Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, a law firm formerly associated with attorney Mark Pomerantz, who led a campaign to prosecute President Donald Trump, reached a major settlement with the president Thursday.
Pomerantz is regarded as the “architect” of a major component of Democrats’ “lawfare” strategy, an effort to use — or abuse — the courts in both civil and criminal litigation against Trump to destroy his political prospects and wealth.
Pomerantz’s most notorious contribution was when he resigned from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, claiming that the DA was being too timid against Trump and publishing a book arguing for Trump to be prosecuted. Bragg had run for office vowing to prosecute Trump, but relented in the face of the evidence, until Pomerantz’s book and subsequent public pressure led him to file bizarre charges in the Stormy Daniels case.
Bragg succeeded in convicting Trump on 34 felony counts in front of a Manhattan jury, but legal scholars — even those who oppose Trump — believe Bragg lacked authority to bring federal charges in a state court, especially when federal prosecutors declined to pursue them. Bragg did so to stretch the definition of New York’s statute of limitations, which had already expired on the misdemeanor charges of falsification of business records.
Pomerantz invoked the Fifth Amendment in 2023 when House Republicans called on him to testify about his role in the prosecution. Bragg had tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent Congress from enforcing a subpoena against Pomerantz.
On March 14, President Trump issued an executive order against the Paul, Weiss firm. It mentioned former partner Pomerantz — who had joined the firm in 2022 after leaving Bragg’s office — and also criticized the firm for alleged radical discrimination in its “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) practices.
The president ordered the government to review and withdraw the security clearances of the firm and of Pomerantz, meaning that Paul, Weiss would be shut out of many cases involving sensitive government matters and contracts. The executive order also required federal contractors to disclose any work they had done with Paul, Weiss and whether it was related to their contracts.
On Thursday, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was rescinding his executive order, and that Paul, Weiss had agreed to donate $40 million work of free pro bono legal services to defending his administration’s policies. Under the terms of the agreement, Paul, Weiss also agreed to be impartial when it came to pro bono work, accepting conservative as well as liberal causes, and agreed to terminate its DEI program after a through internal audit.
“Lawyers abandon the profession’s highest ideals when they engage in partisan decision-making, and betray the ethical obligation to represent those who are unpopular or disfavored in a particular environment,” Trump said.
Pomerantz issued a statement denying any wrongdoing, according to the New York Times, which called the deal “a significant development in the retribution campaign Mr. Trump has opened against several top law firms.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
