There has been a bit of discussion over the years as to what William Shakespeare’s character, Dick the Butcher, meant when he said: “The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Butcher made the comment in Henry VI, Part II while considering how to carry out a coup against King Henry VI. Former US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens likely hit the nail on the head when he said in a 1985 decision, “Shakespeare insightfully realized that disposing of lawyers is a step in the direction of a totalitarian form of government.” Dick’s kindred spirit, Donald Trump, has apparently recognized that a coup against America’s democracy may not succeed without neutralizing the country’s legal profession. Thankfully, killing is not in his playbook. Rather, Trump is using blackmail and intimidation to silence our lawyers.
Trump’s opening salvo was fired directly at Seattle-based Perkins Coie LLP (Perkins), a national law firm with a well-regarded office in Boise. Trump shocked the American legal community by releasing an unconstitutional “Executive Order” on March 6 (Order), attacking Perkins with a number of meritless, trumped-up claims. The first paragraph revealed his motive–Perkins had obviously enraged Trump by representing Hillary Clinton in her 2016 race against him and he was out for revenge.
As a private citizen, Trump sued Clinton, Perkins and a long list of others on some of the same claims in 2022. That case was dismissed by a federal judge as totally without merit. The judge required Trump and his attorneys to pay $937,989 in sanctions, based on the finding that: “Thirty-one individuals and entities were needlessly harmed in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative. A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans, and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm.” Nothing has changed with Trump, except that now, as President, he can misuse his power to continue with his vendetta.
In a remarkable exercise in gaslighting, the Order accused Perkins of “undermining democratic elections, the integrity of the courts, and honest law enforcement.” Among other things, Trump ordered that Perkins lawyers have any security clearances suspended, that their access to federal buildings be limited and that agencies refrain from hiring them. Two provisions are designed to scare current and prospective clients away from Perkins–requiring government contractors “to disclose any business they do with Perkins” and requiring agencies to review all contracts “with entities that disclose doing business with Perkins.” As obviously intended, those provisions have already driven business away from Perkins.
The Order is violative of several provisions of the US Constitution, including the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Perkins filed suit to enjoin enforcement of the Order and have it declared unconstitutional, correctly asserting that the “retaliatory aim of the Order is intentionally obvious to the general public and the press because the very goal is to chill future lawyers from representing particular clients” and “to deter both government officials and private sector workers from participating in new inquiries into [Trump’s] conduct.”
A federal judge heard the case on March 12 and issued an order temporarily prohibiting the enforcement of the most obnoxious provisions of the Order. She found the Order to be motivated by Trump’s “retaliatory animus” and designed to carry out a “personal vendetta.” The judge observed that the entire Order was “invalid.”
Instead of taking the judge’s hint to behave like a law-abiding President, Trump doubled down two days later by issuing a similar aggrievance-filled Executive Order targeting another prominent law firm, Paul Weiss, that Trump had petty grievances against. Unfortunately, that firm could not summon the courage to challenge Trump’s order, meekly acquiescing like a whipped pup.
Having beaten the cowardly Paul Weiss firm into submission, Trump has tried to intimidate the rest of the legal profession into silence. On March 22, he issued an unhinged “Presidential Memoranda” threatening lawyers with sanctions and penalties for pressing fraudulent and meritless claims. Those types of lawsuits are Trump’s stock in trade, so not many lawyers have been frightened by that document. The great number of court cases Trump has lost since taking office speaks for itself.
Trump has targeted several other large law firms, two of which have sued him and gotten temporary relief and one of which has buckled like Paul Weiss. It is not clear how all of this will shake out, but I believe the legal profession will rally against Trump’s concerted effort to intimidate both lawyers and judges. When the dust settles, those firms that submitted to Trump’s unconstitutional intimidation may rue the day they gave in without a fight. . Most Americans, regardless of political leanings, want lawyers who will vigorously and fearlessly protect them when faced with government overreach. If any government tried to take their rights, their guns, their livelihoods, their speech rights or their freedom, they would not hire cowardly lawyers who would bend their knees to the government.
Just like Dick the Butcher, Trump will fail to neutralize the lawyers who stand against a totalitarian form of government. He will do tremendous damage to our country during the remainder of his tenure, but America’s dedication to lawful governing is too ingrained in our DNA for the country to succumb.
About the Author
Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served 8 years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as a Justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). His columns are collected at JJCommonTater.com.
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Jim, I only wish Senator Risch, Senator Crapo, and Representative Simpson had your courage to stand up for America’s democracy. It’s a real shame they don’t!
Thank you for explaining this. I feel better knowing there are some level headed individuals analyzing this fall toward authoritarian government for myself and others. These are scary times…. You are highly respected for your expertise.