He demands a full-throated apology and a promise that she will never challenge the federal government again before the case can be settled? It’s not exactly subtle, is it?
I suppose most people think this is just Trump being Trump again and it doesn’t mean anything. But he got Columbia University and Paul Weiss law firms to come crawling on their bellies just in the last few days. He means it.
Inside the White House, advisers to Donald Trump reveled in their ability to bully Paul, Weiss – one of the largest law firms in the US – and see its chair criticize a former partner as he tried to appease the US president into rescinding an executive order that threatened the firm’s ability to function.[…]
The most extraordinary part of the deal, widely seen as humiliating for Paul, Weiss, was that Trump had not made any explicit requests of the firm, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The commitments and most notably the sacrificing of Pomerantz were offered up proactively by Karp at a White House meeting this week, the people said.
The deal marked a significant new chapter in Trump’s campaign of retribution against several top law firms he sees as having supported efforts to prosecute him during his time out of office – and how he has used the far-reaching power of the presidency to bring them to heel.
It raises the prospect that Trump and his advisers, victorious over Paul, Weiss, will now feel emboldened to launch similar strikes against firms that tangle with the administration. After the executive order was withdrawn, some aides privately gloated that a precedent had been set.
I wonder when any powerful person or institution is going to fight back when he tries this? Maybe it’s up to the Governor of Maine.