Columns, Courts, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

“The First Thing We Do”: The Lawless Campaign To Harass Lawyers Representing The Trump Campaign

Below is my column in The Hill on the successful campaign that has forced firms to drop Donald Trump or the Republican Party as clients in the ongoing litigation over the 2020 election. Notably, this campaign started soon after the election was called for President-Elect Joe Biden.

Here is the column:

Less than a week after the election being called for President-elect Biden, supporters are turning to Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” for their first priority: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” That lawless fantasy of the character “Dick the Butcher” appears to have found acceptance not only among some of the public but some lawyers themselves.

Within 24 hours of the election being called, the media and an array of legal analysts declared no evidence of voter fraud to change the outcome. The problem was that we had not even seen the Trump campaign’s filings or evidence. As Trump lawyers began to file cases, alleging everything from deceased voters to biased authentication, the solution became clear: Get rid of the lawyers. No lawyers, no cases, no Trump.

What is most unsettling is that this effort is led or cheered on by lawyers. Take Washington Post columnist Randall Eliason, who gained notoriety supporting an array of theories on impeachment or criminal claims against Trump, including a bribery interpretation long rejected by the Supreme Court and not adopted even by the impeachment-eager House Judiciary Committee. Eliason wrote a column, “Yes, going after Trump’s law firms is fair game.” (Everything seems fair game if the ultimate target is Trump.) Eliason shrugged off the notion that attacking a person’s lawyers, rather than his positions, is beyond the pale: “Law is a profession, but these mega-law firms are also big businesses. Like any business, they can be held accountable by the public — and by their other customers.”

The law is not like any other business, however. Lawyers speak for others, including some of the least popular among us. I have represented clients ranging from judges, members of Congress and whistleblowers to spies, terrorists and polygamists. Many were hated by the public, who demanded that I be fired from my law school — but I have never seen such a campaign led by lawyers against lawyers.

Our legal system works best when competent lawyers present cases to dispassionate judges. In this case, some 72 million Americans voted for Trump, and many believe changes in the process — particularly the massive increase of mail-in voting — undermined the election’s integrity. That is why these cases are important: Faith in our legal and political systems depends on fair access to and representation in the courts.

As in the past, there is a disturbing symbiosis of the media and activists feeding off each other. When Biden was viewed as the likely winner, theories of voting irregularities instantly became “conspiracy theories.” Groups like the Lincoln Project targeted law firms and launched a campaign to force lawyers to abandon Trump as a client.

This effort resulted in Twitter blocking the Lincoln Project for targeting individual Trump lawyers in a tweet (accompanied by a skull-and-crossbones emoji) that was deemed threatening and abusive. That only seemed to thrill the Lincoln Project. It reportedly joined Democrats in targeting law firms like Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur and threatening its lawyers with professional ruin. It claimed that any firm working for Trump on election litigation was part of a “dangerous attack on our democracy.” Trying to strip people of their counsel, of course, is the real attack on our democracy — and it worked: The firm buckled and withdrew, saying the pressure caused internal struggles and at least one lawyer’s resignation.

Other campaigns have targeted individual lawyers and what used to be called “fellow travelers” during the McCarthy period. After the election, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called for liberals to assemble enemies lists of those “complicit” in the Trump administration. (Ironically, the first entry by a Bernie Sanders surrogate were the Republicans who founded the Lincoln Project). Former Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan proudly tweeted: “WH staff are starting to look for jobs. Employers considering them should know there are consequences for hiring anyone who helped Trump attack American values.”

However, the effort to intimidate lawyers representing Trump or his campaign is not about vengeance. It is about insurance. Even though the success of these challenges is small and shrinking, opponents do not want to risk any judicial scrutiny of the vote. Social media campaigns targeted the clients of firms like Jones Day, while the Lincoln Project pledged $500,000 to make the lives of these lawyers a living hell. It is the kind of tactic used by Antifa and other activists to “deplatform” speakers or harass individuals at their homes.

Trump is highly unpopular with many Americans — and virtually all of the media — so it is popular to harass anyone who supports or represents him. It is mob justice targeting the justice system itself. Yet, lawyers like Eliason are applauding the effort.

Eliason justifies such harassment by saying the Trump campaign and Republican groups “have filed lawsuits that appear to contain baseless allegations of fraud and that seek to have lawful votes rejected.” Note the word “appear.” Eliason did not know when he wrote the column because he has not seen the evidence. Neither have I. We only began to see underlying evidence (or the lack thereof) this week as courts held hearings into pending motions. It is the difference between wanting something to be true and knowing something to be true. That is generally what courts determine.

Yet, there is little patience for discussing, let alone litigating, these legal issues. On Friday, I discussed these challenges, including a Michigan district where thousands of Trump votes were initially tallied as Biden votes; the district used the same voting software that has been the subject of much national debate. While I explained that the mistaken tally resulted from human error and nothing “nefarious,” the question remains whether such new systems or software might be vulnerable to human errors. Despite my stating there was no evidence of systemic problems, Colorado Law Professor Paul Campos denounced me as akin to a “Holocaust denier” who should be fired.   I was accused of “both sideism” for discussing the claims of the Trump campaign, even when noting that Biden appears the duly elected president.

Notably, the person most undermined by these efforts is Joe Biden. Rather than call for a transparent review of these cases to affirm his legitimacy as president-elect, his supporters are harassing lawyers and running a hysterical campaign of retaliation. It is an ironic twist: For years, many of us marveled at how guilty Trump looked in his efforts to bully accusers and scuttle the Russia investigation. The best thing for Trump would have been to support a full, open investigation. Likewise, there is no compelling evidence of systemic election fraud now, and the best thing for Biden would be to support a full, open investigation. Threats and biased media coverage only deepen the suspicions of Trump voters.

There is an alternative. We can all agree that every vote should be counted and every voting case be heard. Our political and legal systems both require a leap of faith — and this crisis of faith has now moved from the political to the legal system. Courts are supposed to be where reason transcends the rage that reigns outside the courthouse. However, it still requires lawyers.

413 thoughts on ““The First Thing We Do”: The Lawless Campaign To Harass Lawyers Representing The Trump Campaign”

  1. When he got to The Pearly Gates George Floyd was asked by Saint Peter if the coo had a knee on his neck that stopped his breathing. He said “No”. Peter asked if he was on drugs. “Yes”. He was allowed into heaven.

  3. I doubt that the actions of the Trump haters will decrease over time. In fact what happened over the weekend in DC shows this attitude growing. More likely, the oppression and harassment to those on the right will grow as the MSM will not condemn but will overtly assist the effort. Like a cancer, better to deal with it early before it becomes terminal. Joe could shut it down but I doubt he will.

    1. Trump has been a cancer on the country for several years. It’s too late to deal with him early. It’s not terminal, but we will not recover unless we deal honestly with his actions, including allowing the DOJ to pursue indictments if they believe that appropriate.

      1. CTHD- “Trump has been a cancer on the country for several years.”
        ***
        You say that and I get it– you are actually John Dean.

  4. Even the lawyers handling some of the cases called them “letters with a filing fee” because there has been no evidence to support the allegations of election fraud that Trump has been making.
    Unfortunately, Trump’s false allegations have now motivated millions of voters to question the integrity of the electoral process of the USA.
    Perhaps Biden will use this to make a good argument for eliminating the EC and moving to a popular-vote system. That should help prevent the use of frivolous lawsuits to interfere with the transition in the future.

  5. The national debt is $27,190,176,826,089, which is up $7.25 trillion under Trump who said he’d eliminate the debt and it would be easy.

    Trump and Republicans ran up the biggest deficits, federal debt, and bloated budgets in the history of the Republic. They spent like drunken socialists. Their charges of “socialism” aimed at anyone else are laughable. twitter.com/daveweigel/sta…

    3. Friday: You are not very analytical just very biased. If it was not for a Reubs controlled Senate, the spending would be up another minimum of $3.5 Trillion, but you need to get over the anal-cranial inversion.

      1. You Republicans won’t admit that stimulus assistance more than pays for itself by reducing unemployment claims, evictions, foreclosures and bankruptcies. McConnell continues to refuse to bring the House bill, passed last May, to the floor for a vote.

  7. Vote v. Valid Vote: Attribute ‘Confidence’

    May be said that it is possible for a vote to be a valid vote, and it is false as applied to the saying, and true as applied to the thing: for a thing which is a vote, can be a valid vote; but to say, all votes are valid votes can never be true. In forms that are inseparable from the subject this distinction does not hold, for instance, as said, “all votes are valid votes” is false for no definition of valid which is to the subject ‘Confidence’ is made.

  9. Harass lawyers Turley? Really? How about the Trump lawyers that are harassing the judges and the whole legal system with their BS that has NOT gone anywhere, even with republican judges. Trump’s so-called lawyers are as incompetent as the fool who hired them. Trump and his supporters hate the very concept of democracy so they play the game of perpetual victim to negate the fact that Trump lost and his supporters are just as lost in the alternative reality that Trump created. The blatant disregard of facts and the truth has come back in their faces, and they don’t like what they see.

    2. Trump’s so-called lawyers are as incompetent as the fool who hired them.

      If that were true, then there would be no need to threaten and intimidate anyone. You know, with the facts and evidence in their favor, the Left’s army of “competent” lawyers should easily defeat these legal challenges in court and at the same time restore some degree of confidence in our system of justice to the American people. Thanks for your projection anyway. LOL!

          1. You’re everything that one would expect from a trump supporter. Total lack of self awareness.

    3. We all heard the Democrats say for Joe Biden to not concede the election under any circumstances. Trump is taking that advice. What’s your problem?

    4. Fishwings: has Stacy Abrams ever conceded her loss in the Georgia governors race?

      Did HIllary Clinton, among others, advise Joe Biden to not concede under any circumstances?

      Please don’t lecture us about ‘truth and facts’

        2. “Hillary Clinton said in a new interview that Joe Biden should not concede the 2020 presidential election “under any circumstances,” anticipating issues that could prolong knowing the final outcome.

          “Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch, and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is,” Clinton said in an interview with her former communications director Jennifer Palmieri for Showtime’s “The Circus,” which released a clip Tuesday.

          “We’ve got to have a massive legal operation, I know the Biden campaign is working on that,” she said. “We have to have poll workers, and I urge people, who are able, to be a poll worker. We have to have our own teams of people to counter the force of intimidation that the Republicans and Trump are going to put outside polling places. This is a big organizational challenge, but at least we know more about what they’re going to do.”

          Clinton said she thinks that the only way Trump could win re-election is “by either suppressing or stopping voting, or outright intimidating people into feeling that they have to go with the strong guy to stand up against all these threats that Trump is going to gin up to scare people.”

          She also suggested that Biden should be more aggressive in his fight against Trump.

        3. Hillary said: “Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch…”

          DON’T GIVE an INCH is what she said.

        4. So let’s insert Donald Trump’s name in the same statement:

          “Donald Trump should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch…”

          And this is what the Trump campaign is doing, just as the Democrats suggested THEIR candidate do.

                1. Sidney Powell said of the evidence they have gathered to date: “It’s going to blow the minds of everyone in this country when we get it all together and can explain it with the affadavits and the experts that have come forward.”

                    1. ‘BREAKING: Hand recount revealed that an election official in Floyd County, Georgia did not upload nearly 2600 votes from a memory card into the scanning machine.

                      A large majority of these votes were for President Trump.

                      GA must have a full audit.’

                      ______________

                      ‘So someone “forgot” to upload a memory card containing nearly 3,000 votes in Floyd County GA that were overwhelmingly favorable to Trump?

                      Imagine if this same sort of forgetfulness is going on in larger counties as well…’

                    2. ‘The Clark County (Nevada) Commission just threw out an election that represents almost 1/6 of the total votes cast in Clark County because there were too many “discrepancies” to be sure that that the results in that election can be certain. 153K votes in this election.’

                      Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria on the Clark County Commission District C race: “We have found discrepancies that we can’t explain that would cast a doubt on whether or not that margin of victory is solid.”

                    3. ‘A recount in NH for a county legislative seat, gave the Dem an additional 380 votes and the GOPer an added 1,600 votes.

                      In Windham, NH a recount added a few 100 votes per seat where only 8K-9K people voted. This is a HUGE % change of votes.’

                    4. ‘The county (Floyd County, Georgia) that the thousands of ballots were found in is a county where Trump is up by 42 points.

                      Not 42 votes, 42 points.’

                    5. If you look up the details, none of those show any indication of fraud, and only one of them — from Floyd County, GA — involves the presidential race.
                      https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/georgia-election-audit-nearly-2600-ballots-found-in-floyd-co/85-f65c3042-d4ba-4825-b1b3-a2b8ce5fb6f3
                      Of the 2600 votes, Trump got 800 votes more than Biden, which is far from enough votes to change the state winner.

                      The others involve different races. For example, here’s more complete reporting on the Clark County, NV, Commission race: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/clark-county-calls-for-re-vote-in-commission-race-decided-by-10-ballots-discrepancies-outnumber-victory-margin

  10. So naturally, if your lawfare tactics failed for 4 years to remove this President from office, then just retaliate against everyone that opposed your abuse of the law. And you’ll have plenty of useful idiots applauding. Too bad we don’t have any events in history that would inform us what to expect next. /sarc off

  11. They said, “Their is no doubt that the Russians hacked the DNC”! Now they say, “There’s no way the voting machines could have been hacked”! It is not just the lawyers that will be destoyed. The lives of their children will also be deminished. Well, a few lives of the innocent must be sacraficed in quest of the cause. I know you will tell me to be quiet. You don’t want to be bothered with the gory details. No necessity to name your names. My intention is not to demean but to encourage self reflection for those who will hear. I believe that Proffesor Turley’s intentions are the same..

    1. Who is the ‘they’? Trump’s own Justice Dept. has said this is the least interfered with election in recent times.

      1. The U.S. Department of Justice (not Trump’s own Justice Department), was talking about outside interference, not domestic. Anyone who takes a “fair and impartial” look at this election, would never be foolish enough to use the words of the Justice Department so carelessly.

        1. “The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the United States, and is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries …”

          And no, they didn’t distinguish between external and internal interference. Check the 15 prosecutors’ letter to Barr about his pushing an investigation with no evidence.

          Look, I’m not naive enough to think the Russians, and Chinese, and Iranians or whoever, aren’t always looking for a way to influence U.S. elections, this year’s election included. But really, two of the attempts to influence the election in the states that are actually documented are on the part of republican interests. Those being the North Carolina vote harvesting scheme in ’18 and repubs putting fake drop boxes out this time around.

          And you sound a bit constipated.

          1. You sound quite uneducated. The DOJ is headed by Barr who ordered the investigation. That some Democrat lawyers think differently is meaningless and political. I have seen few of your postings and none demonstrate one who is knowledgeable of the facts.

            You can reply anyway you wish but you are not worth replying to in such a fashion.

      2. Bug. I’m sure that the people in the Justice Department were not taking there personal interest into account now that a new regime is coming into power Mr. Dillon was right. “You don’t need a weather man to tell which way the wind blows

  12. Malesherbes was a statesman and lawyer who dared to defend Louis XVI at his trial. His courage was admired but not imitated.

    For giving a brave, principled legal defense he saw his family led up the steps of the guillotine, one by one, before he took his turn at the blood-drenched machine.

    The Left hasn’t returned to the guillotine, yet, but it is eager to return to a form of terror to prevent opponents from having a day in court. Unless, of course, Judge Freisler is on the bench.

    By the way, what is Judge Sullivan doing? Still clipping his toenails?

      1. Most judges have several cases. He had a motion to dismiss by the DOJ. There are no litigants left. Dismissal could have been done, and should have been done, somewhere between the big toe and little toe on his right foot without significant interruption in the clipping.

        CTHD assured us the Sullivan matter would be handled before the election. I suspected Sullivan was doing politics rather than law and would drag it out as, in fact he seems to be doing.

        I do wonder that Roberts isn’t upset by what the federal courts have come to. On the other hand, there is his example so perhaps it is okay.

      2. I stopped responding to Young a couple of months ago, and I’m not going to respond to him now, but do want to point out that I did not assure anyone that “the Sullivan matter would be handled before the election.” If I had, Young would be able to link to or quote what I said, but he has done neither. I don’t know whether Young is simply misremembering or is purposefully lying about me.

        Here’s what I actually said:
        https://jonathanturley.org/2020/08/31/how-silence-is-violence-can-became-compelled-speech/comment-page-4/#comment-1996173

        2. That looks kinda like a response CTHD.

          You have a tic of sorts that leads you to accuse everyone who does not write like a secretary with OCD of lying. You do it often with the professor and frequently with other posters here. Sometimes broader strokes and paraphrase convey a meaning more efficiently or in greater depth. It is not lying.

          If the professor said “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” you would accuse him of lying and would post reams of information about the smell, or lack of, in different varieties.

          But nowhere would you grasp that he really wasn’t talking about roses at all.

          1. Bro, it was posted as a response to the 11:09 AM Anonymous comment.

            What’s your excuse for pretending that Committ said the Sullivan matter would be handled before the election?

            Do you expect Committ to stand by silently while you spew detritus? No wonder he stopped responding to you when you’re so dishonest.

    2. Young, a student of history. Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it. We seem to be a society that wants to change the details of history or eliminate it’s insruction. I remember a thought I had in junior high school. What’s the point in studying history? Thankfully I grew out of it. Great post.

  13. Over the last four years the opposition left made the ridiculous comparisons Trump and his administration to pre-WW2 Germany, the Third Reich and Hitler.

    I find a much closer comparison to be this growingly spiteful and dangerous opposition left to the French Revolution of the late 18th and 19th century, Eventually they eat their own. Beware Monsieur Maximilien Robespierre of the 21st Century, before they come for you too
    ….

      1. If I recall HS Civics: the Candidate is “President-Elect” after selection by the Electoral College Electors, not before. Despite what the MSM would like to present.

        1. Check the calendar: the EC doesn’t vote until December, and the question was about November of 2016.

          1. Hillary conceded. November 9th. From that point forward, Trump was President elect. Plain and simple.

      2. As I recall, the term of art was, “presumptive president-elect.” Perhaps because the election returns in enough states were presumptively in his favor.

  15. “Other campaigns have targeted individual lawyers and what used to be called “fellow travelers” during the McCarthy period. After the election, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called for liberals to assemble enemies lists of those “complicit” in the Trump administration. (Ironically, the first entry by a Bernie Sanders surrogate were the Republicans who founded the Lincoln Project). Former Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan proudly tweeted: “WH staff are starting to look for jobs. Employers considering them should know there are consequences for hiring anyone who helped Trump attack American values.”
    *******************************
    Tell me again why the Dims aren’t evil and just have a different point of view. If you wanna play for keeps, you ought to understand the response.

  16. Remember when Rep. Maxine Waters urged angry democrats to stalk & attack
    White House staffers & family members in public, at restaurants & shopping stores.

    1. The only Klan is that of the corrupt Democrat party that you hold so dearly. When the entire Party is destroyed and thrown in jail, will you still support that criminal organization?

  18. (song–some of you might remember)
    Well, I went out with a waitress… That I hardly knew.
    How was I to know…she was with the Russians too!
    Etc..
    Send lawyers, guns and money..Lard get me outta this!

  19. This is becoming a tactic of the left. In the George Floyd trials the lawyers have apparently been threatened in a variety of ways. Makes me wonder what pressure will be put on jurors. A change of venue has been denied.
    Kafka rules.

    1. NB, the prosecutor and the judge know bloody well George Floyd died of an overdose of fentanyl, manifest in the quantum found in his femoral blood. They also know that he was restrained on the pavement because he’d gone berserk when placed in the patrol car. They also know that his windpipe was uninjured, that Ofc. Chauvain was not pressing on his windpipe, and that the restraint technique Ofc. Chauvin was using is part of the training regimen of Minneapolis police officers. That the officers are being prosecuted at all is the scandal. The ambulance got lost and went to the wrong location. Had they gone to the right location first, Floyd would have been loaded into the ambulance and died in there. . Had the police been slower on the uptake, Floyd would have successfully fled the scene and keeled over dead at some other location.

      1. Art Deco thinks he can read minds.

        The case will be decided in court, not here in a comments section.

  20. POPULAR VOTE COUNT

    As a reality check we should note that Joe Biden’s Popular Vote lead is nearing 5.6 million. That’s roughly the population of Wisconsin, our 21st most populous state.

    Therefore if the Electoral College didn’t exist, no one, but ‘no one’, would think Trump has even the slightest chance of over-turning the election results. Yet Trump, and his supporters feel ENTITLED to a second Electoral College-only ‘victory’.

    1. This is an example of another one that hasn’t read and doesn’t understand the constitution. Why do people comment on this subject without the faintest knowledge of American history.

        1. Of course I do, but some use IF statements to hide their lack of knowledge and to be deceptive.

    2. “Biden’s Popular Vote lead” is a mirage created by massive in your face vote fraud.

      As to the EC. Read-em and weep.

      1. Rhodes wrote, “a mirage created by massive in your face vote fraud”

        Massive voter fraud?

        I’ve heard of some voter fraud, some possible fraud, some illegal actions taken by States and people counting votes, and even some voting machine errors but not massive voter fraud.

        Please support your claim.

        1. Whither:
          Well the Sect’y of State ignoring the plain meaning of the Penn election statute ought to be a good starting point. But you know that. Playing dumb isn’t a good look.

          2. For someone who thinks playing dumb isn’t a good look, mespo727272, you do an awful lot of it.

        2. Voting machines all over many states had software that changed Trump votes to Biden votes. It’s a fact! Also many states stopped the vote Talley except for certain counter who were democrats. Poll watchers that were republican weren’t allowed into where they could have watched.

        3. Venzuelan software used in Dominion Voting systems, captured by Obama during his scouring of Chavez, retained by Dominion (democrat owned/operated) with internal controls to change the vote count built in (Why Obama was scouring Chavez) – Audit the code, independent IT audit of the code will reveal all. Statistics alone prove that something isn’t right about the timeline of the vote count vs. votes cast/counted. The 4 a.m. ‘enigma’ is not uncommon, nor is the van pulling up to the back door at 3 a.m. Really, you think Americans didn’t see this in 2016 AND 2018? You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Let’s see old Joe back an independent audit of the code used in the machines. (rumor – servers were seized in Germany over the weekend, apparently having something to do with Dominion Software and vote counting there, if true, WHY are American votes being counted ‘out of country’?) Massive voter fraud claims will be supported in court, but even to this day people are saying Trump colluded with the Russians during 2016, when all of the evidence states plainly that it was HRC’s campaign that did the colluding to influence the election. When you only see what you want to see, then all the typing in the world won’t fix your rose colored glasses…reality might…but I doubt that will either.

    3. That 5 million is the difference in one state, California. That’s 10,759,316 to 5,749,736. Take away California, as the vote count sits today, you have a virtual tie.

      Your comment illustrates exactly why we need the Electoral College.. Thank you

        1. Anon. It’s not a matter of exclusion. It’s a matter of letting the interest of California be forced on those whos interests are not the same. We have a constitutional right to say that our interest are not the same as the interest of California. People both on the right and the left who have the financial ability are leaving California. It is an enigma to me that the people escaping California to escape the policies in place there are voting for the exact same policies when they reach their new destination. Question: if you keep on doing the same thing that got you into this mess why do you expect a different result.

      2. Biden was in the lead before half the California votes were tabulated. And no, removing a state that is one of the world’s biggest economies by itself is not an option.

    4. Any lawyer who calls for, or participates in, the harassment of another lawyer for doing his or her job should be disciplined by the lawyer’s state bar.

Comments are closed.