More than two dozen bar association groups signed onto a new memo released Monday that condemns Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on the rule of law, the independence of the legal profession and the right to counsel. Specifically, the signees — which includes major city bar associations like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, as well as groups like the Asian American Bar Association of New York, Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the Women Trial Lawyers Caucus — criticized Trump’s latest of multiple presidential memoranda going after the legal community.

As my colleague David Kurtz unpacks here, the Trump administration action on Friday directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to “take all appropriate action to refer for disciplinary action” any attorney who engages in conduct the Trump administration doesn’t like when challenging the administration in court. It all serves as an attempt to give Trump and his subservient DOJ, led by Bondi, a new excuse to attack the legal profession and to limit his enemies’ access to legal representation.

In just the last few weeks, Trump has targeted major law firms including Perkins Coie, Paul, Weiss and Covington & Burling, revoking the firms’ attorneys’ security clearances and blocking employees from federal buildings. Some have fought against the Trump administration’s assault, others, like Paul, Weiss capitulated, throwing itself at the feet of the Trump administration last week.

In the statement, sent to me by the New York City Bar Monday, the bar associations said Trump’s latest actions against law firms “violate fundamental principles of our legal system.” An excerpt:

Our justice system is premised on the principle that all individuals and entities – regardless of their political, social, or economic standing – are entitled to representation. This foundational principle is not a privilege granted at the discretion of those in power; it is a cornerstone of democracy, enshrined in our Constitution, and protected by our courts. Attempts to intimidate or penalize lawyers for representing clients whose interests do not align with those of the government are antithetical to our democracy, violate the rule of law, chill attorneys from fulfilling their ethical and professional obligations, and undermine our system of justice.

We call upon all branches of government to support the rule of law and the essential role of lawyers in our democracy, and to reject any efforts to use the tremendous power of the government against members of the legal profession for performing their duty. We further call upon our fellow members of the legal profession as well as members of the public at large to reject any attempt to harass or intimidate our country’s lawyers and judges for simply doing their jobs.

Headline Of The Day

“The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans“

The story of Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg being added to a Signal group chat about bombings in Yemen alongside the vice president, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other national security officials gets more bizarre by the hour. While Trump initially said he didn’t know anything about the story and used the opportunity to remind reporters he’s “not a big fan of The Atlantic,” the Trump administration is now acknowledging that an “inadvertent number” was added to a text chain and that officials were “reviewing” how that happened.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are up in arms about the national security implications of the “inadvertent” mistake. (Goldberg was reportedly added to the text thread by Trump’s national security adviser Michael Waltz).

More:

• ‘Amateur hour’: Washington aghast at Trump administration’s war plan group chat — Politico
• “Heads should roll”: Congress erupts over stunning Trump admin leak — Axios

Dem Has ‘Grave Concerns’ About Ed Martin

We reached out to some Democrats to ask about Ed Martin’s new, transparently bogus and partisan “election integrity” unit which will, Martin claims, be devoted to investigating instances of voter fraud and upholding voter integrity. In a comment to TPM, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees elections, responded calling it out for what it really is: another effort by the D.C. USA’s office to address an oft-invoked Trump grievance. 

Padilla said he has “grave concerns” about Martin’s unit, which he described as being “led by a partisan election denier who defends January 6th insurrectionists will be more focused on attacking political enemies than protecting all Americans’ right to vote in free and fair elections.”

“​​The Department of Justice and the Trump Administration have a responsibility to support election security and integrity, and the public deserves transparency about the real purpose and activities of this new unit in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office,” he added. 

— Khaya Himmelman

ICYMI

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Bondi Continues Using DOJ As Musk Retribution Weapon In Warning To Dem Who Protested Tesla

Judge Boasberg Lays Out How He Thinks Trump Admin Tried To Thwart Him

Smelling Blood In The Water, Trump Escalates Attacks On Law Firms

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