Judges and Lawyers Fight Back against Trump’s Blitzkrieg on Justice

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and 20 other state attorneys general issued a call to action against Trump’s unconstitutional shakedowns against the judiciary and legal profession for opposing him in court.

“Recent actions by the Trump administration targeting individual law firms and attorneys and statements calling for the impeachment of federal judges represent a clear threat to our system of justice and our profession,” Mayes wrote. “Trump’s recent orders and statements lay bare the administration’s desire to silence and suppress opposition to its policies.”

Trump’s vengeance is a severe threat to the rule of law, judicial independence, and public trust in the legal system, according to AGs from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC.

The wake-up call to America’s 31,700 federal and state judges and 1.3 million active lawyers is a direct response to Trump’s belligerent criticism of judicial decisions, and 163 court cases brought to stop his illegal activities.

Trump has already extorted major law firms into donating millions in free legal work for him. Four leading law firms—Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Milbank—have already crumbled, and they paid ransoms to the White House to avoid similar sanctions.

Four threats to the justice system

1. Threat to Judicial Independence.
   The 21 AGs emphasize that the judiciary’s independence is a cornerstone of democracy, ensuring that courts can make fair and impartial rulings without political influence. They ring the alarm that Trump’s criticism of judges and legal professionals erodes this independence by pressuring courts to align with political interests rather than legal principles.
2. Erosion of Public Trust.
   The AGs argue that Trump is actively undermining public confidence in the judiciary. This erosion of trust, they warn, could lead to a situation where judicial rulings are seen as politically motivated rather than based on law and precedent, ultimately destabilizing the legal system.
3. Endangering Judges and Legal Professionals
   The state AGs also highlight the dangers Trump’s attacks pose to individual judges and legal professionals. By publicly singling out judges and lawyers involved in high-profile cases, Trump’s predatory intimidation may incite threats or acts of violence against them, further endangering the legal system’s ability to function without fear or intimidation.
4. Misuse of Political Power.
   The legal community argues that disagreements with judicial rulings should be resolved through the established appeal processes rather than smear campaigns. The letter warns that a leader’s attempt to delegitimize court decisions based on personal or political grievances sets a dangerous precedent that could be exploited by future administrations to weaken judicial oversight.

The letter concludes with a call to action to lawyers, judges, and citizens to defend the judiciary from political attacks and reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law. The AGs stress that judicial independence must be preserved to maintain a fair and functioning democracy.

One law firm fights back and wins.

At the same time, more than 300 law professors and other legal groups filed court briefs backing the law firm Perkins Coie in its lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order that punished the firm for its work for Hillary Clinton and its own diversity policies. See Perkins Coie v. US Department of Justice, case No. 1:25-cv-00716-BAH, charging that Trump is violating the Constitution’s 1st, 5th and 6th Amendments.

Two federal judges blocked Trump’s illegal extortion on March 28. Trump jeopardized the firm’s ability to represent government contractors and limited its access to federal buildings — crippling the firm’s ability to represent its clients. Trump also tried to kick the judge off the case!

Lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr., a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, will submit the briefs in federal court in Washington DC as soon as today.

“Today, Perkins Coie has fallen into the President’s disfavor. Tomorrow, it could be any one of us whose speech the President unilaterally deems antithetical to ‘the interests of the United States’ because that person or organization has chosen to litigate against him,” the brief said.

Trump’s campaign against the firms “dangles a Sword of Damocles over all those who refuse to place loyalty to the President above the interests of their clients and the law,” according to the brief.

“If the order stands, it will be open season on lawyers who have dared to take on clients or causes the President or other officials don’t like,” the brief said.