Senator Bernie Sanders scolded law firms that have made $100 million deals with President Donald Trump after a series of executive orders from the White House.
Multiple law firms, including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Paul Weiss, Milbank LLP, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, recently agreed to perform pro bono work for the Trump administration over the next four years and beyond.
Now, the aging Vermont senator is having his say.
“What do you make of the law firms cutting deals?” Robert Costa asked Sanders on CBS News Sunday.
“Absolute cowardice,” the 83-year-old Vermont Senator spat back.
Last month, the White House said it would enforce sanctions “against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States or in matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.”
It also warned that firms seeking to violate the terms of the order would face punitive executive actions, including a “reassessment of security clearances.”
Sanders said that the firms are “going to sell out their souls to Donald Trump in order to continue to be able to make money here in Washington.”
Sanders has admitted that while he won’t be running for a third term in the Senate, he will continue to campaign against the Trump agenda.
The Democrats as a party have failed to unite behind a consistent message and to nominate a liberal firebrand to spearhead the opposition, as the New York Times reported following over 50 interviews with Democratic leaders in February.
There have been crumbs of comfort. Last week, Democrat-backed Susan Crawford won the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by a narrow majority in the battleground state’s highest court—despite Elon Musk pouring millions of dollars into Brad Schimel’s opposition campaign.
Some have suggested that Trump’s radical tariffs—which have sent ripples across global stock markets—could present the Democrats with an opportunity to woo the working class back on their side.
Meanwhile, over a hundred firms have rallied behind Perkins Coie LLP, which sued the federal government last month for an executive order that sought to strip its attorneys of security clearances.
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