As big law firms bend the knee to President Donald Trump, another target of his executive orders is fighting back.
On Friday, Susman Godfrey—which won a successful $787 million lawsuit against Fox News over the network’s airing of 2020 election conspiracies—filed a suit against a Trump executive order it says was meant to “exact revenge.”
“No administration should be allowed to punish lawyers for simply doing their jobs, protecting Americans and their constitutional right to the legal process,” the firm wrote in a statement.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order barring Susman Godfrey from federal contracts held by the firm’s clients, removed its employees’ security clearances, and banned them from accessing federal buildings.
The firm’s complaint said that Trump’s order made “no secret of its unconstitutional retaliatory and discriminatory intent to punish Susman Godfrey for its work defending the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.”
“But this goes far beyond law firms and lawyers,” Susman Godfrey said. “Today it is our firm under attack, but tomorrow it could be any of us. As officers of the court, we are duty-bound to take on this fight against the illegal executive order.”
Susman Godfrey is represented by Donald Verrilli, former solicitor general during the Obama administration.
Verrilli’s firm, Munger, Tolles & Olson, has been a staunch critic of Trump’s executive orders, filing amicus briefs on behalf of hundreds of law firms.
Second Lady Usha Vance was previously employed at Munger, Tolles & Olson as a trial lawyer before stepping down last year once her husband, J.D. Vance, became Trump’s pick for VP.
Susman Godfrey has been on Trump’s radar after representing Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation suit against Fox News last year, which claimed that the news network falsely accused it of sabotaging Trump’s 2020 election campaign.
Dominion presented the court with a substantial number of emails and messages that proved Fox News executives and hosts knew their accusations against the company were untrue but continued to spread lies on the air.
Trump suck-up Tucker Carlson’s messages about the president were also presented as evidence, where he revealed “I hate him passionately” and “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights.”
Carlson went on to call Trump’s behavior after losing the 2020 election “disgusting. I’m trying to look away.”
Yet despite being very critical of Trump behind the scenes, even calling him a “demonic force, a destroyer,” Carlson continued to spread lies and conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 insurrection as the suit was still underway.
Fox Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch also admitted during a deposition that he didn’t think the election was stolen from Trump and knew that Joe Biden had won fairly, putting his news network in an embarrassing position.
When questioned by Dominion’s lawyers on whether he believed the conspiracy theories against the company, the billionaire responded with a simple “no” to every inquiry.
In response to a question about whether he “believed that Dominion was involved in an effort to delegitimize and destroy votes for Donald Trump,” Murdoch said: “I’m open to persuasion; but, no, I’ve never seen it.”
Evidence also showed that Murdoch called Fox News’ false claims of election fraud on air “really crazy stuff.”
Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott emailed Murdoch’s son, Lachlan, that the network had to let viewers know that “we hear them and respect them” in order to keep their “trust,” even if that meant spreading lies about the so-called stolen election.
Since returning to office, Trump has been on a vindictive crusade against law firms that have challenged him or his administration in any way, signing one executive order after another penalizing firms that employed his enemies or engaged in work he opposes.
Four firms—including the two largest firms in the country, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins—cut deals on Friday to avoid falling victim to one of Trump’s executive orders. They agreed to provide a total of at least $500 million in pro bono work for the current administration.
The firms also pledged to scrap their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and recruit job candidates regardless of political beliefs, including those “who have served in the Trump administration.” Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft signed a similar deal Friday.
The president’s revenge spree has forced law firms to choose between acceding to his demands or taking a stand and striking back.
Susman Godfrey joined the handful of firms—including Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale—that have taken action against the president, calling the president’s spree of executive orders “so obviously unconstitutional.”
Perkins Coie—which Trump targeted for providing legal support to the Democratic National Committee (DNC)—was the first to fight back against the administration, claiming that the executive order against it was unconstitutional and full of “retaliatory animus.”
Its actions received wide support across the law community, with 500 firms signing an April 4 court brief filed by Munger, Tolles, & Olson.
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