By Chris Menahan – Information Liberation
President Trump on Thursday boasted about strong-arming a major law firm into giving “$40 million in pro bono legal services” to his “Presidential Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism” and “other mutually agreed projects.”
President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Thursday and announced that a major law firm he targeted via executive order had capitulated to his demands.
Last week, Trump signed an EO singled out Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, a Manhattan-based firm with a notable list of Democratic clients.
“In 2021, a Paul Weiss partner and former leading prosecutor in the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller brought a pro bono suit against individuals alleged to have participated in the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, on behalf of the District of Columbia Attorney General,” the order stated before going on to accuse it of discrimination based on race and gender.
Trump also cited the firm’s re-hiring of Mark Pomerantz, who left Paul, Weiss to assist in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into Trump in 2022. Pomerantz left that job and rejoined Paul, Weiss after D.A. Alvin Bragg declined to bring charges against Trump. Bragg eventually prosecuted Trump and secured convictions on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The president’s order rescinded any contracts the firm may have with the federal government and it prevents Paul, Weiss lawyers from entering government buildings, which is problematic if the firm needs to review sensitive materials on government property. The order was similar to another Trump issued regarding Perkins Coie, another major firm.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Paul, Weiss had lost at least one client over the executive order.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump issued a statement announcing that Paul, Weiss had affirmed its commitment to fairness and nonpartisanship, and said it would reject DEI policies, subject to an audit “mutually agreed upon within 14 days.”
Most notably, in exchange for withdrawing the order, the firm agreed to do free work for the Trump administration to the tune of $40 million.
“Paul, Weiss 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, including: assisting our Nation’s veterans, fairness in the Justice System, the President’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and other mutually agreed projects,” the statement read.
Full statement:
Trump’s anti-Semitism task force was born out of an early executive order he signed ordering the government to “marshal all federal resources” to fight the “explosion of antisemitism” in America post-October 7th.
Robert Kennedy at Health and Human Services declared anti-Semitism a public health crisis in response to the order and together with the DOJ and other agencies stripped Columbia University of $400 million in federal grants and contracts.
Trump characterized anti-Israel protests as “illegal” and started arresting and deporting critics of Israel in America on student visas.
Trump’s crackdown drew plaudits from the Anti-Defamation League, whose CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised Trump’s “bold” arrest of an Israel critic as well as Trump’s “appropriately aggressive” moves to crackdown on anti-Semitism.
“The executive order on antisemitism was incredibly important,” Greenblatt told Jewish Insider. “The new task force by the DOJ is important. It shows the full force of the Justice Department is on this issue. And the announcement of investigating universities is also incredibly important. They are demonstrating a proactive posture and one that is appropriately aggressive.”
Jewish Insider reported last week that anti-Semitism task force member Josh Gruenbaum now “oversees procurement and contracting for the entire federal government” with the “quest to root out contracts with institutions that are not doing enough to counter antisemitism.”
Trump evidently now has a Democrat-aligned law firm planning to do work on behalf of this task force to help shut down Americans’ free speech rights in the name of “combating anti-Semitism.”