The FBI and DOJ Meet Carter Page and His Counsel John Pierce
An item in the Pierce Bainbridge founder’s biography is of interest; his future role in the case is also a subject of intrigue given his participation in several ongoing lawsuits has ended abruptly.
Carter Page filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in late November in the District of Columbia. The current fundraiser for Kyle Rittenhouse, John Pierce, is one of the lawyers on Page’s side. Pierce, who recently publicly called for the ousters of the Directors of the FBI and the CIA, has quit or withdrawn from five cases in the last several months, including another Carter Page case last Friday in Delaware. All intriguing issues in light of the Page litigation venued in D.C.
The Los Angeles based Pierce’s permission to practice in the D.C. federal court was granted by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson prior to defense counsel appearing in the case. (A lawyer from the Department of Justice filed a notice of appearance yesterday.)
The “minute order” is dated the day after the attack on the nation’s Capitol. Attorney Pierce’s social media activity the night of January 6, 2021 is reasonably characterized as inflammatory. A compilation of Pierce’s tweets are contained in this Medium and The Hill Reporter. The tweets should be reviewed first-hand, a 90-second video created by Jennifer Sulkess — “Trial By Combat? Grifters Gonna Grift?” — is also recommended viewing.
In addition to his troubling rhetoric, an intriguing item exists in Pierce’s firm biography. It is captured in the image on the left; the added text above provides context.
Let’s take a look at the previously mentioned cases.
June 4, 2020. Pierce quits a case in New York the day after the other side raised his dodgy finances with the court.
October 13, 2020. Pierce quits on clients in an ongoing Los Angles lawsuit while claiming to be understaffed and overwhelmed. Pierce’s sworn representation of “more than two dozen complex cases,” perhaps warrants scrutiny.
October 14, 2020. Pierce tries to quit on another client in a Connecticut case while claiming to be understaffed and overwhelmed. A juxtaposition of a sworn representation Pierce made for permission to appear in the case, against the sworn representation he made several months later when he tried to quit, also perhaps warrants scrutiny. (Pierce’s motion to bail was initially denied, but he was eventually let out of the case).
(October 16, 2020. While Pierce filed to quit two ongoing cases days earlier, he joins a new case. The Pierce letter is here; his new client is reportedly the owner of “all 11 Perfect Pawn Shops in New Jersey” and appears to have a relationship with another current or former Pierce client, Len Dykstra. David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners LLP), while with Pierce Bainbridge, represented Dykstra in the case covered at the link.)
December 3, 2020. Pierce steps off the Rittenhouse criminal defense mere hours after the prosecutor raised Pierce’s financial issues with the court. Yet again, a representation Pierce made months earlier, is interesting in light of what actually transpired.
December 17, 20. Two weeks after Pierce quit the Rittenhouse case, the Daily Mail published an article which covers Pierce’s issues with booze, cocaine, debt, physical violence, domestic violence restraining orders, a stint in a UCLA psychiatric facility, as well as a reported threat to kill the mother of his three children.
January 8, 2021. Litigation funder Virage Capital Management confirms that Pierce’s firm Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP owes Virage Capital “no less than $59 million.”
January 22, 2021. Pierce is off the Carter Page litigation in Delaware after the judge kicked off his co-counsel Lin Wood while stating the Atlanta attorney had engaged in a “toxic stew of mendacity, prevarication and surprising incompetence.” (It’s unclear if Pierce quit on his own or was pushed.)
Interestingly, all of Pierce’s partners from the massively indebted Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht claimed to have quit pre-Rittenhouse. Ex-Pierce Bainbridge named partner David L. Hecht (Hecht Partners), is a particularly interesting case. While Hecht claimed to quit in March, materials revealed this month, show Hecht appearing on work-related e-mails with Pierce in July, August, September, October, and November.
As for Pierce, it has been an objectively rough several months for the self-appointed “elite” attorney. It will be interesting to see how things play out for Pierce and his client Carter Page.
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Addendum: For additional details on issues involving Pierce Bainbridge, Hecht Partners, and Virage Capital Management, check out “Calamity Jane Meets the Law.”
Updated on January 28, 2021 to add days in dates of entries, as well as the October 16, 2020 entry.
