The internet is going crazy over a formal letter that President Donald Trump‘s former attorney John Dowd’s sent to the House Intelligence Committee earlier this month after a photo of the official response showed that it was written in Comic Sans, the whimsical, chalkboard-like font that often appears in juvenile school projects. The letter, which was Dowd’s formal response to the Committee overseeing the Trump impeachment inquiry, was difficult for some social media users to take seriously, given the typeface.
In the letter, Dowd said that his clients — who were asked to appear before House committees — were given too little notice to appear, and that they could not meet a Monday deadline for documents and communications because the men were also represented by Rudy Giuliani and the material might be protected by attorney-client privilege.
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“Your request for documents and communications is overly broad and unduly burdensome,” Dowd typed in Comic Sans. “The subject matter of your requests is well beyond the scope of your inquiry. This, in combination with requiring immediate responses, leads me to the inescapable conclusion that the Democratic Committee members’ intent is to harass, intimidate and embarrass my clients.”
Here’s the letter (yes it’s Comic Sans) indicating that Rudy Giuliani’s associates will not be appearing or providing documents this week.
Attorney John Dowd (Trump’s former lawyer) argues the timeframe is too short and info could be attorney-client privileged. pic.twitter.com/3ytCecrPHv
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 7, 2019
Dowd’s clients, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, are two Ukranian-born business partners, who showered Republican campaign committees with nearly $500,000 and dined with Trump at the White House. They also helped Giuliani meet a key Ukranian prosecutor as the president’s personal lawyer sought to discredit Trump’s political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Parnas and Fruman were arrested Wednesday on campaign finances charges, federal authorities said Thursday.
Social media went wild over the font choice, with some even joking that Dowd should be disbarred for such an offense.
lock them up just for using comic sans
— CSPAM2 (@cspamus1) October 7, 2019
It’s a little-known fact that a lawyer who emails the scan of a signed printout of a legal letter originally typed out in Comic Sans is automatically disbarred pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90(2) https://t.co/Rwakta4Gk3
— Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) October 7, 2019
The Constitution is in Comic Sans now.
— Dan Telfer (@dantelfer) October 8, 2019
Comic Sans has long been a divisive typeface among those familiar with it. The font’s creator, Vincent Connare, told The New York Times on Thursday, “If you love Comic Sans, you don’t know much about typography. If you hate Comic Sans, you need a new hobby.”
He told the paper that he thinks Dowd was aware of the effect the font would have and that he purposefully chose it.
Dowd expressed disbelief to The Washington Post that his font choice was causing such a commotion. “I am laughing,” he wrote to the paper. “Folks don’t have enough to do. I love the font. It is easy on the eye. In 30 years of use, NO ONE has ever questioned it even in the most serious matters.”
