Kamala Harris calls out organizations for 'capitulating' to Trump days after Doug Emhoff's law firm cut a deal with the White House
Harris also called out organizations that are cutting deals with the president.
She did not name Big Law directly, but it isn't hard to read between the lines.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a veiled rebuke at Big Law firms that have cut deals with President Donald Trump.
"We're seeing people stay quiet," Harris said during a speech before the Leading Women Defined Summit. "We are seeing organizations stay quiet. We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly to unconstitutional threats."
Harris did not call out law firms specifically in denouncing a "sense of fear" that has taken hold. Her comments are sure to raise eyebrows given former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff's ties to Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, among the handful of major firms that have cut deals with the White House.
On Tuesday, Willkie became the third major law firm to broker an agreement with the Trump administration lest it face a crippling executive order like Perkins Coie is challenging in federal court.
The Los Angeles Times and CNN reported that Emhoff told Willkie leadership that he disagreed with the deal. Emhoff did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. He retweeted a separate portion of Harris' remarks, where she said, "Courage is contagious."
Trump has defended his actions, saying that the firms "are not babies" and went after him "ruthlessly, violently, and illegally."
"Those law firms did bad things," he told reporters last month.
Trump's claims distort the law firms' actions.
His executive order targeting Paul Weiss focused on the firm's rehiring of former federal prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who left the firm to aid the Manhattan District Attorney's probe into Trump's finances. Trump's memo asking the federal government to reconsider its contracts with Covington & Burling LLP mentioned how the firm had agreed to represent former special counsel Jack Smith, who had led prosecutions into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling of classified documents. (Smith later dropped both cases before leaving the Justice Department after Trump's election.)
Former President Barack Obama went even further than Harris. During a separate appearance, he said he was "troubled" by the idea the White House could single out individual firms.
"Imagine if I had said to law firms that were representing parties that were upset with policies my administration had initiated, that you will not be allowed into government buildings," Obama said during an appearance at Hamilton College in New York.
Obama said that institutions should consider standing up, no matter the cost.
"If you're a law firm being threatened, you might have to say, okay, we will lose some business because we're going to stand for a principle," he said. "If you are a university, you may have to figure out, are we in fact doing things right?"
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