Top Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill came together this week to praise a prominent law firm and government watchdog group – even as the firm remains locked in a bitter legal fight with President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to a new report in Politico, lawmakers from both parties attended a bipartisan event celebrating the release of “When Congress Comes Calling,” a newly updated handbook on congressional investigations published by Jenner & Block in partnership with the Project on Government Oversight.
The crowd included Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), two of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, alongside Democrats such as Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA).
The warm reception stood in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s recent attacks on the firm. Jenner and Block is one of four law firms that sued the MAGA administration earlier this year after Trump signed executive orders threatening their ability to do business. One order accused the firm of engaging in “obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends,” citing its past hiring of former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.
The order sought to suspend security clearances held by lawyers of the firm, review government contracts tied to the firm and its clients, and restrict attorneys’ access to federal buildings and personnel, Politico reported. A federal judge ruled the order unconstitutional in May, though the Justice Department is appealing the decision, the outlet noted.
But none of that tension surfaced at the event Thursday night. In remarks, Jordan praised lawyers on all sides of congressional investigations, saying the process can’t function “unless those witnesses have good counsel like we have here.”
Lofgren, a member of the January 6 committee, echoed that message, calling the work behind the handbook “very important.”
The 434-page guide updates a version last revised in 2017 and weaves in legal developments from the first Trump administration and the January 6 investigation.