Lawyers Defending American Democracy, joined by former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, filed an ethics complaint with the D.C. Bar against DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign. The group accuses Ensign of making false statements to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg during a hearing on Alien Enemies Act deportations. The complaint stems from a mid-March 2025 emergency order that the government allegedly ignored.
On Tuesday, Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) submitted a complaint to the D.C. Bar seeking discipline against Drew Ensign for a pattern of misconduct in immigration cases. The filing highlights Ensign's responses during a Saturday emergency hearing before Chief Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the Trump administration to halt deportations of 252 Venezuelans alleged to be gang members under the Alien Enemies Act and return any planes in the air. Ensign stated he did not know if flights would take off within 48 hours and lacked additional details, claims the complaint deems knowingly false. LDAD asserts Ensign attended a meeting the previous day where then-Acting Assistant Attorney General Emil Bove declared planes would depart 'no matter what.' Before the hearing resumed, Ensign received an email from plaintiffs' counsel citing public flight reports of imminent deportations but failed to correct his statements to the court. Judge Boasberg responded by initiating a contempt probe, which remains paused after the D.C. Circuit halted scheduled testimony from Ensign and former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni. Reuveni, fired in April 2025 after refusing to misrepresent facts in another case, corroborated details of the defiant meeting. LDAD chair Scott Harshbarger, former Massachusetts attorney general, emphasized that every lawyer, including government ones, must tell the truth to uphold the justice system. Ty Cobb, who served as White House special counsel during Trump's first term on the Mueller probe, joined the complaint, stating government attorneys' ethical obligations are 'even more sacred' and accountability is vital for public confidence.
