Raskin, Blumenthal, & Schiff Demand Answers From Capitulating Big Law Firms Doing Trump’s Bidding
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today pressed top law firms for information regarding pro bono legal services they are providing to President Trump’s pet causes after the firms submitted to the Trump Administration’s threats of unlawful and unconstitutional Executive Orders and sham investigations.
Raskin, Blumenthal, and Schiff wrote to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss); Kirland & Ellis, LLP (Kirkland); and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Skadden Arps) following reports that the firms are providing free legal services on “a range of matters” for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Blumenthal and Raskin had previously written to each of the firms seeking details about the deals struck with President Trump, including information about all requests for pro bono services the firms received from the White House.
“Your previous response of April 14, 2025, failed to provide any of the requested records or information vital to our Committees’ understanding of why your law firm promised $40 million in pro bono legal services to causes hand-picked by President Trump, clarifying only that you had agreed to dedicate ‘$40 million in pro bono services over the next four years to assist our nation’s veterans, combat anti-Semitism, and promote the fairness of the justice system,’” the Members wrote in a letter to Paul Weiss Chairman Brad S. Karp.
The Members raised concerns that Paul Weiss’s work for the Commerce Department suggests that the Trump Administration is continuing to coerce firms into providing legal services outside the permeators of the agreements the firms had previously described, “Now, just months after striking a deal with the Administration, Paul Weiss is reportedly providing free legal services on ‘a range of matters’ to the U.S. Department of Commerce…Paul Weiss’s work for the Commerce Department clearly falls outside of the scope of the deal you previously described—aiding veterans, combatting anti-Semitism, and promoting fairness in the justice system—suggesting that the Administration’s coercion of your law firm may be ongoing and escalating.”
“Absent coercion from the Administration it is difficult to understand how Paul Weiss identified the Commerce Department—a government agency with 13 bureaus, a proposed $8.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2026 discretionary funding—as eligible for pro bono services. Your own website describes Paul Weiss’s pro bono practice as providing ‘legal assistance to the most vulnerable members of our society,’ which is impossible to square with your work on behalf of the Commerce Department,” the Members continued.
The Members pointed out that the firm’s work with the Commerce Department may be in violation of federal law, “Further, as you are certainly aware, providing legal services to the Commerce Department without compensation may violate the law. The Antideficiency Act, and in particular 31 USC §1342, prohibits the Government from accepting voluntary services and has limited exceptions in order to ensure the Government is not on the hook for financial obligations Congress has not explicitly appropriated.”
In a follow-up to their previous requests, Raskin, Blumenthal, and Schiff are seeking additional information to better understand the contours of the work Paul Weiss, Kirkland, and Skadden Arps are performing for—and at the request of—the U.S. Government. The full text of Blumenthal, Raskin, and Schiff’s letter to Paul Weiss is available here and below. Similar letters were sent to Kirkland and Skadden Arps.