No. of Recommendations: 1
Paul, Weiss
What, The, Hell?
[Note to reader: The Surge spent 30 solemn minutes debating whether to extend the gag of a comma after each word throughout this paragraph—to show we mean business. Like Paul Weiss, we caved.] Last week, the Trump administration tried to shake down a third white-shoe law firm for having employed or represented people who investigated Trump. In this case, the firm was Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. The White House executive order, written in a high-tongue dialect of the Goonish language, called for suspending employees’ security clearances, limiting their access to government buildings, and putting a blanket ban on hiring them. As with a similar order against the firm Perkins Coie, it was probably illegal and unconstitutional eight ways from Sunday. But instead of fighting it in court, Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp visited the White House this week to surrender. According to Trump, the firm will “dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of President Trump’s term to support the Administration’s initiatives” and pledged not to “adopt, use, or pursue any DEI policies.” Per the New York Times, that DEI language was added by the White House after the two sides had agreed on wording. There were other discrepancies: The White House also said that Karp had “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of its former partner who investigated the Trump hush money case in New York, though HuffPost reported that Karp’s own memo to his staff included no such admission. At any rate, Trump rescinded his executive order. Surely Trump is done with these kinds of shakedowns now, right? Or do you think that such cowering could embolden him to pursue further muggings? Could go either way.
