Board: U.S. attorney plagiarized application to become a judge

A federal prosecutor based in Cedar Rapids has been sanctioned for allegedly plagiarizing portions of his application to become a district court judge.

The Attorney Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Iowa alleges that in May 2026, Michael S.A. Hudson, who works as a special assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Iowa, applied for an open position as a district court judge within Iowa’s First Judicial District.

According to the board, “significant portions of the application were copied from application materials Judge Justin Lightfoot had submitted when seeking a judicial appointment in 2021.”

The board alleges “the copying was extensive” and was not limited to an isolated sentence or phrase. “A side-by-side comparison of the applications shows repeated use of Judge Lightfoot’s organization, sequence of ideas, sentence structure, and substantive language across multiple paragraphs and sections,” the board concluded. “Some passages were reproduced verbatim.”

According to the board, Hudson acknowledged using Lightfoot’s application as a “framework” for his own application, adding that he did so with the intention of later rewriting portions of it in his own words.

The board indicated its concern over Hudson’s conduct was “especially significant” in that the application described Hudson’s commitment to truth, his legal writing abilities and his work ethic.

The board noted that one mitigating factor weighing in Hudson’s favor was that after he was contacted by Judge Lightfoot about the matter, he promptly reported it to his employer and, the next day, disclosed it to the governor’s office where state judicial applications are filed for consideration.

In deciding the matter warranted a public reprimand, the board noted that Hudson has no prior history of disciplinary action.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach Hudson at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for comment, and the office itself declined to comment due to it being a “personnel matter.”

Other Iowa attorneys recently sanctioned by the board include:

Jacob Aaron Michael Van Cleaf of Des Moines — According to the Attorney Disciplinary Board, Van Cleaf was accepting client referrals from company called Speeding Ticket Advisor at some unspecified time in the past. Van Cleaf allegedly accepted a case involving one particular individual and explained to the client he would enter a plea of not guilty on their behalf and would then attempt to negotiate a deal with the county attorney.

While the case was pending, Van Cleaf allegedly discouraged the client from contacting him, then entered a guilty plea in the case and notified the client of that action only after the fact. The board recently ruled the matter warranted a public reprimand. Van Cleaf said Monday his office has changed its protocols regarding client intake to ensure there’s no recurrence of the issue.

In June 2023, the board publicly reprimand Van Cleaf for his handling of a guardianship case. The board concluded while pursuing guardianship of a former client’s child, Van Cleaf had unnecessarily shared with the court confidential information about his former client.

James L. Bergkamp of Des Moines — Police records indicate that on July 12, 2024, Bergkamp was at Waxing the City, a body-waxing establishment in Clive, for a Brazilian wax. The woman who was performing the waxing later asserted that Bergkamp masturbated and ejaculated while lying on the table, police alleged.

According to the police, Bergkamp admitted ejaculating during the procedure but stated he did so without any sort of manual stimulation. Court records indicate Bergkamp pleaded guilty to assault causing mental illness on Nov. 13, 2025.

The Attorney Disciplinary Board alleged Bergkamp admitted scheduling the waxing appointment for himself knowing from past experience at the same business that it would lead to his arousal. Board records indicate that in 2012, Bergkamp was arrested during a prostitution sting and later pleaded guilty to soliciting a prostitute, which resulted in a deferred judgment from the court and a private admonishment from the board.

As a result of the 2024 incident, the board recently issued a public reprimand of Bergkamp. Through his attorney, Bergkamp declined to comment on the matter.