LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel sent out an email last week calling for reinforcements against President Trump – this time from the nation’s law firms.
In an open letter sent out April 30th backed by a slew of blue-state attorneys general including NY’s Letitia James, Dana Nessel and 19 of her counterparts rallied against what they describe as “unconstitutional attacks” by President Donald Trump targeting law firms and lawyers whose advocacy doesn’t align with his administration’s views.
MORE NEWS: Together Again? Record-Breaking Loons Land in Michigan
The AGs said in their letter, “President Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms and lawyers strike at the heart of that First Amendment principle and are unconstitutional on their face. Threatening law firms and lawyers because they have represented or employed political opponents of the Trump Administration or have expressed viewpoints disfavored by the Administration is a textbook violation of the First Amendment.”
The letter accuses Trump of trying to “co-opt the legal profession” in his march toward authoritarianism, threatening democracy and due process.
Nessel said in her press release about the letter, “What we have seen from Donald Trump and his administration is a total disregard for the separations of power and the rule of law. The legal profession cannot be complicit in this attack on our democracy. I am proud to stand with my colleagues, law firms, and fellow attorneys in defense of the Constitution against these unconstitutional threats, and I have no doubt that history will prove us right for standing up to these abuses of power.”
Lawyers or vigilantes?
The letter lauds firms like Perkins Coie – best known for representing Hillary Clinton and accused of playing a role in the Steele dossier scandal during the 2016 election – as heroes. Perkins Coie and other firms that have challenged Trump’s executive orders and secured temporary injunctions are described as “courageous” defenders in the ongoing legal war against the president.
However, the letter doesn’t just warn about Trump. It chastises Big Law for what Nessel and company see as a cowardly surrender to the president. According to the AGs, several top firms struck quiet deals to give Trump’s administration nearly $1 billion worth of free legal work – something the 20 AGs find offensive.
And although they claim Trump is the one threatening the First Amendment rights of attorneys, the AGs are targeting attorneys who choose to represent him – leaving many to wonder how they can, in the same breath, defend legal independence while attacking lawyers for exercising it on Trump’s side.
Rule of law or rule of Dana?
MORE NEWS: Election Day is Tuesday for Some Michigan Communities
Since Trump’s re-election, Nessel has cast herself as the final firewall between him and the Constitution. The AG has so many lawsuits and amicus briefs against the president that she had to organize them on a website called the “federal actions tracker.”
Closing arguments or opening shots?
The AGs’ letter wraps up with a plea, calling on the legal community to rise up, renounce their supposed “capitulations” to President Trump, and join the righteous resistance. One thing’s certain: Dana Nessel never passes up a chance to make Trump her go-to legal punching bag – and this time she wants the whole bar association in her corner.
