What Would You Name Your Dog If You Were an Ancient Greek?
Hint: You might name it Egertes
A Cool $40 Million Heist
Okay so I have an idea: I think I’ve figured out to get $40 million in pro bono legal services slated for MAGA and put them to work—get this—against MAGA.
In its deal with President Trump to get him to rescind his executive order attacking the firm, the law firm Paul Weiss agreed to do $40 million in pro bono work over the course of the next four years on causes favored by the administration. These include, according to Trump’s Truth Social post: “assisting our Nation’s veterans, fairness in the Justice System, the President’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, and other mutually agreed projects.”
Combating antisemitism. Hmmm.
In a subsequent letter to staff, firm Chairman Brad Karp made clear that Paul Weiss wouldn’t be taking on clients at the administration’s direction:
To be clear, and to clarify misinformation perpetuated from various media sources, the Administration is not dictating what matters we take on, approving our matters, or anything like that. We obviously would not, and could not ethically, have agreed to that. Instead, we have agreed to commit substantial pro bono resources, in addition to the $130+ million we already commit annually, in areas of shared interest. We will continue all of the existing pro bono work we already do and will continue in our longstanding role as a leader of the private bar in the pro bono and public interest sphere.
Hmmm.
Now there are a lot of antisemites in the MAGA movement. The President has been known to dine with some of them. So as I read this arrangement, Paul Weiss could take on $10 millions a year in pro bono representations against the president’s allies and fully comply with the deal he cut.
So got an actionable matter against a MAGA institution? If so, call Paul Weiss. By taking their free legal services on such a matter, you’ll be helping the firm meet its commitment to President Trump.
Today on #DogShirtTV, there was a dog on my shirt. Not an image of a dog, but a real, entire, tiny puppy on top of my shirt. It licked the microphone.
Also, the estimable Holly Berkley Fletcher and the estimable Eve Gaumond joined me to discuss the upcoming Canadian elections and other important topics unrelated to the tiny puppy.
But let’s be real. You’re all watching for the puppy:
She’ll be back tomorrow.
The Situation
In today’s “The Situation” column, I identify the five pillars of Trumpian repression:
I call these instruments pillars of repression, because they are all being used at scale and in public. The administration does not seek to deny their use. And for the most part, it doesn’t even seek to deny that the purpose is retributive vis a vis the political activity of its foes. There are certain exceptions here—as where the administration conducts its positioning of the Justice Department for weaponization as a response to weaponization by the previous administration and its insistence that the Jan. 6 pardons remedied a grave injustice. But in the main, it is not hiding what it’s doing. It is (1) defunding its perceived enemies, while (2) positioning the criminal justice apparatus to go after them, (3) letting its friends escape justice, (4) menacing its enemies with punitive administrative action and (5) always reminding them that it can do more.
Say what you will about Trump. He’s not hiding the ball.
Today On Lawfare
Compiled by the estimable Caroline Cornett
The Upcoming Court of Appeals Argument in the Alien Enemies Act Case
Roger Parloff previews a hearing, held today, in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia considers whether to grant stays of Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s temporary restraining order and class certification in J.G.G. v. Trump. Parloff discusses the developments in the case thus far and three jurisdictional issues likely to arise during arguments:
So the government is pushing hard that, assuming the Trump Administration’s actions can be reviewed at all, they must be reviewed in the Southern District of Texas. That’s in the Fifth Circuit, whose court of appeals is widely seen as the most conservative in the country—even more so than the Supreme Court.
Still, the plaintiffs have a plausible argument that this case is not a habeas corpus case at its core. They’re not seeking release, which is usually the focus of habeas. They’re not even challenging the conditions of their confinement. They’re simply trying to avoid summary removal from the country without standard immigration-law due-process protections.
Trump’s Use of Emergency Powers to Impose Tariffs Is an Abuse of Power
Jennifer Hillman explains that President Donald Trump does not have authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) because Congress did not delegate authority over tariffs to the president, as required by the major questions doctrine:
IEEPA has never been used to impose tariffs. Congress enacted IEEPA nearly 50 years ago to give the president the power to act promptly to protect the nation’s security. Although this delegation grants the president broad discretion, it was not meant to provide him with a blank check on trade policy. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power to regulate foreign commerce and impose tariffs. The president’s powers can thus come only from authority that Congress expressly delegated. This begs the question: Did Congress clearly intend to hand over its tariff authority to the president or to permit him to exercise it in such a sweeping and procedurally skimpy manner? The answer is no, especially without establishing a clear relationship to a particular national emergency.
Podcasts
On Lawfare Daily, I speak to Anna Bower, Quinta Jurecic, and Parloff about the status of the civil litigation against Trump’s executive actions, including the Department of Government Efficiency’s incursions on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, and the firing of probationary employees:
On Escalation, Tyler McBrien and Anastasiia Lapatina cover the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine—sparked by then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back out of the European Union-Ukraine Association Agreement—and the West’s response to Russia’s 2014 invasion of parts of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea:
Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is a monitor lizard climbing the curtains:
In honor of today’s Beast, explore your space.
In Honor of the As-Yet-Nameless Puppy
I (EJ Wittes) compiled some sources on dog names in the Classical world. Because that’s the sort of thing I do.
The Francois Vase (c. 560 BC) depicts Atalanta and other heroes with their hounds hunting the Calydonian Boar:
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