This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 4 episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
As Donald Trump continues to push around the nation’s universities — suspending their federal funding and then shaking them down to comply with his demands — some colleges have decided to do deals with the White House. In recent weeks, Brown University coughed up $50 million and Columbia University paid more than $200 million.
Last week, there was reporting that an even bigger deal was in the works. The New York Times reported that Harvard University was preparing to fork over $500 million to appease Trump. However, according to the school’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, the university’s president told the faculty he is absolutely not considering such a deal.
The rule of law is under direct assault right now, and its greatest threat comes when those within the legal system fail to do their duties and stand up against the attack.
Michael Teter
The paper reports: “The University is seriously considering resolving its dispute with the White House through the courts rather than a negotiated settlement.”
Then there are the law firms that Trump has been pushing around. Nine big law firms struck deals with the president after he began issuing executive orders targeting certain firms. Four firms refused to make deals with Trump; they fought back and all four firms won in court.
Despite their success, new reporting from Reuters found that Trump’s assault on law firms has nevertheless had what is presumably the desired effect: Some big law firms are scaling back their pro bono work for the kinds of people or organizations the Trump administration is trying to victimize or persecute.
At the same time, smaller law firms and new purpose-driven legal organizations are being formed to make up the moral difference, to do the work that these big law firms are too cowardly to do and to stand up for people being fired by Trump when they’ve done nothing wrong.
On Monday, The New York Times reported on a new firm of just four lawyers — including two who were fired from the Justice Department this year by Trump — that is focused on challenging the administration in court, specifically with the aim of getting precedent-setting cases before the Supreme Court that could curtail the president’s power.








