About a month ago, the White House took an unprecedented step, punishing a prominent private law firm because Donald Trump disapproved of its clients. The New York Times described the move as “a breathtaking escalation,” and that description was more than fair.
The move, however, was simply an opening salvo. A week later, the Republican nevertheless did it again, targeting a different firm. A third firm was punished soon after, followed by a fourth. (Trump also signed an executive order last week that effectively threatened to punish any law firms that, from his perspective, challenge his administration in ways he considers “unreasonable.”)
The list is still growing. NBC News reported:
Trump signed an executive order today suspending the security clearances for employees at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP which previously employed Robert Mueller, a special counsel who led the Russia investigation after the 2016 presidential election.
The president’s directive accused the firm of, among other things, engaging in “obvious partisan representations.” Just as notably, the White House said in a statement that WilmerHale “rewarded” the former special counsel, whose investigation, in Trump’s estimation, “epitomizes the weaponization of government.”
Right off the bat, it’s important to emphasize just how utterly bonkers these circumstances are. There is no precedent in the American tradition of a White House punishing a private law firm because it hired a lawyer the sitting president does not like. This is not the sort of thing that is supposed to happen in a healthy and free democratic country.
Complicating matters, the idea that Mueller is some kind of super villain is so preposterous that it’s unsettling to see the White House put such a claim in writing. Mueller is, after all, a decorated Marine combat veteran, a lifelong Republican and the former director of the FBI.
Yes, he also oversaw an investigation into the Russia scandal, but (a) the scandal was real and serious, even if Trump pretends otherwise; (b) Mueller did nothing wrong before, during or after the probe; (c) serving as a special counsel does not mean a lawyer should be blacklisted for life; (d) Mueller was appointed by the Trump administration, which makes it hilarious to see Trump characterize his work as an example of “weaponization”; and (e) the president has spent the last several years claiming that Mueller cleared him of any wrongdoing in the scandal.
To be sure, Trump has obviously lied repeatedly about Mueller’s findings, but taken at face value, the president has told the public that the former special counsel “exonerated” him in the Russia scandal.
If that’s the case, why punish the firm that employed him? As for the larger context, not every major law firm is responding to the White House’s offensive the same way. One has already caved, and another appears prepared to caved preemptively to avoid a presidential attack. That said, one of the targeted firms is challenging a Trump order in court, and just hours ago, two more firms filed separate lawsuits seeking to block enforcement of the president’s directive. Trump boasted publicly earlier this week about law firms caving to his demands and giving the White House what it wants, but as things stand, not every firm is bending the knee.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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