Episode 23 | When Law Firms Go Hard Left: Trump & the Law Firm EOs

In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld take on one of the most controversial actions of the Trump administration: executive orders targeting major law firms.

Some legal scholars have called these orders the most unconstitutional thing Trump has ever done. Our hosts aren’t convinced — though they acknowledge the orders raise hard legal questions, particularly around the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions. Can the government restrict law firms’ access to federal contracts and security clearances when those firms systematically discriminate against conservatives and pour overwhelming resources into lawfare against one side of the political spectrum, or against the chief executive?

When the most powerful institutions in society act in lockstep against one half of the citizenry, does ordinary life become unfree and the country become undemocratic? Is free speech real when saying conservative things can end your career? Do elections matter if powerful institutions use their coordinated power to continue pushing the country to the Left, despite the will of the people? Are law firms uniquely dangerous in this regard because they don’t just participate in politics, they bring overwhelming resources to bear directly on the content of the law?

Our hosts round out the episode with the latest legal developments in the E. Jean Carroll case, and ask: Would Trump be justified in going after Ms. Carroll for perjury, if she lied under oath about whether her lawfare against Trump was funded by a progressive billionaire?

This is the rational — and based — discussion that conventional voices refuse to have.