Democrats Demand Answers From Top Law Firms That Caved To Trump’s Wishes | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON — Key Democrats despatched scathing letters to 5 outstanding legislation corporations demanding particulars on the profitable offers they minimize with President Donald Trump to keep away from being attacked by him, accusing them of being “complicit” in his efforts to interrupt legal guidelines.

“We write today regarding President Trump’s April 11, 2025, announcement that Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (“Cadwalader”) reached an settlement with President Trump with the intention to keep away from govt orders focused at your agency,” reads a letter to one among these corporations, from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

“Your capitulation puts you in the distasteful company of several other large law firms who have decided to permit President Trump to suppress their speech and dictate who they can and cannot take as clients in blatant violation of the rights guaranteed to all Americans by the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution,” they stated.

“Your agreement makes you complicit in efforts to undermine the rule of law and to turn private attorneys into President Trump’s personal law firm, ready to do whatever he decides,” they proceed. “The American people and Congress deserve transparency with respect to the President’s ongoing assault on constitutional rights and the rule of law.”

Cadwalader is one among 9 prime legislation corporations which have collectively agreed to offer Trump with almost $1 billion in free authorized companies, in change for the president not abusing his energy to punish them by stripping them of federal contracts or safety clearances for workers. Trump introduced his offers with 5 of those corporations earlier this month.

Raskin and Blumenthal stated Tuesday that they wrote to 5 of those corporations final Friday, demanding particulars referring to who facilitated the offers they minimize with Trump and what phrases they agreed to. They give the corporations till April 28 to offer responses to the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Raskin and Blumenthal are the highest Democrats on these committees, respectively.

The legislation corporations who acquired this letter are Cadwalader, A&O Shearman, Latham & Watkins LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. To date, they haven’t publicly commented on their offers with the White House.

Here’s a duplicate of the letter to Cadwalader:

None of the 5 corporations that acquired Democrats’ letter has truly been focused by Trump’s govt actions. They are preemptively caving to his calls for out of worry that he may come after them ― and damage their backside traces ― in the identical approach he’s been searching for retribution towards different legislation corporations that he views as his political enemies.

In February, Trump introduced he was suspending safety clearances for sure legal professionals at Covington & Burling LLP, along with terminating the agency’s federal contracts. He tied his actions to the truth that this agency beforehand supplied free authorized counsel to former particular counsel Jack Smith, who introduced legal prices towards Trump in his first time period.

Trump has since suspended safety clearances, terminated federal contracts, banned from getting into federal buildings or banned hiring staff from Perkins Coie LLPwhich he attacked over its variety, fairness and inclusion insurance policies; from the Paul Weiss legislation agencywhich introduced authorized actions towards Jan. 6 defendants; from Jenner & Blockwhich he attacked for hiring former FBI common counsel Andrew Weissmann after he performed a task within the 2016 Trump-Russia investigation; and from WilmerHaleas punishment for its connections to former particular counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the 2016 Trump-Russia investigation.

In their letters, Blumenthal and Raskin, a former constitutional legislation professor, basically inform the legislation corporations they know higher to not do what they’re doing. Trump’s actions clearly violate the First Amendment by making an attempt to penalize legal professionals for the causes and purchasers they symbolize, they stated, and even former President John Adams, who was additionally an lawyer, defended British troopers accused of taking part within the Boston Massacre.

“Like so many attorneys since then, Adams did not shrink from taking on unpopular clients and defending them against the government’s prosecution because he ‘firmly believed that everyone had the right to a lawyer and a fair trial, so he willingly agreed to represent the soldiers even if it meant risking his reputation,’” they stated.

“As far as we can tell from public reports, these executive orders have turned into an illegal shakedown of the legal profession.”