Robert Reich - Trump’s bullying of Washington law firms is cutting off the litigation lifeline for nonprofit public-interest groups to challenge his policies — which is exactly why he’s doing it.
The latest example came last Tuesday in a Trump executive order aimed at the law firm Jenner & Block, stripping it and its lawyers of security clearances and access to government buildings.
What had Jenner done wrong? It once employed attorney Andrew Weissmann after he worked as a prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller III’s special counsel investigation of Trump in his first term. Weissmann left Jenner in 2021, but Trump’s vindictiveness never ends.
In announcing its executive order, the White House accused Jenner of participating in “the weaponization of the legal system against American principles and values” and called out Weissmann by name.
A federal judge termed Trump’s attempt to punish Jenner “reprehensible” and issued a temporary restraining order blocking it.
Before targeting Jenner, Trump went after lawyers at Covington & Burling. What had they done wrong? A few of their attorneys had represented former special counsel Jack Smith after he investigated Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump has also targeted Perkins Coie, a law firm with ties to a dossier of opposition research against Trump that circulated during the 2016 campaign.
“It sends little chills down my spine,” U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell said in court as she granted Perkins Coie a temporary restraining order, suggesting Trump’s order is unconstitutional. In a filing last week, Trump’s Justice Department sought to remove Judge Howell from the case, accusing her of being “insufficiently impartial.”
Trump issued a nearly identical executive order targeting law firm Paul Weiss.
Its offense? One of its former partners, Mark Pomerantz, had left the firm to join the Manhattan district attorney’s office to help investigate allegations that Trump had overstated the values of his properties to obtain bank loans.
Rather than fight, though, Paul Weiss cut a deal with Trump. After meeting with him for three hours at the White House, its chairman, Brad Karp, agreed to devote $40 million worth of pro bono work “to support the administration’s initiatives,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Karp also acknowledged unspecified “wrongdoing” on the part of Pomerantz. Trump then rescinded his order against the firm.
The fifth big law firm that Trump has targeted is Skadden Arps.
What had it done? A few of its lawyers had worked pro bono on behalf of plaintiffs who said Dinesh D’Souza defamed them in his documentary, falsely accusing them of ballot fraud in the 2020 election. (D’Souza has previously admitted that the movie was “flawed” and apologized to one of the plaintiffs.)
On Friday, Trump announced that Skadden had reached “a settlement,” agreeing to do $100 million of pro bono work for causes Trump supports. “We very much appreciate their coming to the table,” Trump said.
Trump’s orders (and threats of orders) against law firms violate the firms’ and their lawyers’ rights to free speech and association, as well as the right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.
Even worse, they send a chill across the entire American legal community along with a warning: Don’t attack Trump. Don’t let your partners or associates attack him, ever. Force them to sign agreements before they depart your firm promising not to attack or prosecute Trump ever. Don’t take cases from nonprofits or anyone else challenging Trump. More
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