Democratic Lawmakers Urge Big Law Firms to 'Disavow' Deals with Trump

More Democratic lawmakers sent letters on Thursday to the nine law firms that have reached deals with Trump, questioning their motivations for entering into the deals and urging the firms to disavow the agreements.

Rep. Dave Min, D-California, and Rep. April Delaney, along with 14 of their Democratic colleagues, requested details from each law firm on its “motivations for entering into this agreement," how an agreement was reached, and what specific terms or promises were made. The letters request a response by May 8.

The lawmakers said they believe the terms of the deals may violate state and federal criminal laws and may have been formed under the threat of illegal and coercive acts, making them unenforceable.

"Further, the imposition of numerous conflicts of interest between the terms of the agreement and your current and future potential clients raise significant ethical concerns and possible violations of applicable rules of professional responsibility. Given these concerns, your firm has several grounds upon which to disavow and pause" the agreement, the lawmakers wrote to firms.

The firms that received a letter and have made a deal with Trump include Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; and Milbank.

“Many of the signatories to this letter are lawyers, and several of us have worked at major law firms. We have deep respect for the long tradition that your firm carries, and we urge you to reconsider your decision — one which we can sympathize with but which we think is a clear mistake — to seemingly capitulate to clear abuse of the law by the Trump administration,” the letter to Milbank reads. “We do not wish to prematurely judge or assess guilt. Our aim, however, is to gather comprehensive information with respect to the formation and implementation of the Milbank agreement and resulting legal and ethical quandaries.”

The lawmakers also asked the firms “what mechanisms, if any” are present in their agreements “to ensure that the administration will not be able to require more from the firm beyond the provisions.”

It’s the third batch of letters that have been sent out by lawmakers to firms regarding deals with the White House. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland sent out two batches of letters, one on April 6 to six firms and White House Counsel David Warrington, and then a second round of letters on April 18 to five firms. Kirkland has received all three letters.

Out of the six law firms — Paul Weiss, Skadden, Sullivan & Cromwell, Kirkland, Milbank and Willkie — that received the April 6 set of letters, at least five responded back to the lawmakers, some with more detailed responses than others, according to letters viewed by Law.com. Some firms insisted that the deals would not change their operations or client approach.

Paul Weiss, for instance, said it "already does significant pro bono work" in the three areas outlined in the deals — helping veterans, combating antisemitism, and improving fairness in the justice system.

"To be clear, the Administration will not determine what matters we take on. We obviously could not ethically have agreed to such a condition," said the letter from Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp. "The resolution we reached with the Administration will have no material effect on our law firm's work."

Meanwhile, Milbank's response simply referred lawmakers to an internal memo sent to attorneys after the deal, which was reported by Law.com. Quinn Emanuel partner Andrew Schapiro responded for Milbank.