The president’s wrath has its new target: Doug Emhoff’s law firm, where he began working after Kamala Harris’ election loss.
The company, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, has learned that it is among a list of firms the Trump administration has decided to chastise, according to reporting by The New York Times.
Alongside Emhoff, the firm also employs an investigator who worked for the Jan. 6 congressional committee probing into Donald Trump’s involvement in the Capitol insurrection; and a litigator who pushed a lawsuit against Rudy Guiliani by two Georgia election workers. Guiliani was found to have defamed the workers, and was ordered to pay out $148 million.
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The former second gentleman joined the firm in January, working to resume his legal career after Harris’ vice presidential gig. His job is to advise corporations, boards and individuals navigating reputational crisis.
This is not the first law firm the Trump administration has gone after. Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Covington & Burling, alongside other firms have all been targeted by threats and executive orders. Some have chose to make a deal with Trump instead, bowing down to his demands as he threatens yanking security clearances and federal contracts.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, for example, chose to offer $100 million worth of pro bono legal services preemptively before it was even mentioned in an order, while also promising to avoid “illegal DEI discrimination,” according to Business Insider. Trump called the arrangement “essentially a settlement.”
Many of the law firms employ those who have went against his agenda in the past, while his reasoning has been “grossly unethical misconduct.” Three firms have taken Trump to court, all granted restraining orders, The New York Times reported.