President Donald Trump’s influence in one of America’s top law firms is causing some of its employees to believe they are selling their souls for access to power.
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“Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the most prestigious law firms in the world, has developed a mutually beneficial relationship with President Donald Trump — rankling some of the firm’s top talent in the process,” reported Politico’s Erica Orden on Sunday. “The elite firm represents Trump in a variety of his personal legal matters, including an appeal of his criminal conviction on 34 counts of business fraud in the Manhattan hush money case, his effort to move that case to federal court and his appeal of a New York state civil fraud verdict.”
Orden went on to list the Sullivan & Cromwell alumni who have received jobs or potential jobs due to the firm’s coziness with Trump. This includes Jay Clayton, Trump’s appointee for director of national intelligence; Matthew Schwartz, who Trump nominated to be a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals; and James McDonald, who Trump chose to replace Clayton as Manhattan U.S. attorney.
Yet while some lawyers from the firm are benefiting from its ties to Trump, others have left the firm altogether for that same reason. Politico profiled two lawyers who left because of their friendships with former FBI director James Comey, whom Trump has targeted in political prosecutions twice, and another left because they were uncomfortable with Trump’s repeated appeals of the verdict in the case of E. Jean Carroll, whom a jury found him liable for sexually abusing in 1996.
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“‘There’s a general sense that the firm has sort of bought into Trumpworld,” said a person familiar with the firm’s work, who was granted anonymity to speak freely,” according to Politico. “‘There’s very much a sense — of the people who don’t like it — that these decisions are being made that are short-term decisions. They’re not the right thing to do from an ethical standpoint, and I think the more thoughtful people start to worry: Eventually, does this all catch up with you?’”
Despite these controversies, Sullivan & Cromwell has plowed ahead with its work for Trump, incurring additional controversies along the way. McDonald reportedly was involved in convincing Trump’s Justice Department to drop a criminal investigation in Southern Coal, a mining company run by Sen. Jim Justice’s (R-WV) son. He also represents two other companies that are involved in controversies with the Justice Department, including Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Polymarket. Finally, along with their attorney Robert Giuffra Jr., McDonald is representing Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who was accused of bribery and seeks help from Trumpworld.
The Trump administration has a number of controversies in terms of its relationships with the legal community. Despite widespread opposition from lawyers, Trump is attempting to ram through the appointment of Todd Blanche as attorney general; Blanche is widely disliked among lawyers for helping Trump set up his $1.8 billion slush fund for political allies and guaranteeing protection for himself and his family from future audits. Trump is also under heavy criticism for pressing frivolous lawsuits such as one in Iowa against a pollster, J. Ann Selzer, and the newspaper The Des Moines Register for publishing an incorrect 2024 pre-election poll predicting that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris would win the state.
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