David Johnston (left) and Chad Clifton in pictures taken at the Capitol on Jan. 6; surveillance footage showing Johnston and Clifton near the Capitol Crypt (images via FBI court filing).
A South Carolina lawyer who is charged with breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has reportedly been fired from his law firm.
David Charles Johnston, 69, and Chadwick Gordon Clifton, 47, were arraigned Friday before U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. They both pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanors relating to trespassing on Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct.
Until his arrest earlier this week, Johnston had been an attorney at the personal injury law firm of George Sink, P.A., but that is apparently no longer the case.
“George Sink, P.A., injury lawyers, fired me before I was out of the courthouse,” Johnston said following his initial court appearance Tuesday through his attorney Randy Hough, according to a report in The State.
“I have voluntarily consented to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (the lawyers’ disciplinary group, an arm of the S.C. Supreme Court) placing my law license on suspended status because I do not think it is fair for the Bar to be presented with the difficulty of dealing with this politically charged matter,” Johnston also reportedly said in the statement.
According to the South Carolina Bar, Johnston’s license is listed as being under an “interim suspension,” and he is currently in “not good standing” with the bar. Johnston has reportedly said that he intends to fight the charges against him.
The American Bar Association Journal reported that according to a biography on the George Sink website, Johnston, a married father of four, represented people injured in motorcycle crashes. His…
