President Donald Trump’s personal attorney is the one who has negotiated almost $1 billion in free legal services from firms the president has targeted with executive orders as part of his revenge campaign.
Instead of meeting with government attorneys, Big Law firms that the administration has targeted have hashed out deals with Boris Epshteyn, the lawyer who led Trump’s effort to overturn former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Epshteyn has worked for Trump since 2016 and is a polarizing figure—even by the standards of Trumpland. He worked briefly for the firm Milbank LLP after graduating from law school but has never tried a case, according to the Journal.
His business card lists his name, cell phone number, and Gmail account, and he takes weekly meetings at a steakhouse in Washington that he calls his unofficial office.
Since February, Trump has used the power of the presidency to try to punish law firms he views as hostile to himself and his causes, including firms that have refused to represent him or have helped investigate the criminal charges brought against him.
Trump has issued executive orders attempting to strip lawyers of their security clearances, suspend government contracts, and limit attorneys’ entry to federal buildings.
The administration has also opened and threatened to open onerous investigations against the firms, including Equal Employment Opportunity Commission probes involving broad requests for information about firm employees and clients, the Journal reported.
In response, on Friday, five Big Law firms agreed to do about $600 million worth of pro bono work and to change their hiring practices, bringing the total to nine firms that have agreed to about $940 million in free work.
The firms were reportedly wary of negotiating with Epshteyn since he doesn’t work for the government—especially since the White House would need to sign off on any agreements.
One firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, even went to Trump’s deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, in an unsuccessful bid to lower the pro bono amount Epshteyn had demanded. Blanche had previously worked at Cadwalader but left after the firm refused to let him represent Trump.
Blanche told Cadwalader he wasn’t involved in the administration’s firm selection process, the Journal reported.
So far, Trump has said he plans to put his new pro-bono army to work on behalf of the coal industry.
“President Trump’s policy team is executing on his directive to hold Big Law accountable for their weaponization of justice and their lies, and the strategy has proven tremendously successful,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Journal.
However, firms that have fought the administration have won early victories in court. Wilmer Hale, Jenner & Block and Perkins Coie all won rulings from judges blocking the majority of the executive orders.
A fourth firm, Susman Godfrey, sued the administration on Friday.
The post Trump Enforcer Shaking Down Law Firms for Billions is Unmasked appeared first on The Daily Beast.
