🚨 Trump finally messes with the WRONG opponent as legal move BACKFIRES

this is Democracy Watch mark we have watched as Donald Trump has taken action against all of these law firms whose uh political ideology doesn't comport with his and we've kind of waited to see the point at which he would target you specifically i feel like he's been dancing around you for a long time that moment has finally come uh within the last 24 hours where he did target you specifically can you explain what he did yeah so look we have been waiting as you say uh for Donald Trump to uh continue his uh political retribution

uh activities we talked on a prior video about how they how he uh singled me out in a Department of Justice speech called me a bad person said that I was in favor of communism what we have this week uh is uh a memorandum from from the White House to the Department of Justice the Attorney General the Department of Homeland Security that basically begins by saying again "What a terrible human being I am." and then uh tells the Department of Justice uh to to instruct its lawyers to look out look out for and to find

frivolous legal filings by uh law firms such as my own but but others as well um and to be aggressive in pursuing sanctions in those instances uh also to presumably file bar complaints and the kicker is Brian that even if a even if a judge doesn't find something frivolous even if even if a bar doesn't find something frivolous if there's something that Pam Bondi thinks is really frivolous they should call to the attention of the White House because the White House might be able to impose its own sanctions uh on on law firms what What

does that even mean in in practice what can the White House do to impose sanctions on a private law firm that doesn't that doesn't even have business in front of the federal government well but this is the thing right like what we have been watching for for weeks now is Donald Trump trying to impose unilateral sanctions from the White House on law firms law firms like um the prior firm I was at law firms like Coington and Berling law firms like Paul Weiss which you know has now disgraced itself by settling um uh with the

Trump administration and those involved the removal of security clearances and the banning of government contracts also entering government buildings and the like um things that are totally unconstitutional that courts have now blocked in the case of uh the one law firm that went to court over it donald Trump is doing this because he wants to project power and and instill fear on the recipient so so you're quite right like you know where does he where does he get off doing this and and and really what's the practical impact particularly if these actions are later found

to be uh illegal by federal judges but from Donald Trump's standpoint he has still made a point right he is still he is still able to intimidate a lot of lawyers and a lot of law firms to not cross him so what he's hoping in this in this latest memorandum that targets me and the bar as a whole is that we will all back down we'll all think twice about filing a lawsuit they'll think twice about taking on a client i mean I can tell them for my part it's not going to work i already

issued a statement saying we will never negotiate with the White House we will never seek to find common agreement with them i mean I don't you know I wouldn't expect a firefighter to try to negotiate with a with an arsonist and and for my part I will never and my law firm will never seek accommodation with Donald Trump and his White House um but but but there are law firms that will and we've shame we've seen th that happen and it is a shame that it's happening uh but that's why he's going after me because

he is hoping he is hoping to to to try to score some points and maybe even if I don't back down others do mark I'm going to put your statement right here on the screen this is uh pulled from from your website president Trump is attempting to dismantle the Constitution and attack the rule of law in his obsessive pursuit of retribution against his political opponents today's White House memo targets not only me and my law firm but every attorney and law firm who dares to challenge his assault on the rule of law president Trump's goal

is clear he wants lawyers and law firms to capitulate and cower until there's no one left to oppose his administration in court elias Law Group will not be deterred from fighting for democracy in court there will be no negotiation with this White House about the clients we represent or the lawsuits we bring on their behalf our democracy is in peril and the decisions made by lawyers and their firms may very well determine the future of the rule of law in the United States so Mark what was the process that that you and your law firm

uh thought through in terms of in terms of putting this response forward because this very much is not what we're seeing from the the suite of other law firms that are engaged in similar attacks uh against this White House yeah so for us it was really simple for me it was really simple i had laid down a marker you know months ago you and I talked about this first in the context of legacy media and the refusal of legacy media to stand up to Donald Trump to to stand up for independent media and we talked

about the need for people to support independent media like your like what you do like what democracy docket does we then talked about how billionaires were flying their private jets to Mara Largo and and were bending in and how we really needed the business community to stand up and they didn't and then we saw big law firms do the same so when this came out and I learned about it there was no hesitation i knew what we were going to do you and I had talked about what we all needed to do which was to

make it very very clear from the first moment the first instance in which Donald Trump thought there would be intimidation that there that there was no possibility that there would be a bowing down there was no possibility that there would be a negotiation i wanted it to be crystal clear before anyone read any anything or or had a moment thought that we were never ever going to yield to what Donald Trump's doing but unfortunately what we're seeing big law do which is what frankly we saw big media do big corporate America do is is their

weighing they're like well you know what are others doing what what what is the what are the upsides what are the downsides and that is what is destroying democracy you know if if if if our business leaders won't stand up if our major media institutions won't stand up if our major law firms won't stand up then how the hell can you expect average Americans everyday Americans to to to do to to do their part so for me it was never a choice you know uh I want I want to take this opportunity then for those

who are watching right now if you want to support the invaluable work that Mark is doing uh especially as it relates to not cowing to this administration and to pursuing fearless journalism in a way that we're not seeing from legacy media uh please sign up for democracy docket that is a small step that we can all take to show some support for the you know the the the courage that Mark and his team are showing in the face of such adversity so I'll put the link right here on the screen and also in the post

description of this video mark can I ask about the feedback that you're receiving because this stands in stark contrast to some of the capitulation that we're seeing from these other big law firms and we're going to talk about that in an entirely separate video because I think that it's worthy of a video unto itself to really dig into the details of that but but again we are seeing a lot of capitulation as it relates to big law and yet you opted not to and you did it immediately and so what has that feedback been like

right so look this is why I wanted to be on with you as soon as we could after this and thank you for the opportunity the feedback's been positive the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive i have gotten outreach from from clients i've gotten outreach from progressive organizations i've gotten outreach from individual lawyers people I've never met who are who are saying "Thank you for doing this thank you for not backing down thank you for not you know bending a knee thank you for not just not backing down but for speaking out right because like I

didn't want there to be a period of time in which I was quiet and people thought well maybe he's not going to back down but he's not going to speak out and I thought it was really important to speak out and there's no place I wanted to do it more than to your audience who have been so supportive of the rule of law and so supportive of of of democracy and this entire series that you and I have done have been about engaging your community in the fight for democracy in court and this is a

part of it so I've been I've been overwhelmed by the positive feedback I've gotten But I also know that it's going to be a tough road ahead right we are only three months into this administration and this is already what he is doing just imagine how much worse this is going to be you know in six months or in three years when we are still dealing with this but but you know we're going to take it by day by day and we're not going to give up the fight can you can you speak about the

the broader theme of fight versus capitulation because I feel like that's so much of what the political moment on the left has been boiled down to right now and usually look we're a big tent party we've got everybody from from AOC and Bernie Sanders to Joe Mansion and Jared Golden all in the same political uh uh party here so it's not an easy it's it's like hurting cats on the left but I do feel like this moment is not necessarily about the moderate versus progressive like it usually is that usually feels like it's tearing the

party in half right now this feels like like more of a moment of fighting versus capitulating or or fighting versus flight really and so and so can you talk about your decision to immediately and unequivocally come back in the broader context of really the the the what we're seeing right now seems to be the most important thing for the Democratic base which is that we need some folks in there that are willing to show some spine and willing to stand up to an administration that has shown no qualms about using every lever at their disposal

legal or not to go after their perceived enemies yeah i mean look I I can speak for myself and I can speak for the legal community that I that I operate in and for me there's no choice i understand that not every law firm is going to be in the position that I am in and I understand that different politicians are going to be in different places you know they are all they all play different roles i think though that it is important that we understand that Donald Trump is not playing by the rules that

that that that we expect of them you know I I remember back and you and I talked about this actually at the time merrick Garland was a very decent man is a very decent man joe Biden no doubt appointed him for all the right reasons but time and time again when Merrick Garland had the power the opportunity to use the Department of Justice power to protect democracy or to follow norms he decided that following norms was more important down to his last speech I mean you and I talked about literally his last speech was a

celebration of norms it was a celebration of how he thought the Department of Justice under Joe Biden had been a success because it had reinforced norms well here we are you know it's now March you're talking to a lawyer who has been the subject of a speech at the Department of Justice by the president of the United States calling me out and calling me a bad person and uh and a uh a communist uh now these executive orders executive this exe this memorandum targeting me in my law firm uh executive orders targeting other law firms

so to me you know when I look at this it is not that we can break the law because you know we have to be we have to be a party of the rule of law we have to follow the law but it is that it is if we talk about what the norms are it is very abnormal for a lawyer like me to be on a show like yours calling out a law firm like Paul Weiss and saying that they that it is despicable what they did it is very unusual for someone like you

or for that matter like me to call out legacy media outlets by name the Washington Post right like nobody likes to do that but we have to be willing to do that and so that is the choice I've made and I think that as lawyers who have a unique opportunity and a unique responsibility it is something we need to do and it is something not enough of the the legal establishment is doing well let's finish off with this you were the target of Trump's today and also a few days ago when he was speaking to

the DOJ but this most recent memorandum the question why he was at the Department of Justice say again and and of course why is he at the Department of Justice which is a all total other issue unto itself barack Obama went to the Department of Justice once for Eric Holders's going away and the Republicans lost their mind right i mean there the you know Republicans will still talk about Bill Clinton meeting Loretta Lynch on the Tarac and and and yet now Pam Bondi is like having dinner on a on a by by nightly basis with

Donald Trump and his and his campaign staff but but all of that notwithstanding you were the most recent target of Trump's eye and we know that after you another law firm another entity another company another business CEO whatever it may be is going to be the subject next and so what's your message to those who come who come after you who are going to be faced with the difficult position of okay do I capitulate because it might be more beneficial for the bottom line or it might just make things easier for me altogether even though

doing so chips away at our ability to organize together against him you know like can you can you speak on that one what you would say to the next folks who are who get in the crosshairs of Trump yeah I'd say two things the first is that even if you wanted to capitulate for business reasons it won't work because Donald Trump doesn't make a deal that he keeps you know one of the things about Donald Trump is once you show weakness to him he owns you he doesn't he doesn't make a deal with you on

equal terms that afterwards you shake hands and then you're on equal on equal foot i mean take the public integrity unit at at uh when when when he said "Okay let's find me a lawyer that's willing to sign off on this dismissal of Eric Adams case." They finally found a lawyer who was willing to do that and then and and that person did so under the pretense that okay I'm going to I'm going to jump on the grenade and we'll protect the public integrity unit at the DOJ five minutes later the entire public public integrity

unit is disbanded anyway right so the first thing I'd say is it doesn't work but the second thing is I'd ask you do you have no dignity i mean do you have no self-respect when when you are retired and your grandchildren are are looking at you don't you think they will look at you and ask what you did and are you going to tell them what you did is you cave to Donald Trump when Donald Trump was trying to destroy democracy when Donald Trump was intimidating you that what you did is you you gave you

gave in to what was wrong because of money is that really what you want to be remembered for look here's the thing donald Trump is a very powerful man and you know I make fun of him you make fun of him because he's kind of a buffoonish character but he's the president of the United States and anyone who thinks that I don't take seriously the threat that he is doesn't understand what I'm saying i I worry every single day it is not that I am without worry it is not that I like just like shrug

shrug all this off i understand that Donald Trump wants to ruin me and he has a lot of tools to be able to ruin me but the question is am I going to look myself in the mirror and say "Okay therefore compromise everything I believe in compromise everything I've fought my career for and just hide or cower or even worse make a deal with him?" Or am I at least going to look in the mirror every day and stand tall and say "You know what i have my integrity i have I have my self-respect." and

and if Donald Trump's able to destroy me then he destroys me but at least he will he will have taken out someone who to the bitter end was doing the best he could to fight for democracy in this country and so that's my message to these to these CEOs or these media leaders or to these law firm um chairman is have some selfrespect perfectly put uh and if that isn't isn't you know a perfect example a perfect a perfect reason for folks to support the the work that you do the invaluable work that you do

and and the the the courageous way with which you do it i don't know what is so again I'll put the link to Democracy Docket right here on this team a small step that we can all take to support that work uh I'm Brian Taylor Cohen i'm Mark Elias this is Democracy Watch [Music]