Larry Klayman

Larry Elliot Klayman (born July 20, 1951) is an American attorney, right-wing activist, and former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor.

He founded both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch.

In addition to his numerous lawsuits against the Clinton administration, which led him to be called a "Clinton nemesis," Klayman has filed a number of lawsuits against political figures and governmental agencies.

Klayman's goal in initiating the lawsuits is often to obtain information through the discovery process, rather than to win the lawsuit.

Most cases brought by either Judicial Watch or Klayman himself have failed.

Critics have described him as a "gadfly" and "a racist, a frivolous litigator and a conspiracy theorist" while Klayman describes himself as a "modern-day John Adams in a fight for justice."

His litigation tactics have led to criticism and to sanctions from legal authorities including a ban from appearing in two courtrooms and suspensions for one of his law licenses.

Larry Klayman was born in Philadelphia.

He was born to Jewish parents and identifies himself as a messianic Jew.

Despite this, he has also made statements denouncing what he calls the "Marxian Jewish left."

He graduated from Harriton High School in 1969 and with honors from Duke University with a B.A. in political science and French literature in 1974.

He received his J.D. from Emory University Law School in 1977.

In the 1990s, Klayman deposed several White House officials and probed James Carville about his television habits, Paul Begala about his priest, and George Stephanopoulos about his traffic tickets.

Carville publicly described Klayman as a "little twerp," and Klayman responded by questioning him about the statement during a deposition.

Following Klayman's behavior in a 1992 trial in California federal court, Judge William Duffy Keller barred him from his courtroom for life.

Five years later, in a separate case in New York, Klayman's behavior led District Judge Denny Chin to issue a lifetime ban on the attorney practicing law before him.

Klayman founded Judicial Watch in 1994.

During his tenure, Judicial Watch filed several lawsuits against Bill Clinton and the Clinton administration.

Klayman left Judicial Watch to pursue political office.

In 2004, Klayman ran for the US Senate from Florida but lost the Republican Party primary, finishing seventh out of eight candidates.

After his run for the Senate, Klayman formed Freedom Watch.

He says the name originated from an episode of The West Wing in which he was caricatured as "Larry Claypool".

In 2021, Klayman hosted the "Third Continental Congress," at which conservative activists aired their grievances with the federal government.

Klayman is the author of three books and wrote periodic columns for conservative websites such as WorldNetDaily.

Klayman has a reputation for using aggressive legal tactics; for example, the Southern Poverty Law Center described him as "pathologically litigious."

Although he has a poor record of winning cases, his lawsuits have often resulted in the release of previously undisclosed documents that reveal new scandals.

He has been blamed for changing the tone of partisan investigations in Washington, DC.

In 2007, Klayman received a $25,000 retainer from a Daytona Beach woman facing criminal charges who accused him of not providing legal services in return.

The Florida Bar mediated the matter, and Klayman agreed to pay off a small portion within 90 days, but after the deadline lapsed, he was reprimanded.

In 2014, Klayman agreed to be publicly censured by the D.C. Bar.

Klayman represented three individuals who had sued Judicial Watch, his former employer and client, but failed to obtain Judicial Watch's consent to waive his conflict of interest.

Klayman maintained that the bar had "recognized there was no evidence of dishonesty or personal gain."

An October 2016 opinion by a Ninth Circuit Court on Klayman's attempt to represent Cliven Bundy noted 12 cases "in which Klayman's ability to practice law in an ethical and orderly manner was called into question."

In 2018, Klayman unsuccessfully sued the District of Columbia Bar and some of its employees by alleging they were conspiring to disbar him.

Klayman's lawsuit acknowledged three disciplinary actions then pending against him: the Judicial Watch matter already mentioned, Klayman's attempts to represent Bundy, and a complaint on his representation of a sexual-harassment plaintiff.

With respect to the last complaint, the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2022 ruled Klayman had committed six ethical violations related to his representation of a client.

The D.C. Court of Appeals suspended Klayman's license to practice law for 18 months and imposed a requirement that he prove his fitness to practice law before his license could be reinstated.

The D.C. Court of Appeals, which supervises the D.C. Bar, in 2020 instead suspended Klayman's license for 90 days and ordered him to complete a class on legal ethics.

Klayman sued Politico for defamation over its coverage of his suspension.

In 2021, the D.C. Circuit Court also suspended Klayman's ability to practice before it for 90 days over this matter; it also referred him to one of its committees to determine whether further discipline is warranted.