'Message was clear': DC insider rips Trump for 'terrifying the legal profession into submission'

22 March

President Donald Trump drew a lot of criticism in the legal world after issuing executive orders removing security clearances for some prominent law firms, including Perkins Coie and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (often abbreviated as Paul, Weiss). But on Thursday, March 20, Paul, Weiss reached an agreement with Trump.

The president rescinded his executive order against Paul, Weiss, which agreed to do pro bono work for him and avoid any DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) efforts. Critics of the agreement are calling out the deal as Paul, Weiss caving in to a bully.

One of those critics is Jen Psaki, former White House press security for the Biden Administration and now an MSNBC host.

In an op-ed published by MSNBC on March 22, Psaki argues, "President Donald Trump has escalated his attacks on the legal system to include lawyers who've dared to represent the other side in his legal cases, undermining a fundamental principle of the rule of law. Earlier this month, Trump signed two disturbing executive orders targeting white-shoe law firms. On Friday, (March 21), he announced he was rescinding one of them when the firm, Paul, Weiss, agreed to provide $40 million worth of pro bono legal services to support specific White House initiatives."

Psaki adds, "The message was clear: Work for Trump's opponents, and you’ll be punished; work for him, and you'll be rewarded."

The MSNBC host notes that the "punishment" Trump imposed on law firms via executive orders was "severe."

"The executive orders targeting Perkins Coie and Paul, Weiss stripped their lawyers of security clearances needed to work on sensitive cases, cut the firms off from all government contracts and, in some cases, even barred their attorneys from entering federal buildings," Psaki explains. "That would make it impossible for them to work for certain clients — as one already did, citing the order. Trump claimed he was enacting these sanctions because of 'national security risks' and the firms' alleged 'racial bias' in hiring due to 'DEI,' which are two of his favorite fabricated attack lines. But the executive orders undermined that argument when they began by rehashing old Trump complaints about the firms' political work."

Perkins Coie represented Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, while Paul, Weiss represented former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Psaki warns that Trump's executive orders targeting law firms is a blatant disregard for the rule of law.

"As the country's first president to be tried and convicted of crimes," Psaki writes, "Trump has always had a troubled relationship with the courts. But his new strategy isn't just about trying to win in court. It’s about terrifying the legal profession into submission. Because if he can scare the nation’s best lawyers away from taking cases opposing his interests, he can win before anyone even sets foot in a courtroom."

Jen Psaki's full MSNBC op-ed is available at this link.

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