From cabinet secretaries to midlevel staffers, people working for President Donald Trump are calling law firms in search of legal advice, according to a new report. The rush to hire lawyers is driven by fears of an avalanche of congressional investigations next year if Democrats take one or both houses of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections.
 |
| File photo: The White House in Washington, D.C. |
The Wall Street Journal reports that the inquiries signal deep unease across the administration about what Democrats plan to investigate — everything from alleged pay-to-play pardons to the Kennedy Center renovation and even Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding. Administration officials personally face legal, reputational and financial risks if they are pulled into those inquiries, and lawyers say the scramble for representation is already underway.
The Calls Started in June — and Have Been Picking Up
According to the Journal, the calls to law firms started sporadically in June and have picked up in frequency since then. Judd Stone, co-founder of Stone Hilton, an Austin, Texas-based firm founded by alumni of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, said cabinet-level officials and agency heads have been exploring whether they want a lawyer on their side who is working solely in their best interest — even though the Justice Department would play a leading role defending the administration.
Potential clients are shopping for representation at some of the nation's top firms and at smaller conservative boutiques that have grown in stature during Trump's second term. One of them is Torridon Law, a Washington, D.C.-based boutique whose partners include former Trump Attorney General William Barr and Mike Fragoso, a former chief counsel to Senate GOP leadership.
Conflict-of-interest rules mean the same law firm is unlikely to be able to represent several staffers simultaneously, so senior officials are scrambling to lock in their preferred counsel before someone else does, according to a prominent lawyer familiar with the situation cited by the Journal.
Companies and Conservative Firms Are Preparing Too
It is not just government staffers. Steve Roberts, a partner at Lex Politica, said the firm catering to conservative clients has been getting calls not just from high-ranking administration officials but also from Fortune 500 companies and startups. "If they have been supportive of this administration, they know there is a possibility that there is a target on their back," he said.
Susanne Grooms, a partner at Cooley — a firm with some 1,400 lawyers — and a former chief counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said the firm has seen an influx of corporate clients looking for advice on how to prepare for potential investigations. Companies that donated to Trump's projects or that did business with the government or the Trump family could be swept up in the probes, she said.
Earlier reporting laid out what those probes could look like. Democratic lawmakers including Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut have said corporations are a ripe target because, unlike the White House, they cannot claim executive privilege. Of particular interest: Trump-linked crypto firms and Donald Trump Jr.'s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital. Sen. Adam Schiff of California has warned companies not to delete records related to transactions with Trump and his administration, saying, "We can make life very difficult for the administration if you abuse legitimate oversight requests of Congress."
Why Democrats Say They Are Ready
Democratic party leaders have already previewed the investigations they would launch with subpoena power and committee gavels. Raskin — who could become chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee if Democrats take control of the House — said Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner is "a corporate executive that we absolutely will need to talk to." Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island unveiled a report saying oil and gas companies won tax breaks, subsidies and looser environmental regulations after Trump asked them for $1 billion in donations during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Separately, Raskin, Blumenthal and Schiff have vowed to continue an investigation into Kirkland & Ellis' promise of free legal services in a deal struck with the Trump administration last year. They accuse the firm of stonewalling oversight requests about its $125 million commitment and its contacts with Trump's personal attorney Boris Epshteyn. Nine law firms made such deals totaling $940 million in promised free legal services.
The White House has dismissed the threat. "Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of the American people, just plans to obstruct and baselessly target President Trump's commonsense agenda," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Conservative allies, meanwhile, are building their own defense apparatus. Former Justice Department official Jeff Clark said in September he would lead a new law firm under the Oversight Project's banner to challenge congressional oversight actions, bar disciplinary proceedings and criminal prosecutions against Trump allies. Donald Trump Jr. called it "good stuff" and "important work." Conservative influencer Mike Cernovich had warned he did not want to see "young staffers with growing families bankrupted by lawfare," and the Oversight Project's president, Mike Howell, replied that "help is on the way."
What This Means
The lawyering-up spree is a sign of how seriously Washington is taking the possibility of a Democratic takeover of the House or Senate. Polls are feeding the anxiety: a Fox News poll released October 14 put Trump's approval at a record low of 36%, and a Washington Post–ABC News poll put it at 33% — with Democrats leading 54% to 45% on the generic House ballot.
The probes party leaders have previewed could interfere with Trump's agenda for his remaining two years in office, the Journal notes — and for individual officials, the stakes are personal. Congressional investigations can bring subpoenas, document demands, televised hearings, and legal bills that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The White House has already taken defensive personnel steps. Senior officials, including from the White House communications and counsel's offices, began meeting this spring to discuss how to handle congressional investigations and respond to subpoenas, according to current and former officials cited by the Journal. Trump moved Will Scharf, a former prosecutor and the president's personal attorney, to White House counsel, and chose Katie Bailey — who has experience on House and Senate oversight committees — as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, which coordinates with Capitol Hill. The White House Counsel's Office has been meeting with agency leaders on best practices for inquiries and likely Democratic investigative strategies.
What Happens Next
Everything depends on November 3. If Republicans hold the House and Senate, the threat of subpoena-backed investigations largely evaporates — and the scramble for lawyers will look like an expensive false alarm. If Democrats take either chamber, they will be armed with subpoena power, committee control and the bully pulpit of a majority, and the legal work now being lined up will begin immediately.
For now, the hiring race itself tells the story: behind the public confidence, the administration is preparing for a Washington where its own side no longer controls the agenda. As one longtime executive branch employee told Raw America on background earlier this month: "Several of us have had discussions about retaining outside counsel. Our fear is we're going to need it."
Post a Comment