August.
McWhirter sits on the State Bar of Arizona Board of Governors; both Bacon and Cramer were formerly presidents of the board.
The 65 Project is a Democratic dark money campaign created to punish and disbar lawyers that challenged the results of the 2020 election. Its creator, Melissa Moss, served in the Clinton administration, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Leadership Council. Prior to The 65 Project — a lucrative full-time gig, based on their tax filings — its director, Teter, worked as the leader of two leftist dark money groups: Facts First USA and RepresentUS.
The 65 Project is a project within a project: LawWorks, backed by the Democracy Fund and a project of the Franklin Education Forum.