Political Ethics

William Barr graduated five years behind me at George Washington (GW) University Law School. I scored only 6 out of 10 on the Bar Exam’s Ethics question, partly because GW Law did not require graduates to take an Ethics class back then and partly because I cheated off the paper of a total idiot. Lack of formal Ethics training may explain some of the Attorney General’s recent actions. My problems run deeper, of course. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt ’94 is a fellow GW Law grad whose career as a lobbyist has prompted an investigation by the Inspector General into conflict of interest accusations stemming from his career as a lobbyist. Christopher Scolese has two degrees from GW and has recently been nominated as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office which builds, launches, and maintains U.S. spy satellites. Six current members of the House of Representatives (four Democrats and two Republicans) earned a GW degree (two JD’s). Senator Elizabeth Warren attended GW from 1966-68 but dropped out and moved back to the reservation, presumably in protest over a lack of ethics at the school. Michael Avenatti (GW Law grad in 2000) has been indicted for defrauding clients, including Stormy Daniels. So apparently Trump and Avenatti were both screwing Daniels. I am making factually naked assumptions with the following query: Does my alma mater select students who demonstrate unethical traits or does the school develop those traits in the students they admit? I am confident that posing that question without more research is unethical.

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