The Department of Justice is squeezing Big Law. Hard. On Friday, federal prosecutors dropped a stack of subpoenas in a Washington federal court, targeting 14 major law firms. These firms either felt the wrath of Donald Trump’s executive orders last year or cut backroom deals to dodge them. Now, the feds want their files.
The demands are invasive. The DOJ wants every scrap of paper and digital trail concerning those executive orders. Specifically, they are hunting for communications with Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s long-serving whisperer, dating back to the start of the president’s second term. They also want to know what these firms whispered to the American Bar Association about him. Will the firms fight back? Nobody knows yet.
This paper storm stems from a lawsuit the ABA filed last year. The lawyers’ club claims the Trump administration is running a vindictive campaign. They say the White House is illegally punishing firms over diversity policies, political leanings, and past clients. It is a messy, public feud.
The DOJ is playing defense by going on offense. In a filing to U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, government lawyers argued the ABA shouldn’t be allowed to pry into White House files. If the ABA wants information on Trump’s executive orders, the DOJ argued, they should go beg their own members for it. The subpoenas, the government claims, are just a way to gather the very documents the ABA asked for in the first place. It is a classic bureaucratic judo move.
Naturally, everyone is suddenly mute. The ABA, the DOJ, the White House, and the targeted law firms all declined to comment or ignored inquiries. Silence is golden when the stakes are this high.
This litigation drags a quiet war into the spotlight. It puts the firms that quietly settled with Trump in a deeply uncomfortable position. Meanwhile, the broader battle rages on. Four other law firms previously sued the administration and won permanent injunctions against the executive orders. That fight is currently sitting with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which heard arguments back in May. The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceedingly messy.
