Oct. 23 – The Washington State Bar Association dismissed a complaint filed against former Washington lawmaker Matthew Shea after he allegedly planned and participated in political violence, citing “constitutional oversight.”
The firing, which took place in February and was later confirmed in May, was based on Shea’s freedom of speech and lack of criminal charges following a 2019 independent investigation led by the Washington House of Representatives. The 2019 investigation concluded that his actions in the 2016 armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge amounted to “an act of domestic terrorism against the United States.” In response, he was stripped of leadership roles in the House and leaders from both parties called for him to resign.
Shea led a group of lawmakers to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where Nevada rancher and anti-government militant Ammon Bundy and other armed protesters were engaged in a standoff with federal officials.
Shea said at the time that they made the trip to help negotiate a peaceful resolution to the standoff; Local officials said they asked lawmakers to stay away. Shea also distributed a four-page manifesto in 2018 titled “Biblical Basis for War,” which describes the Christian God as a “warrior,” condemns abortion and same-sex marriage and advocates killing men who violate Biblical law do not endorse. .
Washington attorney Robert Shirley filed a complaint with the state bar against Shea shortly after the investigative report was released. He doesn’t know Shea, he said, but felt compelled to file a complaint accusing Shea of violating a lawyer’s professional misconduct by “disregarding the rule of law.”
Nearly five years later, the bar’s disciplinary counsel wrote back to Shirley in February saying they would take no further action.
Shea posted this letter on social media last week, writing that the accusations against him were false and that “the truth has overtaken the truth four years later.”
“Our country cannot long tolerate civil debate being replaced by political opponents who falsely imply that those with whom they disagree are criminals, terrorists, or worse,” Shea wrote. “I hold no bitterness and I forgive those who tried to destroy me.”
Shea did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
In the complaint, Shirley quotes the investigative report and alleges three things that he attributes to ignoring the rule of law: That Shea spoke in support of the 2014 ignoring of a federal court order from the Bureau of Land Management, which led to a standoff in Bunkerville , Nevada; that Shea interfered with the Department of Veterans Affairs to prevent them from taking guns away from at-risk patients; and that he took part in at least four events during the Malheur standoff.
Shirley’s complaint was postponed for three years to allow time for any criminal investigation “to come to fruition,” the bar’s disciplinary attorney wrote. The complaint was reopened last year because enough time had passed without Shea being accused of any crime, the February dismissal said.
“To our knowledge, no criminal charges have been filed against Shea for the conduct described,” which would violate the code of conduct, the decision said.
According to the bar’s website, Shea is still practicing.
Although lawyers are afforded freedom of expression, they have some restrictions based on the code of conduct, the bar wrote. In this case, Shea’s comments did not take place in court, so “the state’s interest in regulating the legal profession is diminished,” the disciplinary counsel wrote, and “we consider it unlikely that an ethics charge based on the (investigation report) ) would survive the requisite constitutional scrutiny.”
But if Shea is ever charged with a crime related to anything detailed in the investigative report, the bar will reopen Shirley’s complaint, the decision said.
Dissatisfied with the bar’s decision in the case, Shirley appealed earlier this year. In May, counsel sent back a letter stating that they were affirming the previous decision and that Shirley could not appeal a second time.
Shirley argues that laws are constantly being reviewed and revised — this case should be one of them, he told The Spokesman-Review on Monday.
“Is it really within the ethical bounds of the Rules of Professional Conduct for a lawyer to organize an armed gang to interfere with the lawful activities of a federal employee?” he wrote in an email. ‘The WSBA is letting the public down’
The 2019 Shea investigation report states that in the lead-up to the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Shea was among a group of state officials who participated in several “preplanning” phone calls with Bundy. Shea served as chairman of the Coalition of Western States, a group that also included lawmakers from several other states, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting. The report also described how Shea “wrote and distributed an operations plan” for militia members to use during the standoff and how he sent one of his most trusted associates to participate.
The Washington State Bar Association also did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
Editor’s Note – This story has been corrected to clarify that Shirley was not referring to “moral turpitude” or corruption mentioned in the law, but rather a general disregard for the law as referenced in the Standards of Professional Conduct.
