Early this afternoon, We posted Tonight, new constitutional township movement folks bring Michelle MacDonald to Montevideo, noting that the perennial Republican state supreme court candidate had her law license indefinitely suspended this summer.
Since then, Minnesota Public Radio's Brian Bakst reported in Republican AG candidate faces suspended law license:
A Republican candidate for Minnesota attorney general faces a law license suspension of 30 days and additional scrutiny over his dealings with a client.
Dennis Smith has agreed to the recommended license suspension, a payment of $900, and probation for two years. The discipline stems from a complaint by a legal client, who says Smith mishandled fees and billing and failed to reasonably communicate about matters connected to a probate case.
The disciplinary arrangement was signed by Smith last week. It still awaits final signoff by the state Supreme Court.
Smith is a former Republican legislator from Maple Grove and is one of three announced GOP challengers to Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Under the terms of the agreement, if Smith regains his law license he’ll have to be supervised by another attorney during his probation.
When asked about the matter, Smith, in a written statement to MPR News, indicated he is moving forward with his campaign. He declined to be interviewed until the findings are official.
The Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility investigated the claim for months before coming to the disciplinary agreement with Smith. . . .
Well, I'll be a blue-nosed gopher. Read the details at MPR. Bakst concludes:
Two other Republican candidates, Doug Wardlow and Lynne Torgerson, are competing to run against Ellison, who announced this week he will seek another four-year term in 2022.
As we noted in Tonight, new constitutional township movement folks bring Michelle MacDonald to Montevideo:
In 2015, in a Petition for DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST Lynne A. TORGERSON, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 208322, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded:
. . . Due to the nature and severity of Torgerson's misconduct, we conclude that the appropriate discipline is a 60–day suspension from the practice of law. . . .
And Wardlow? He last made an appearance on this blog in Shouldn't this MN Attorney General wannabe be complaining to Bannon about Chair Kiffmeyer?. A taste:
The Star Tribune had just reported on October 15 that the United States House of Representatives January 6 investigation committee had set a vote on whether former Trump advisor Steve Bannon should be held in contempt for refusing appear before the committee.
Naturally, that would be the ideal moment for aspiring Minnesota Republican Attorney General candidate Doug Wardlow to appear on Bannon's War Room to talk about how Attorney General Keith is responsible for lawlessness in Minneapolis and does "just about nothing else" other than focusing on prosecuting police officers.
That should come to quite the shock to the Otto Bremer Trust. Or those on the receiving end of other actions listed here. But we digress. . ..
Read the rest on this blog.
In the 2018, Wardlow made an issue of Ellison's law license being inactive while he served in Congress, claiming it would take years for the Democrat to get his license back. According to records online at the Minnesota Judicial Branch, Ellison is authorized to practice law in the state of Minnesota. A search of the database at the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB)/ Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (OLPR) also reveals that Ellison is authorized to practice law--and that there are "No Public Decisions on Record."
Screengrab: Dennis Smith, YouTube still from the Kanabec County GOP website.
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