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WaPo: Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks
WaPo - (archived: https://archive.ph/ekb9F ) Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks
The result is an extraordinary threat to constitutional rights of due process and legal representation and a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.
March 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
By Michael Birnbaum
President Donald Trump’s crackdown on lawyers is having a chilling effect on his opponents’ ability to defend themselves or challenge his actions in court, according to people who say they are struggling to find legal representation as a result of his challenges.
Biden-era officials said they’re having trouble finding lawyers willing to defend them. The volunteers and small nonprofits forming the ground troops of the legal resistance to Trump administration actions say that the well-resourced law firms that once would have backed them are now steering clear. The result is an extraordinary threat to fundamental constitutional rights of due process and legal representation, they said — and a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.
Legal scholars say no previous U.S. administration has taken such concerted action against the legal establishment, with Trump’s predecessors in both parties typically respecting the constitutionally enshrined tenet that everyone deserves effective representation in court and that lawyers cannot be targeted simply for the cases and clients they take on.
Trump has used executive orders to target powerful law firms that have challenged him. The orders have sought to strip them of their business by banning their lawyers from government buildings and barring companies who have federal contracts from employing the law firms.
/snip
The result is an extraordinary threat to constitutional rights of due process and legal representation and a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.
March 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
By Michael Birnbaum
President Donald Trump’s crackdown on lawyers is having a chilling effect on his opponents’ ability to defend themselves or challenge his actions in court, according to people who say they are struggling to find legal representation as a result of his challenges.
Biden-era officials said they’re having trouble finding lawyers willing to defend them. The volunteers and small nonprofits forming the ground troops of the legal resistance to Trump administration actions say that the well-resourced law firms that once would have backed them are now steering clear. The result is an extraordinary threat to fundamental constitutional rights of due process and legal representation, they said — and a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.
Legal scholars say no previous U.S. administration has taken such concerted action against the legal establishment, with Trump’s predecessors in both parties typically respecting the constitutionally enshrined tenet that everyone deserves effective representation in court and that lawyers cannot be targeted simply for the cases and clients they take on.
Trump has used executive orders to target powerful law firms that have challenged him. The orders have sought to strip them of their business by banning their lawyers from government buildings and barring companies who have federal contracts from employing the law firms.
/snip
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