The Florida Bar has declined to pursue an ethics complaint against the Department of Homeland Security’s top lawyer over a series of social media posts that singled out federal judges who had ruled against the Trump administration.
The complaint, backed by 128 former judges, accused DHS General Counsel James Percival of crossing professional boundaries by publicly identifying judges in posts branded as the “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition.”
Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince and other complainants argued that the posts attacked the integrity of sitting judges and could expose them to heightened threats.
The Florida Bar, however, closed the matter without examining the allegations on their merits.
In a letter explaining the decision, bar counsel Christopher Wackes said the organization does not investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they remain in office.
According to the bar, disciplinary proceedings against such officials could interfere with federal authority and the performance of their official duties.
The decision leaves the door open for the complaint to be filed again after Percival leaves government service.
Percival appeared to welcome the outcome. In a social media post, he marked the closure of the case with an edited image of himself smiling, placed on the body of Gandalf, the wizard character from The Lord of the Rings.
The groups that supported the complaint — Democracy Defenders Fund and Lawyers Defending American Democracy — expressed disappointment with the Bar’s decision.
They argued that professional ethics rules are designed, in part, to prevent unfounded attacks that could erode public confidence in the judiciary and increase risks faced by judges.
The controversy began in mid-July, when Percival started publishing posts on X highlighting judges under the banner “Worst of the Worst.”
The phrase echoed DHS messaging that has been used to spotlight individuals arrested or deported during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.
Several federal judges became targets of the posts, including U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago and Boston-based U.S. District Judges Patti Saris, Brian Murphy and Allison Burroughs.
The judges were involved in challenges concerning the Trump administration’s effort to end Temporary Protected Status for non-citizens from four countries.
Despite the criticism directed at them, the judges ultimately allowed the protections to expire, rejecting emergency attempts to keep the status in place after the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the administration to end TPS protections for Haitians and Syrians.
For now, the Florida ethics complaint has reached a procedural dead end — not because the allegations were tested and rejected, but because Percival remains a sitting federal official.
