The Trump administration and a top, Democrat-affiliated law firm reached an agreement for the White House to drop an executive order targeting the firm in exchange for the company doing tens of millions of dollars in free legal work to support administration initiatives.
The unusual development marks a new chapter in the White House’s retribution campaign against law firms it deems to have opposed its agenda or unfairly targeted Donald Trump.
Under the agreement, Trump will drop his executive order last week aimed at the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. The order suspended the firm’s security clearances, barred it from federal buildings, and threatened government contractors that did business with the firm.
In exchange for dropping the order, Paul, Weiss agreed to represent clients from “the full spectrum of political viewpoints,” commit to not using diversity hiring, and offer $40 million in pro bono legal services to support administration initiatives in areas like aiding veterans, promoting fairness in the justice system, and combatting antisemitism.
The president announced the deal on social media on Thursday evening and singled out Mark Pomerantz, a former Paul, Weiss partner who later helped the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office build a criminal case against Trump.
“The President is agreeing to this action in light of a meeting with Paul, Weiss Chairman Brad Karp, during which Mr. Karp acknowledged the wrongdoing of former Paul, Weiss partner Mark Pomerantz the grave dangers of Weaponization, and the vital need to restore our System of Justice,” Trump wrote.
The Independent has contacted Pomerantz for comment.
Since taking office, Trump has used executive orders to target three “BigLaw” corporate firms somehow involved in efforts he opposes, including Paul, Weiss; Covington & Burling, which aided special counsel Jack Smith as his office brought a federal case against Trump; and Perkins Coie, which represented the 2016 Hillary Clinton president campaign.
Last week, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the order against Perkins Coie, finding the order was likely unconstitutional because it was based in “retaliatory animus” and “viewpoint discrimination.”
Some legal observers expressed dismay over Thursday’s agreement between the White House and Paul, Weiss.
“It’s usually the lawyers who work at BigLaw who come to learn the truth of the maxim, ‘If you’re a tool, you’re going to be picked up and used,’” Craig Gurian of the Anti-Discrimination Center wrote on X. “This time, it’s the law firm (Paul Weiss) itself.”
“A lot of this is likely stuff Paul, Weiss was already doing, or would do anyway, or doesn’t really mind. But it reads like genuflecting to the King, at a time when law firms are under attack,” added legal commentator Rich Schoenstein on X. “Law firms should not reach any agreement with anybody about how they are going to pick their clients.”
Critics of the administration warned that the Trump administration’s efforts against the firm were part of a larger crackdown on political dissent from the left.
The administration has encouraged investigations of the Democratic ActBlue fundraising platform, threatened to cut funding for universities that were the site of anti-Israel protests, and attempted to deport Columbia University pro-Palestine protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident the Secretary of State deemed was harmful to U.S. foreign policy positions.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in an X post on Thursday that the orders against the law firm are part of a “coordinated, relentless legal assault on political dissent.”
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