Experts 'watch in horror' as Trump wages 'full frontal attack on the legal profession'

13 March

President Donald Trump is not only making a concerted effort to fill the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with loyalists, who include U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel — he is also, according to the New York Times, targeting law firms he considers adversarial.

New York Times reporter Michael S. Schmidt, in an article published on Tuesday, March 12, detailed Trump's efforts to "cripple" the law firms Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling by "stripping" them of security clearances.

Thursday, Schmidt discussed his reporting with MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski — emphasizing that Trump is doing everything he can to intimidate law firms and discourage them from representing clients who are unfavorable to him. Perkins Coie worked with Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Schmidt, on MSNBC, noted that some prominent legal figures are speaking out against Trump. Federal Judge Beryl A. Howell, for example, said, "I am sure that many in the profession are watching in horror at what Perkins Coie is going through. It sends little chills down my the spine to hear arguments a president can punish individuals and companies like this."

But the New York Times reporter warned that major law firms are keeping quiet for fear of retaliation from Trump.

Schmidt told Brzezinski and her MSNBC colleague Jonathan Lemire, "Now, the other thing is: you're not hearing a lot from other law firms. This is a full-frontal attack on the legal profession, because what it essentially says is that you can be punished for who your clients are. And a central tenet of the American legal justice system is the idea that lawyers go out and can represent whoever they want, and they vigorously do everything they can to defend them. And this is a full-frontal attack on the legal profession, but the only firm — unless there's been some amicus brief that was filed overnight that I don't know about — the only firm to go out and do that has been Williams & Connolly."

The Times reporter continued, "Now, there's been other lawyers and legal organizations that have spoken out, but the big boy firms that make tons of money — that charge, you know, $3000 an hour for their advice — are not out there advocating on behalf of Perkins Coie because they fear the next executive order coming and that they're going to have to go out and fight it themselves."

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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