Trump administration discloses subpoenas to law firms in fight with US lawyer group

By David Thomas and Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department is seeking detailed records and depositions from 14 major law firms that were targeted by White House executive orders last year or that made deals with President Donald Trump to avoid his directives, according to copies of subpoenas filed on Friday in Washington federal court.

The subpoenas issued by the DOJ demanded records of the firms’ communications related to the executive orders, including records of communications with Boris Epshteyn, a longtime adviser to Trump, since the start of the president’s second term.

The DOJ is also seeking any communications the firms may have had with the American Bar Association about Epshteyn. It was not immediately clear whether the firms would challenge the subpoenas in court.

The Justice Department disclosed the subpoenas in a lawsuit brought last year by the ABA, which alleges its members face harm from an unlawful policy by the Trump administration to punish law firms over their past legal work, diversity policies and political ties. 

The Justice Department in its filing urged U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to reject an ABA demand seeking similar information about Trump’s law firm executive orders. It said the ABA is required to “seek this information from its own members, or the law firms at issue, rather than going directly to the White House.” 

In its filing, the DOJ said its subpoenas to the law firms are meant to “obtain the documents that Plaintiff has requested.”

Spokespersons for the ABA, the largest U.S. attorney membership organization, and the DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Trump White House had no immediate comment.

Spokespersons for the law firms also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The ABA’s lawsuit is casting fresh scrutiny on the Trump administration’s campaign against prominent law firms and could put the firms that settled in an awkward position as the two sides fight over possible evidence in the litigation.

Four law firms sued the administration last year and won court orders permanently barring the executive orders targeting them. The administration’s appeal is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which heard arguments in May.

(Reporting by David Thomas and Mike Scarcella)