‘Alternative facts’ official and lawyer faces misconduct complaint

The senior White House official and qualified lawyer who coined the term “alternative facts” is facing a misconduct complaint filed at the D.C. Bar by a group of American law professors.

Kellyanne Conway, the current Counselor to the President, is a graduate of George Washington University Law School and was admitted to the D.C. Bar in 1995.

She is listed as a member of the bar under her name before marriage, Kellyanne E. Fitzpatrick.

Fifteen legal professors have now filed a misconduct complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Washington DC, in which they say Ms Conway has “brought shame upon the legal profession”.

They identify specific interviews in which they say Ms Conway was dishonest, and a Fox News interview in which they say she misused her position to endorse Ivanka Trump products.

The interviews include the now-infamous NBC interview in which she used the term “alternative facts”, which the professors say is “especially dangerous when offered by the President’s counselor”.

The letter, published in full by the Washington Post, concludes: “If Ms Conway were not a lawyer and was ‘only’ engaging in politics, there would be few limits on her conduct outside of the political process itself. She could say and do what she wished and still call herself a politician.

“But she is a lawyer. And her conduct, clearly intentionally violative of the rules that regulate her professional status, cries out for sanctioning by the D.C. Bar.”