Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos may support Donald Trump, but his paper's editorial board did not hesitate to disparage the president in Tuesday's paper.
At issue was Trump's targeting of law firms and attorneys he has held grudges against for, in some cases, decades.
"Just because Trump campaigned on revenge against his political opponents doesn’t make it legally permissible," the Board wrote.
The article claimed Trump "sent a chill through the legal profession with his executive orders designed to cripple three big law firms that have represented or employed his perceived enemies. Lawyers might not be the most sympathetic group targeted by Trump, but they perform a foundational role in safeguarding the rule of law."
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The latest episode came last week when a Trump order stripped New York-based firm Paul Weiss employees of security clearances, access to federal buildings, and possibly government contracts. According to the piece, Trump holds a grudge against former Paul Weiss attorney Mark Pomerantz, who left the firm in 2012, and another partner who worked on a case against Jan. 6 Capitol rioters.
"That order was similar to one against Perkins Coie, which represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016 and contracted with a firm that produced the discredited Steele dossier," the Board wrote. A judge granted Perkins Coie a temporary restraining order last week after the firm claimed it continues to lose clients. The judge said about the case, “It sends little chills down my spine."
The editorial board wrote that, "Trump’s orders are not just at odds with the American tradition; they come straight from the autocrat’s playbook." It cited former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's order to "shoot" his country's lawyers for "obstructing justice."
The board concluded, "America is a long way from that extrajudicial nightmare. But judges, competing law firms and Republican lawmakers — especially those with experience in the profession — must reject Trump’s improper targeting. Otherwise, Trump will keep pushing. 'We have a lot of law firms that we’re going to be going after,' Trump said recently on Fox News. The rule of law won’t uphold itself."