One major law firm targeted by President Donald Trump's administration appears to have reached an agreement with the president to get out of his crosshairs. But some experts are alleging that the deal has ominous implications.
The New York Times Michael A. Schmidt reported Thursday that the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss) made several key commitments to the Trump administration after it was targeted in an executive order. The agreement was reached after Paul Weiss' chair visited the White House and met with Trump.
Early on in his second term, Trump issued executive orders mentioning three specific law firms that stripped their attorneys of security clearances and threatened to terminate their federal contracts. But on Thursday, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he would rescind the order targeting Paul Weiss after the firm agreed to contribute $40 million in pro bono legal services aligned with the administration's goals, and that it wouldn't pursue "DEI policies" in its hiring.
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"Law firms should not favor any political party when it comes to choosing their clients," Trump wrote. "Firms also should not make decisions on whom to hire based on a person’s political affiliation."
However, legal experts on social media condemned the agreement as transactional and corrupt. American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick tweeted: "There's a word for this: shakedown."
"God help our country when the President of the United States is personally shaking down his political opponents for money," he wrote.
Others shared similar sentiments. Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell calling the Trump administration a "mob boss government." New York University law professor Michael Kasdan called the agreement "unethical shakedown bulls---." Former Bloomberg editorial writer Robert A. George derided the deal as "Literally a LEGAL (services) shakedown." And former Obama administration assistant press secretary Patrick Rodenbush tweeted that the message the deal sent was "bleak."
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"Caving into pressure will only embolden future punishment," he wrote. "What’s the purpose of law firms, universities, et al building wealth and power if they’re not willing to use it to fight govt intrusion?"
"Two things are true," attorney Andrew Fleischman tweeted in response to the Paul Weiss agreement. "1. The law firm absolutely had to do this to ensure its own survival and 2. it was absolutely the product of a transparently corrupt and unconstitutional shakedown."
Click here to read the Times' full report (subscription required).
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