The top lawyer at the Department of Homeland Security is facing a Florida Bar ethics complaint after he used social media to attack federal judges who have ruled against the Trump administration's immigration policies.
James Percival, DHS general counsel, has been criticized by a group of nearly 130 former federal and state judges who filed a complaint Wednesday with the Florida Bar. The complaint alleges Percival violated professional conduct rules by making unfounded attacks on the integrity of judges.
The complaint centers on Percival's July 23 post on X, where he labeled four federal judges as the "Worst of the Worst" and accused them of issuing "crazy opinions," engaging in "judicial sabotage," and "micromanaging" the department. The post was modeled after DHS press releases announcing arrests of migrants, echoing President Trump's pledge to deport "the worst of the worst."
In the complaint, the former judges wrote that Percival's posts were not "legitimate fact based critique" but rather "attacks on the characters of four sitting judges, based on mischaracterizations of the underlying cases." They noted that Florida Bar rules prohibit attorneys from making statements they know to be false or made with reckless disregard for the truth regarding a judge's qualifications or integrity.
Specifically, the complaint points to Percival's remarks about U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, whom he accused of "judicial sabotage" after Kennelly issued a temporary administrative stay following a Supreme Court ruling on Temporary Protected Status. The former judges argued that Kennelly used a standard case management tool to allow briefing on issues not addressed by the Supreme Court, and that there was "no objective factual support" for Percival's characterization.
Similarly, Percival criticized Judge Allison Burroughs for allegedly setting a "deliberately sluggish" schedule in a TPS case, but the complaint says there is no indication she acted improperly.
Percival has defended his actions, writing on X that the complaint is an attempt to silence him: "Notice the resources the Left is putting into silencing me. Why? Judicial activism is their golden goose, and they're afraid if I keep talking about it then it will stop." He later announced a new "Justice Peggy Quince Lifetime Achievement Award for Worst of the Worst Judging," mocking the former Florida Supreme Court justice who signed the complaint.
This is not the first time Percival's conduct has sparked controversy. Earlier this year, he was involved in a separate ethics complaint related to his role in immigration enforcement. The Florida Bar will now review the complaint to determine whether to open an investigation.
The case highlights the growing tension between the Trump administration and the judiciary over immigration policy, and it raises questions about the appropriate limits of public commentary by government lawyers.
