{"id":113249,"date":"2025-04-03T07:36:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/03\/even-george-w-bushs-attorney-general-thinks-trumps-attack-on-biglaw-is-some-petty-bullsht\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T07:36:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:36:25","slug":"even-george-w-bushs-attorney-general-thinks-trumps-attack-on-biglaw-is-some-petty-bullsht","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/04\/03\/even-george-w-bushs-attorney-general-thinks-trumps-attack-on-biglaw-is-some-petty-bullsht\/","title":{"rendered":"Even George W. Bush\u2019s Attorney General Thinks Trump\u2019s Attack On Biglaw Is Some \u2018Petty\u2019 Bullsh*t"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>

Former United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared on the\u00a0NPR podcast The Middle with Jeremy Hobson, and he had some choice words for Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on Biglaw. And before some internet troll with a myopic view of America history sees his last name and starts screaming WOKE! like a red-pilled talisman to insulate them from the reality of what Gonzales has to say, let\u2019s not forget that we\u2019re talking about George W. Bush\u2019s AG. The same guy who signed off on \u201cenhanced interrogation techniques,\u201d so it\u2019s hard to write him off as a lefty shill. <\/p>The podcast focused<\/a> on Trump\u2019s targeting of Biglaw firms, and Gonzales takes a dim view of the president\u2019s strategy. \n\n\n\n

\n

I\u2019m inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I would have to admit it certainly appears to be retribution. I think it\u2019s first one, it\u2019s petty. Secondly, I think it\u2019s dangerous given the enormous power of the president United States.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

And he has a pretty good idea *why* this is happening:<\/p>\n

\n

[Trump\u2019s] trying to [ ] limit the number of great lawyers or good lawyers that can take positions represent clients in opposition to what he wants to accomplish or wants to do. And in a republic like ours, I think that\u2019s very, very dangerous. The President United States obviously wields a great deal of power in our country under our constitution, and he obviously has the discretion to exercise that power as he sees fit. But one of the great things about the rule of law, the rule of law also exists in addition to protecting your rights and your property, it exists to check abuses of power. And we want to make sure that the most powerful office in the world that the decisions made there are always going to be based on what is best for this country, not what is based on political or personal gains of the individual who sits in that office. And so that is extremely important as far as I\u2019m concerned, is providing a check on abuse of power.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And the firms themselves aren\u2019t spared in Gonzales\u2019s assessment, he says, \u201c<\/span>if lawyers aren\u2019t stepping up and speaking out against these kinds of attacks, that\u2019s that\u2019s disappointing and dangerous. I must confess some level of disappointment in the silence that I\u2019m hearing amongst a lot of firms.\u201d Not to mention the outright capitulation<\/a> that too many firms are engaging in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Gonzales\u2019s outlook is ultimately hopeful:<\/p>\n

\n

I mean, it\u2019s certainly since a message chilling message somewhat might say, but I don\u2019t think I don\u2019t think we\u2019re really going to have the outcome of this, of this battle, and I do consider it sort of a battle or a struggle, So you know, I think it\u2019s I think as more and more firms step up, I think you\u2019re going to see the tide turn. And I think at least I\u2019m at least hopeful that you\u2019ll see the efforts by the administration to cause fear in the halls of law firms around the country. I\u2019m hopeful that those efforts will diminish.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Of course, at this point, more firms have acquiesced<\/a> to Trump than stepped up to fight<\/a> the likely unconstitutional<\/a> attacks on the industry. And what that means for the rule of law in this country is deeply disturbing.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Even George W. Bush\u2019s Attorney General Thinks Trump\u2019s Attack On Biglaw Is Some \u2018Petty\u2019 Bullsh*t<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>

\"\"
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Former United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared on the\u00a0NPR podcast The Middle with Jeremy Hobson, and he had some choice words for Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on Biglaw. And before some internet troll with a myopic view of America history sees his last name and starts screaming WOKE! like a red-pilled talisman to insulate them from the reality of what Gonzales has to say, let\u2019s not forget that we\u2019re talking about George W. Bush\u2019s AG. The same guy who signed off on \u201cenhanced interrogation techniques,\u201d so it\u2019s hard to write him off as a lefty shill. <\/p>The podcast focused<\/a>on Trump\u2019s targeting of Biglaw firms, and Gonzales takes a dim view of the president\u2019s strategy.

\n

I\u2019m inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I would have to admit it certainly appears to be retribution. I think it\u2019s first one, it\u2019s petty. Secondly, I think it\u2019s dangerous given the enormous power of the president United States.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

And he has a pretty good idea *why* this is happening:<\/p>

\n

[Trump\u2019s] trying to [ ] limit the number of great lawyers or good lawyers that can take positions represent clients in opposition to what he wants to accomplish or wants to do. And in a republic like ours, I think that\u2019s very, very dangerous. The President United States obviously wields a great deal of power in our country under our constitution, and he obviously has the discretion to exercise that power as he sees fit. But one of the great things about the rule of law, the rule of law also exists in addition to protecting your rights and your property, it exists to check abuses of power. And we want to make sure that the most powerful office in the world that the decisions made there are always going to be based on what is best for this country, not what is based on political or personal gains of the individual who sits in that office. And so that is extremely important as far as I\u2019m concerned, is providing a check on abuse of power.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

And the firms themselves aren\u2019t spared in Gonzales\u2019s assessment, he says, \u201cif lawyers aren\u2019t stepping up and speaking out against these kinds of attacks, that\u2019s that\u2019s disappointing and dangerous. I must confess some level of disappointment in the silence that I\u2019m hearing amongst a lot of firms.\u201d Not to mention the outright capitulation<\/a> that too many firms are engaging in.<\/p>

Though Gonzales\u2019s outlook is ultimately hopeful:<\/p>

\n

I mean, it\u2019s certainly since a message chilling message somewhat might say, but I don\u2019t think I don\u2019t think we\u2019re really going to have the outcome of this, of this battle, and I do consider it sort of a battle or a struggle, So you know, I think it\u2019s I think as more and more firms step up, I think you\u2019re going to see the tide turn. And I think at least I\u2019m at least hopeful that you\u2019ll see the efforts by the administration to cause fear in the halls of law firms around the country. I\u2019m hopeful that those efforts will diminish.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

Of course, at this point, more firms have acquiesced<\/a> to Trump than stepped up to fight<\/a> the likely unconstitutional<\/a> attacks on the industry. And what that means for the rule of law in this country is deeply disturbing.<\/p>

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images) Former United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared on the\u00a0NPR podcast The Middle with Jeremy Hobson, and he had some choice words for Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on Biglaw. And before some internet troll with a myopic view of America history sees his last name and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":113187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-NaY1Vb.jpeg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}