Trump Goes After Paul Weiss

Trump's campaign to target law firms that somehow worked against him, even if it was one person among hundreds or thousands, continues. The latest target is Paul Weiss, which particularly caught my attention.*

The reach of this impeachment-worthy, as one comment notes, the order is quite broad. It covers contracts that somehow "include" Paul Weiss. 

It deals with federal agencies. There is talk about the "federal government," which the uninitiated might think includes three branches of government. Putting that aside, this order -- which is at least the third law firm targeted -- covers a lot of ground.  

Roberta Kaplan, one former PW lawyer who worked on LGBTQ issues, is not the direct target of the executive order. Her representing E.J. Carroll (if he is aware of the connection) is but gravy.

Donald Trump on Friday walked into the Department of Justice and labeled his courtroom opponents “scum,” judges “corrupt” and the prosecutors who investigated him “deranged."

Let us remember his recent Festivus-like airing of grievances at "his" Justice Department. His targets included the press. Since law firms are targets here for their associations and litigation, more First Amendment values are involved.  

Meanwhile, his anti-DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion being so "woke," you know) includes censoring the Arlington Cemetary website. As one person noted:

Our commemorative spaces represent the values that we as a community and even as a nation claim to uphold. All Americans hope to see themselves in these spaces that at their best strengthen bonds of citizenship, community, and identity.

The failure to do so makes it much easier for one group to distance itself from another and even to deny the other the full rights and privileges of citizenship. Erasing and distorting the history of the struggle for civil rights and citizenship for so many marginalized groups makes it easier to dismiss those very same demands today.

The Trump administration (our government) does not want you to know that African Americans, who have fought for and in many cases died for this nation, going back to the American Civil War, were also fighting for “racial justice.”

This also has a somewhat personal flavor for me given my historical background. Of course, there should be a general universal concern here. Nonetheless, sometimes, things hit somewhat closer to home. 

Update: After reports of a major client firing them, the latest is that Paul Weiss caved. 

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* I know people who worked there.