A3G Outed; Underneath Their Robes 'Disappeared'

This morning, Jeffrey Toobin published an article at the New Yorker which unveiled the identity of "Article III Groupie," or "A3G," the proprietess of the blog Underneath Their Robes. That blog had lots of snarky, gossipy information about federal judges and their clerks, and A3G professed to be a female associate toiling in a big law firm.

Turns out, A3G was actually one David B. Lat, a thirty-year-old Harvard and Yale Law trained Assistant U.S. Attorney (e.g., a federal prosecutor) working in New Jersey. Lat apparently consented to this "outing" and even posted about it himself, with links to the New Yorker piece.

Several hours later, however, his (her?) blog Underneath Their Robes disappeared from the Internets. I can't imagine that Lat's bosses in the Justice Department are too pleased with his newly revealed identity and occupation. (Here's hoping he's not already six feet under one of the goalposts in the Meadowlands.)

The story is lighting up the blawgosphere, as this search reveals.

UPDATE: Apparently, Supreme Court nominee Judge Sam Alioto Alito is also upset about these developments.