ICYMI Video: Blumenthal Slams Trump for Assault on the Constitution, Calls Out Big Law Firms for Caving to White House's Demands
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, yesterday joined a spotlight hearing entitled, “Restoring Accountability: Exposing Attacks on the Rule of Law.” The hearing—hosted by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee—examined recent actions taken by President Trump to erode Americans’ civil liberties and the country’s democratic values, including targeting private law firms to block causes or individuals he dislikes from securing legal representation.
“Donald Trump hammers, bullies, intimidates, and then offers to negotiate. He’s doing it with law firms, he’s done it with universities, he’s doing it with countries and companies through tariffs. It is part of a slide toward tyranny. Tim Snyder, my friend, a professor at Yale, has said the first rule of tyranny from the 20th century, the first lesson is do not obey in advance. That is what Skadden Arps, Milbank, and Willkie Farr have done. They didn’t even wait for the executive order. They obeyed in advance,” Blumenthal said at the hearing.
Blumenthal continued, “And I just want to make really clear what is most offensive to me. They acceded, in effect, to allow Donald Trump to tell them who their clients would be and who they would hire. I’ve been a United States Attorney, in Connecticut, I was Attorney General for 20 years, but I’ve also been in private practice, and if there’s one thing that matters to me as a trial lawyer—and I still consider myself proudly a trial lawyer—it is nobody tells me what to do.”
Blumenthal specifically called out firms who reportedly sought to exploit Trump’s coercion of other firms for their own gain, “‘There were other law firms,’ and I’m quoting that from The New York Times of March 14, ‘Some of the biggest competitors were calling top lawyers at the beleaguered law firm, one of the nation’s most prestigious, asking if they would jump ship along with their lucrative clients.’ The firms are named: Sullivan & Cromwell and Kirkland & Ellis. And Congressman Raskin and I are writing those two firms, along with the others, and asking them what they did to try to lure away those clients and partners, to try to poach their business and their resources.”
Prior to the hearing, Blumenthal and Raskin wrote to White House Counsel David Warrington and top law firms that struck deals with the Trump Administration to escape executive orders targeting them for representing clients and hiring lawyers President Trump dislikes. Blumenthal and Raskin also wrote to two law firms that reportedly sought to poach clients and partners from a firm targeted by the White House. Blumenthal and Raskin’s letters to Warrington and the law firms can be found here.
A transcript of Blumenthal’s full remarks can be found below, and a video of his remarks can be found here.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing, and to both of you, Senator Schiff and Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Congressman Raskin, for joining me in seeking to shine light, and for your support, Senator Schiff. Because America needs to be aware, needs to be afraid of what is happening here, and needs to know that there are people like you who took the risk and made the sacrifice that others far wealthier, more resourced, and more powerful were unwilling to take. Members of our profession who declined to stand up and speak out.
But, here’s the good news for America. There are lawyers willing to take on this fight against the bully. 504 signed an Amicus brief, others are representing the firms, let’s say their names, Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, who are trying to break this pattern.
And it is a pattern. Donald Trump hammers, bullies, intimidates, and then offers to negotiate. He’s doing it with law firms, he’s done it with universities, he’s doing it with countries and companies through tariffs. It is part of a slide toward tyranny. Tim Snyder, my friend, a professor at Yale, has said the first rule of tyranny from the 20th century, the first lesson is do not obey in advance. That is what Skadden Arps, Milbank, and Willkie Farr have done. They didn’t even wait for the executive order. They obeyed in advance.
And I just want to make really clear what is most offensive to me. They acceded, in effect, to allow Donald Trump to tell them who their clients would be and who they would hire. I’ve been a United States Attorney, in Connecticut I was Attorney General for 20 years, but I’ve also been in private practice, and if there’s one thing that matters to me as a trial lawyer, and I still consider myself proudly a trial lawyer, it is nobody tells me what to do. And when I represent a client, it is 100%. And when I take on a client against a big corporation and then some other big corporation, or that corporation, offers a great representation to me I say, sorry, can’t do it. I’ve got the little guy whom I represent, and I’ll give up the bonuses, and the wealth, and the money, and the billable hours because I believe in my profession.
Donald Trump has boasted, and I’m quoting him, that he has built, “an unrivaled network of lawyers.” These lawyers are in his pocket, and when they’re in his pocket they cannot represent that little guy. They cannot represent the individuals that Willkie Farr did that got them blacklisted. Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who volunteered as poll workers in Georgia in 2020 to help their fellow citizens vote in the midst of the global pandemic. He is depriving people of resources who really need that representation.
And I’ll tell you what struck me as most abhorrent and repugnant, as reported in The New York Times and Mr. Karp stated it, “There were other law firms,” and I’m quoting that from The New York Times of March 14, “Some of the biggest competitors were calling top lawyers at the beleaguered law firm, one of the nation’s most prestigious, asking if they would jump ship along with their lucrative clients.” The firms are named: Sullivan & Cromwell and Kirkland & Ellis. And Congressman Raskin and I are writing those two firms, along with the others, and asking them what they did to try to lure away those clients and partners, to try to poach their business and their resources. Most abhorrent to me is the potential that they acted in that way.
Ms. Cohen, do you know of any specifics about attempts to take away lawyers or clients from either your firm or others that you may have heard?
Rachel Cohen: Senator Blumenthal, I read the same report, and I think it’s particularly ironic given that I’m also reading reports that Kirkland and Ellis is now in talks to acquiesce to the Trump Administration and advance. So, any clients thinking about jumping ship to any other law firm should remember that until they stand together, there’s no chance that their new representation will be left alone either. But I will just say, I was a third-year associate when I left, and I wish you had someone more senior here to talk to you about this. But, unfortunately you do not because the only people in this industry who have been willing to speak on this issue and give up their salaries in order to do so are associates. And I was not close to client work. But thank you for raising.
Blumenthal: Thank you. I apologize for going over my time. I’d ask that the TruthSocial and The New York Times story that I quoted be entered in the record.
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