A sense of panic is brewing across law firms and among legal professionals over President Donald Trump’s retribution campaign – which a group of legal experts flagged Monday as an “attack on the rule of law” unfolding in real time.
“There’s no question that there's fear,” former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissman said Monday on MSNBC. “And you see that in legal firms, you see that in corporations, and they're all sort of victimized and worried about being victimized.”
Weissman, the lead prosecutor in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia's meddling in the 2016 election to boost Trump, added that the significance of Trump’s quest for vengeance can’t be underestimated.
“I just want to make sure people understand like, how important this is, because this can seem like such a small and in the weeds,” he told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace. “This is literally the attack on the rule of law."
Weissman added: “This is saying, 'we are going to attack defense counsel that is part of our legal system.”'
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The stark assessment came Monday, days after Trump took executive actions against two prominent law firms who have been associated with defending his political enemies, according to media reports. Marc Elias, the founder of Democracy Docket, echoed Weissman's view.
“I think there is a lot of genuine fear in the legal community,” he said. “That's why I'm laying down this challenge: That's fine, you know, be afraid, but if ultimately you think being a lawyer and the oath you took means, you know, avoiding representing people, being targeted by the powerful and by the federal government, then I just don't understand why you became a lawyer.”
“I don't understand what business you're in or why you do what you do,” he added. Elias concluded that he was “disappointed” at how few big law firms are standing up to Trump and saying, “This is not ok and I’m not going to stand for this.”
Watch the clip below or at this link: