President Donald Trump rescinded an order barring a DC law firm from working with the government after it agreed to give $40million to causes he supports and pledged to review its hiring practices.
Trump went after the firm over the past work of former partner Mark Pomerantz, who oversaw an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into Trump’s finances before he became president.
The president’s executive order threatened to suspend active security clearances of attorneys at the firm and to terminate any federal contracts with it over Pomerantz’ work in the case against the president.
It threatened to ban the firm from working with the federal government, a huge source of cash for many DC firms.
It was the latest in a series of similar actions targeting law firms whose lawyers have provided legal work that Trump disagrees with.
The agreement to rescind the order happened during a meeting between Trump and Brad Karp, the chairman of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Garrison & Wharton, over the White House order issued last week.
The White House said Paul, Weiss had agreed to ‘take on a wide range of pro bono matters that represent the full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society,’ to disavow the use of diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in its hiring and promotion decisions.
President Donald Trump took back an executive order banning a law firm from working with the federal government after the firm agreed to give $40million to causes he supports and pledged to review its hiring practices
Trump targeted the DC law firm because of its former partner Mark Pomerantz, who oversaw an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into Trump’s finances
The firm also reportedly agreed to dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in free legal services to support Trump administration policies on issues including assistance for veterans and countering anti-Semitism.
Moreover, the firm acknowledged ‘wrongdoing’ by Pomerantz, citing ‘the grave danger of Weaponization, and the vital need to restore our System of Justice.’
Pomerantz has denied any wrongdoing.
‘We are gratified that the President has agreed to withdraw the Executive Order concerning Paul, Weiss,’ Karp said.
‘We look forward to an engaged and constructive relationship with the President and his Administration.’
The firm becomes the latest corporate target to make concessions to the president to avoid his ire.
Meta and ABC made settlement payments to Trump’s future presidential library to end lawsuits filed by Trump.
The president has punished other law firms he believes worked against him including the firm that represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign
Other tech and financial firms have publicly rolled back DEI programs in line with Trump’s policy interests.
Earlier executive orders have targeted the law firms of Perkins Coie, which last week sued in federal court in Washington, and Covington & Burling.
Trump signed an order to punish Perkins Coie by suspending the security clearances of the firm’s lawyers as well as denying firm employees access to federal buildings and terminating their federal contracts.
Perkins Coie represented the 2016 presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent, and also represented Democrats in a variety of voting rights challenges during the 2020 election.
The firm made headlines in 2017 when it was revealed to have hired a private investigative research firm during the 2016 campaign to conduct opposition research on Trump. That firm, Fusion GPS, subsequently retained a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who researched whether Trump and Russia had suspicious ties.
Lawyers representing Perkins Coie filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, claiming the executive order was an illegal act of retaliation.
