The Brief

A nonprofit watchdog group is asking the State Bar of California to investigate two assistant U.S. attorneys who handle immigration cases. That push comes as a number of state bar agencies, including California’s, argue the federal government is attempting to shield its lawyers from accountability.

The Legal Accountability Center on Thursday sent two letters to the State Bar of California alleging Christopher Jones, in California’s Central District, and Jonathan Yu, in the Eastern District, violated rules governing the conduct of lawyers practicing law in the state.

According to those letters, Jones violated professional conduct rules in the prosecution of a man accused of assaulting a federal officer. The Department of Justice charged the man, who had been shot by an ICE officer, in a case that a judge later dismissed with prejudice while finding the federal government violated the man’s rights to due process.

Another letter accuses Yu of missing several deadlines while handling an immigration case against a man who’d been detained after failing to appear on a traffic ticket. A federal judge levied sanctions against Yu for his repeated violations of court orders.

The State Bar has the power to investigate attorneys licensed in California and impose disciplinary actions if violations are found. More serious penalties such as disbarment and license suspension need approval by the California Supreme Court.

The California State Bar said in an emailed statement that it cannot disclose pending complaints or investigations into attorneys, and that it doesn’t track disciplinary actions against federal prosecutors, specifically.

The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern and Central districts have not yet responded to requests for comment.

Michael Teter, the executive director of the Legal Accountability Center, said these allegations “represent a greater concern, which is the administration’s disregard for the rule of law.”

“When these lawyers are representing the administration and the government, they are doing so in a way that disregards the rules of procedure, the rules of evidence,” Teter said. “And in this instance, they weren't concerned with court orders and what courts were directing them to do with regards to the people whose lives they were trying to upend.”

Federal officials want protection from state discipline

In March, the federal government issued a proposed rule preventing current or former DOJ lawyers from participating in investigations initiated by state bar authorities until after the department reviews the allegations. The rule says the department “shall request” the state bar disciplinary authority to suspend any investigations until the department has finished its review.

Justice Department officials say in the March 2026 filing that they need the new rule because “over the past several years, political activists have weaponized the bar complaint and investigation process.” While the proposed rule acknowledges that attorneys practicing in states must meet individual states’ ethics standards, it says enforcement of those standards for federal attorneys should fall on the DOJ. Otherwise, the filing states: “This unprecedented weaponization of the State bar complaint process risks chilling the zealous advocacy by Department attorneys on behalf of the United States, its agencies, and its officers.”

The State Bar of California opposes this proposed rule, arguing in public comments that it is “unprecedented, unnecessary, inappropriate, and lacks both congressional and constitutional authority.” Federal lawyers are subject to the rules of conduct wherever they are licensed to practice, the bar wrote, and the order would “improperly intrude on the State Bar’s authority to regulate, investigate, and pursue discipline for all attorneys licensed or otherwise authorized to practice in California.” The American Bar Association also opposes the rule, as do several legal organizations including the Utah State Bar, the National Organization of Bar Counsel and a coalition of 22 state attorneys general.

What the letters say about the contested prosecutions

Jones, who was admitted to the California bar in 2022, handled the prosecution of Carlitos Ricardo Parias.

Parias, who streamed ICE arrests on social media as Richard LA, was shot by an ICE officer in South L.A. during a confrontation on Oct. 21, 2025. He’s also the man who reported finding worms in the drinking water at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and is seen in a widely circulated video.

While Parias was recovering from the gunshot wound to the left arm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint accusing him of assaulting a federal officer with his car, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Olguin dismissed the charges against Parias last December, citing two key reasons in his decision:

• The government denied Parias access to legal counsel while he was detained at Adelanto.
• The government failed to provide the defense with key evidence, including exculpatory body camera footage, that would help Parias’ defense until court-ordered deadlines had passed.
  

The U.S. Attorney’s office challenged that decision in an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In its request for a State Bar investigation into Jones’ handling of the case, the Legal Accountability Center called the prosecution “a sham.”

The request, addressed to the California bar’s Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona, argues Jones violated California’s rules for lawyer conduct in three ways: Jones prosecuted an assault charge against Parias that was not supported by probable cause, he failed to correct an allegedly false statement by a Homeland Security investigations special agent that was included in the initial complaint against Parias, and he failed to disclose evidence to the defense.

Details on the attorneys named in the complaints

Yu, who was admitted to the California bar in 2013, handled the immigration case against Eblis Alexander Yanez Tovar.

Tovar was pulled over on Feb. 26, 2026, for failing to appear in court for a traffic ticket and sent to a detention center in Kern County, California.

On April 2, the court ordered his release, finding that his due process rights were violated because he was detained without a notice or hearing. The court ordered Yu to file paperwork showing Tovar was released and that his documents, a passport and license, were returned to him. The April 6 deadline to comply with that order came and went without Yu filing those documents.

Without his passport or license, Tovar’s attorney argued he was “essentially stranded” in Kern County while asking the court to enforce its deadlines.

Yu missed another deadline on April 10, according to the request, so the court sanctioned him $250.

Eric Grant, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, asked the court to reconsider the penalty and to impose the sanction on his office generally, or Grant specifically.

Yu was not at fault for missing the deadlines, Grant said, because of the extraordinary workload in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the face of a wave of habeas corpus petitions from people challenging the legality of their detention.

“The strain of the system is not keeping up with the overwhelming burden,” Grant wrote, while arguing that the entire U.S. Attorney’s office bears responsibility for missing the deadline.

Troy Nunley, the Chief United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California, granted that request, although the judge noted that Yu missed multiple deadlines in the case.

“Even in the face of significant workload pressures, counsel has an obligation to ensure that court directives are timely and fully observed,” Nunley’s response said. “Compliance with court orders is not optional and must be prioritized.”

The Legal Accountability Center wrote in its letter seeking the State Bar investigation that Yu’s caseload “does not absolve him of his responsibilities to the court” and to Tovar. They also cite previous State Bar cases that have determined a heavy caseload does not excuse or mitigate an attorney's obligations to follow the court orders.

Teter told LAist that the volume of habeas corpus petitions reflects the government’s policy of holding more people in detention while their immigration cases unfold. More often than not, judges are siding with the petitioners who claim their detention is illegal.

“It's not a defense to say, ‘I have so many cases that I just couldn't keep up with the court orders that required me to release somebody or release their passport and documents,’” Teter said. “That's not an excuse.”

“If the Department of Justice, therefore, can't handle the number of habeas petitions being filed without having lawyers disregard court orders and their ethical obligations,” he said, “then it's incumbent upon the administration to shift their policy and tactics so that they're not holding these people illegally.”

Andy Pages drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to give Los Angeles the lead, and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Wednesday night to clinch their NL Division Series.

The Dodgers won back-to-back games in Atlanta to take the best-of-five matchup 3-1 and advance to the National League Championship Series as they seek to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series.

Pages lined a 3-2 pitch from Robert Suarez up the middle to drive in Teoscar Hernández, who singled off starter Tyler Mahle, and pinch-runner Tommy Edman for a 3-1 lead. Didier Fuentes walked pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and Kyle Tucker to load the bases. Edman ran for De Paula.

Max Muncy’s solo shot off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth padded the lead and gave the slugger 19 postseason homers with the Dodgers, extending his franchise record.

Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, making his first start since Sept. 24, allowed only one hit but walked five batters in 4 2/3 innings. After he issued two walks in the fifth, left-hander Alex Vesia ended the inning on Matt Olson’s groundout to second base.

The missed opportunity left the Braves with 18 walks in the series, and none scored.

Glasnow and four relievers combined to give up just three hits. Tanner Scott pitched a perfect eighth before Edwin Díaz got three quick outs for the save.

Mahle, a native of Newport Beach, California, who grew up a Dodgers fan, allowed two runs — one earned — in 6 1/3 innings.

Michael Harris II hit Glasnow’s first pitch for a single before stealing second and eventually scoring from third on a wild pitch that bounced off catcher Will Smith’s chest protector.

The Dodgers pulled even in the second with the help of two Atlanta errors. Shohei Ohtani walked, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Sean Murphy’s errant throw into center field. Muncy’s pop fly into shallow left field was dropped by shortstop Mauricio Dubón for another error, allowing Ohtani to score.

Hernández crashed into the wall while attempting to catch Ozzie Albies’ double off Vesia leading off the sixth. Hernández pointed to his head and neck when talking to an athletic trainer but remained in the game.

Edgardo Henriquez stranded Albies at second. Henriquez allowed one hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.

Injury report

Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas was held out after leaving Tuesday night’s 3-1 win during an at-bat in the eighth inning with lower back soreness. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Rojas would not be available off the bench.

Ronald Acuña Jr. started in right field for Atlanta one day after being moved to designated hitter in a late lineup change due to right knee soreness.

Up next

The Dodgers will face Milwaukee or San Diego in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday.

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump’s administration for recent television advertisements that promoted his political message while costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the ads are illegal government-sponsored propaganda and accuses Trump of personally directing them. It asks the court to declare the ads illegal and stop the use of federal funds to pay for them.

Trump has faced bipartisan backlash for the ads, which glorify him and echo his campaign pitch as voters cast early ballots with the midterm elections less than a month away.

The spots, which began airing in September, already have cost more than $12 million to run, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact, and a total of $20 million in Homeland Security Department funding has been tapped to pay for them.

Responding Monday to the criticism, Trump defended the ads as “positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” but said he’d pay for them using his MAGA Inc. super PAC going forward.

But on Tuesday, the fifth ad in the campaign began airing with the notice “paid for by the U.S. Government,” promoting Trump’s military actions in Venezuela earlier this year. The same day, Trump made it clear he hasn’t committed to reimbursing any money that has already been spent, telling reporters “we’ll decide.”

DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that Trump is misusing taxpayer dollars in “a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”

“Americans deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes,” he added.

Legal experts have suggested the ads run afoul of a federal statute against congressionally appropriated money being used for “publicity or propaganda,” and potentially other federal laws. The Homeland Security money tapped for the ads comes from a $175 million package Congress gave to the department as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements akin to what past administrations have done to promote various policies. Legal experts have said the recent ads differ from many past public service announcements because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.

The defendants in the lawsuit — Trump, the White House, DHS and the Office of Management and Budget — didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fall has only just begun, but it's already time to start thinking about the quintessential winter bug: the flu.

The annual flu season usually starts in October or November. But this year, it looks like the flu started to pick up in early September.

"There are enough signs pointing in the same direction to make me think, 'OK, yes. This is the start of flu season,'" says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The percentage of people testing positive for the flu in the West has been rising steadily since around the beginning of September, she says. And the number of people showing up in emergency departments because of the flu has also been rising for weeks, she adds.

"It's very uncommon to see flu activity rising this early. It's activity that we might normally see more like November or December," she says.

The timing of the flu season isn't the only thing that's odd. It's also unusual that flu activity seems to have started in Western states, such as California, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska.

"It typically starts in the South and then expands from there," Rivers says. "So two uncommon developments there."

Rivers stresses that the amount of flu activity is still very low in most parts of the country. But that's starting to change as the flu picks up nationwide.

It's unclear why flu activity would have started so early, and in such an unusual part of the country. But one clue might be a new variant that evolved a mutation, which appears to make it better at evading existing immunity, especially among teenagers.

"That's our best argument for what's going on right now in terms of this early flu season," says Dr. Alex Greninger, a virologist who heads infectious disease diagnostics at the University of Washington. Doctors there are seeing as much flu right now as they usually would around Christmas, and the mutated variant appears to be common, he says.

So Greninger, Rivers and others are urging people to think about getting their flu shot earlier than usual.

"It's crucial that people get an influenza vaccine," says Scott Hensley, a virologist at the University of Pennsylvania. "And this might be a year that people might want to get a vaccine early."

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't been promoting flu shots as it usually does. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, is a long-time vaccine skeptic.

"It is disappointing that CDC is quiet given that flu kills of hundreds of kids a year and can result in tens of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths," says Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned last year as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protest what he called political interference at the agency.

The CDC declined to make an official available to NPR for this story. In a statement, a CDC spokesperson said, "CDC is developing a communications strategy to provide clear, accessible information about influenza vaccination and other critical steps people can take to protect themselves during respiratory virus season. This includes information about the benefits and risks of vaccination to support informed decision-making."
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