Democrats Press Craven Law Firms Over Shady "Pro Bono" Work For Trump

 

These are the opening paragraphs of a letter sent today to one of the craven law firms who knuckled under to the Malignant Fascist, promising to provide "pro bono" legal services, and who now may be providing shady, if not illegal, services to the Commerce Department.  The letter was signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).  (Similar letters were sent to two other craven firms, Kirkland & Ellis and Skadden Arps who may also be providing similar services).

We write to you for the second time regarding Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s (“Paul Weiss”) decision to submit to the Trump Administration’s efforts to use an unlawful and unconstitutional Executive Order and threats of sham investigations to coerce your law firm into spending $40 million in law firm resources to support President Trump’s pet issues, making statements that support his agenda, and reversing firm policies with which he disagrees.1 Your previous response of April 14, 2025, failed to provide any of the requested records or information vital to our Committees’ understanding of why your law firm promised $40 million in pro bono legal services to causes hand-picked by President Trump, clarifying only that you had agreed to dedicate “$40 million in pro bono services over the next four years to assist our nation’s veterans, combat anti-Semitism, and promote the fairness of the justice system.

Now, just months after striking a deal with the Administration, Paul Weiss is reportedly providing free legal services on “a range of matters” to the U.S. Department of Commerce
(“Commerce Department”).3 These reports come as other law firms that have also capitulated to the Administration’s unlawful and unconstitutional coercion are also reportedly doing pro bono work for the Commerce Department. Paul Weiss’s work for the Commerce Department clearly falls outside of the scope of the deal you previously described—aiding veterans, combatting anti-Semitism, and promoting fairness in the justice system—suggesting that the Administration’s coercion of your law firm may be ongoing and escalating.

Absent coercion from the Administration it is difficult to understand how Paul Weiss identified the Commerce Department—a government agency with 13 bureaus5, a proposed $8.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2026 discretionary funding—as eligible for pro bono services. Your own website describes Paul Weiss’s pro bono practice as providing “legal assistance to the most vulnerable members of our society,”6 which is impossible to square with your work on behalf of the Commerce Department.

Further, as you are certainly aware, providing legal services to the Commerce Department without compensation may violate the law. The Antideficiency Act, and in particular 31 USC §1342, prohibits the Government from accepting voluntary services and has limited exceptions in order to ensure the Government is not on the hook for financial obligations Congress has not explicitly appropriated. While it certainly would not be surprising for the Trump Administration to disregard the law regarding congressional appropriations, it would be quite troubling if Paul Weiss were a willing accomplice in such an endeavor...

The letter asks the firms to provide the information requested (scope, compensation, hours, etc.) by October 7.  We'll see how far those firms have fallen when October 7 comes along.