Former vice-president Kamala Harris published a veiled reprimand on Thursday in large law firms who concluded agreements with President Donald Trump.
“We see people staying silent,” said Harris during a speech before the summit of defined women. “We see organizations remaining silent. We see those who clearly capitulate unconstitutional threats.”
Harris did not call law firms specifically by denouncing a “feeling of fear” that has settled. His comments are sure to raise the eyebrows given the bonds of the former second gentleman Doug Emhoff with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, among the handful of large companies that have concluded agreements with the White House.
On Tuesday, Willkie became the third major lawyer to negotiate an agreement with the Trump administration for fear that he will face a paralyzing decree like Perkins Coie is difficult before the Federal Court.
The Los Angeles Times and CNN reported that Emhoff told Willkie Leadership that he disagreed with the agreement. Emhoff did not respond to the request for comments from Business Insider. He retweeted a distinct part of Harris’s remarks, where she said: “The courage is contagious.”
Trump defended his actions, saying that companies “are not babies” and have continued “ruthlessly, violently and illegally”.
“These law firms did bad things,” he told journalists last month.
Trump’s statements distort the actions of law firms.
His executive decree targeting Paul Weiss focused on warming the company of former federal prosecutor Mark Pomerrantz, who left the company to help the Manhattan District’s prosecutor’s investigation into Trump’s finances. Trump’s memo asking the federal government to reconsider its contracts with Covington & Burling LLP mentioned how the cabinet had agreed to represent former special lawyer Jack Smith, who had brought prosecution to the efforts of Trump to cancel the elections and poorly manage classified documents. (Smith then abandoned both cases before leaving the Ministry of Justice after the Trump elections.)
Former President Barack Obama went even further than Harris. During a separate appearance, he said that he was “disturbed” by the idea that the White House could distinguish individuals.
“Imagine that if I had said to the law firms who represented parties that were upset by the policies that my administration had initiated, that you will not be authorized in government buildings,” Obama said in an appearance at Hamilton College in New York.
Obama said institutions should consider getting up, regardless of the cost.
“If you are a threatened law firm, you may have to say, okay, we will lose business because we are going to defend a principle,” he said. “If you are a university, you may have to understand, do we actually do things?”
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