Sullivan & Cromwell has been doing very well for itself under the second Trump administration. The white-shoe firm has Donald Trump as a client, co-chair Bob Giuffra leads a team representing Trump personally in his criminal appeal of the Manhattan hush money conviction. That representation has been controversial internally and externally, given the blurred lines between Giuffra’s role as Trump’s personal attorney and his apparent role weighing in on how Trump wields his presidential power. But the benefits to the firm have been considerable.
Now comes the latest chapter: Trump has nominated S&C partner James McDonald to serve as the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. He’d be replacing another S&C alum, Jay Clayton, who spent over two decades at the firm before becoming SEC chair in Trump’s first term, and who has now been nominated to serve as Director of National Intelligence. (Though that’s a bit complicated at the moment.) S&C partners, past and present, running two of the most consequential positions in the country… quite the portfolio.
McDonald is not just a Sullivan & Cromwell partner. He’s been part of the legal team representing Trump in his bid to overturn his Manhattan conviction for falsifying business records, a team that includes Giuffra, fellow S&C partner Matthew Schwartz, and associate Maxwell Gottschall. In other words: Trump nominated his own lawyer to be Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor. The firm put out a statement from Giuffra and co-chair Scott Miller calling McDonald “an exceptional lawyer who is widely respected for his judgment, integrity and fairness,” noting his “distinguished career, including as CFTC director of enforcement and as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District.”
McDonald and Giuffra have also been busy beyond the hush money appeal. Earlier this year, the two led S&C’s representation of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who had been indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges by the DOJ under the Biden administration. After S&C got involved, and after Giuffra made a presentation to senior DOJ officials that included a slide touting how an Adani company is “powering India’s progress,” the DOJ moved to dismiss all criminal charges in May, according to CBS News. Separately, Adani had pledged a $10 billion investment in the U.S. economy. The DOJ said the investment pledge played no role in the dismissal. Cue the side-eye.
McDonald isn’t the first S&C lawyer from Trump’s personal legal team to get a government reward this cycle. In April, Trump nominated the aforementioned Schwartz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Schwartz was questioned during his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month about his Trump representation, and said he’d recuse himself from relevant cases if confirmed.
The pattern here is not subtle; Trump’s personal lawyers are getting big-ticket government jobs consistently in his second administration. And S&C is far from the only law firm benefiting from this arrangement, it’s more like the premium tier of a well-established loyalty rewards program. Emil Bove, who served as Trump’s personal defense attorney before joining DOJ, landed a lifetime seat on the Third Circuit, over the objections of nearly 900 former DOJ lawyers who signed a letter saying his elevation was “intolerable.” Justin Smith, who represented Trump in the E. Jean Carroll civil case, was confirmed to the Eighth Circuit last week. Todd Blanche, who sat at the defense table during the hush money trial, is now the Acting Attorney General and has been formally nominated for the permanent gig. Alina Habba, the parking garage lawyer who cost Trump $88 million in the Carroll defamation cases, was installed as interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey — a tenure that ended in a cascade of legal chaos when courts ruled she never legally held the job. And Pam Bondi, who represented Trump in various capacities, was the Attorney General before Blanche, and rebranded the DOJ are Trump’s personal law firm, existing to serve the president’s interests, not the public’s.
It’s truly a remarkable concentration of benefit flowing to the people who’ve made themselves most useful to one man personally.
Earlier: Spotlight Is On Sullivan & Cromwell’s Questionable Ethics | Sullivan & Cromwell Co-Chair Pays A Visit To Second Circuit To Affirm His Loyalty To Trump | Sullivan & Cromwell’s Representation Of Trump Is A ‘Disgrace’ And The Firm Should Be ‘Embarrassed’ Says George Conway | The Curious Case Of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Relationship With Donald Trump
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
The post Sullivan & Cromwell’s Cozy Relationship With The Trump Administration Got Even Cozier appeared first on Above the Law.
Sullivan & Cromwell has been doing very well for itself under the second Trump administration. The white-shoe firm has Donald Trump as a client, co-chair Bob Giuffra leads a team representing Trump personally in his criminal appeal of the Manhattan hush money conviction. That representation has been controversial internally and externally, given the blurred lines between Giuffra’s role as Trump’s personal attorney and his apparent role weighing in on how Trump wields his presidential power. But the benefits to the firm have been considerable.
Now comes the latest chapter: Trump has nominated S&C partner James McDonald to serve as the next U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. He’d be replacing another S&C alum, Jay Clayton, who spent over two decades at the firm before becoming SEC chair in Trump’s first term, and who has now been nominated to serve as Director of National Intelligence. (Though that’s a bit complicated at the moment.) S&C partners, past and present, running two of the most consequential positions in the country… quite the portfolio.
McDonald is not just a Sullivan & Cromwell partner. He’s been part of the legal team representing Trump in his bid to overturn his Manhattan conviction for falsifying business records, a team that includes Giuffra, fellow S&C partner Matthew Schwartz, and associate Maxwell Gottschall. In other words: Trump nominated his own lawyer to be Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor. The firm put out a statement from Giuffra and co-chair Scott Miller calling McDonald “an exceptional lawyer who is widely respected for his judgment, integrity and fairness,” noting his “distinguished career, including as CFTC director of enforcement and as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District.”
McDonald and Giuffra have also been busy beyond the hush money appeal. Earlier this year, the two led S&C’s representation of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who had been indicted on conspiracy and fraud charges by the DOJ under the Biden administration. After S&C got involved, and after Giuffra made a presentation to senior DOJ officials that included a slide touting how an Adani company is “powering India’s progress,” the DOJ moved to dismiss all criminal charges in May, according to CBS News. Separately, Adani had pledged a $10 billion investment in the U.S. economy. The DOJ said the investment pledge played no role in the dismissal. Cue the side-eye.
McDonald isn’t the first S&C lawyer from Trump’s personal legal team to get a government reward this cycle. In April, Trump nominated the aforementioned Schwartz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Schwartz was questioned during his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month about his Trump representation, and said he’d recuse himself from relevant cases if confirmed.
The pattern here is not subtle; Trump’s personal lawyers are getting big-ticket government jobs consistently in his second administration. And S&C is far from the only law firm benefiting from this arrangement, it’s more like the premium tier of a well-established loyalty rewards program. Emil Bove, who served as Trump’s personal defense attorney before joining DOJ, landed a lifetime seat on the Third Circuit, over the objections of nearly 900 former DOJ lawyers who signed a letter saying his elevation was “intolerable.” Justin Smith, who represented Trump in the E. Jean Carroll civil case, was confirmed to the Eighth Circuit last week. Todd Blanche, who sat at the defense table during the hush money trial, is now the Acting Attorney General and has been formally nominated for the permanent gig. Alina Habba, the parking garage lawyer who cost Trump $88 million in the Carroll defamation cases, was installed as interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey — a tenure that ended in a cascade of legal chaos when courts ruled she never legally held the job. And Pam Bondi, who represented Trump in various capacities, was the Attorney General before Blanche, and rebranded the DOJ are Trump’s personal law firm, existing to serve the president’s interests, not the public’s.
It’s truly a remarkable concentration of benefit flowing to the people who’ve made themselves most useful to one man personally.
Earlier: Spotlight Is On Sullivan & Cromwell’s Questionable Ethics | Sullivan & Cromwell Co-Chair Pays A Visit To Second Circuit To Affirm His Loyalty To Trump | Sullivan & Cromwell’s Representation Of Trump Is A ‘Disgrace’ And The Firm Should Be ‘Embarrassed’ Says George Conway | The Curious Case Of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Relationship With Donald Trump
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
