By Mike Spector
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Democratic state attorneys general denounced what they called the “chilling effect” of U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms and calls for impeaching federal judges, characterizing ongoing attacks as retribution against political opponents.
In what they labeled an “open letter to the legal community,” more than 20 attorneys general from states across the country and in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday said the actions “represent a clear threat to our system of justice and our profession.”
The signatories included California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Presidential actions targeting law firms Paul Weiss, Covington & Burling, Elias Law Group and Jenner & Block seek “retribution over ideological differences, punishing firms for the actions of individual attorneys representing clients adverse to the President and his supporters,” the letter said.
The state attorneys general expressed alarm over law firm Paul Weiss’s decision to negotiate an agreement with Trump, a Republican, in exchange for the president rescinding an executive order targeting the firm. Perkins Coie is challenging in court the order targeting it.
“Indeed, the chilling effect of the administration’s strategy is demonstrated by the acquiescence of the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP … law firm to the President’s demands for policy support in exchange for relief from his executive order targeting that firm,” the letter said.
Paul Weiss agreed to terms that included pledging the equivalent of $40 million in free legal work to support “mutually agreed” administration projects such as combating antisemitism and supporting veterans.
Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp defended the deal in messages to colleagues, asserting that Trump’s executive order risked clients perceiving the law firm as “persona non grata” to the administration and “could easily have destroyed our firm.” He said the Trump administration would not dictate the legal work the leading Wall Street law firm would provide under the agreement.
“As members of the legal profession and of our state bars, we all must stand together,” the state attorneys general wrote. “The President’s attacks on the practice of law must not, and will not, subvert our zealous representation of our clients.”
Trump has attacked major law firms over their work for his political and legal adversaries and their internal diversity policies. On Friday, he issued a memorandum broadly targeting lawyers and law firms that handle immigration cases or sue the government. He has described their work as “weaponization” of the legal system.
The state attorneys general also condemned calls from Trump and his allies, which include billionaire Elon Musk, for impeaching federal judges who have ruled against the administration and in some cases blocked executive orders.
They cited a rare statement last week from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who rebuked Trump for urging the impeachment of a federal judge.
“We also stand firm in our support of the federal judiciary and judicial independence,” the state attorneys general wrote. “We call on our colleagues to denounce suggestions that a judicial decision must be the result of bias simply because the result is undesired.”
Such calls, and other criticisms, have resulted in federal judges experiencing mounting alarm over their security in response to rising threats directed at them.
(Reporting by Mike Spector; Additional reporting by Sara Merken in New York and Mike Scarcella in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Rod Nickel)
