Jones Day Not Representing Trump 2024 Campaign, Having Made America Great Enough On January 6
Change of heart... or just changing horses.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The third time is not the charm for Jones Day. After advising Donald Trump in both of his prior White House bids, packing the administration with its lawyers, touting its ties to the administration to drum up business, watching its temporarily seconded attorneys mount a campaign to pack the federal judiciary — including with the firm’s own associates — running up bills in efforts to disenfranchise voters, and then taking advantage of the revolving door of returning administration officials, Jones Day has decided not to advise Trump’s 2024 campaign according to an exclusive report from Bloomberg.
Maybe Alina Habba departed the E. Jean Carroll case to bone up on election law.
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Neither the firm nor Trump’s camp commented on the matter, but Bloomberg’s sources report that the firm is moving a different direction:
The law firm is not working on Trump’s 2024 campaign and does not plan to provide legal services related to the run, according to a source familiar with the situation. Jones Day lawyers are winding down “legacy matters” for committees affiliated with Trump’s previous campaigns, the person said.
The article flags the leadership transition with Greg Shumaker recently taking the reins from Stephen Brogan, whose lengthy run atop the firm saw its aggressive — if unnoticed by the general public — branding as the marquee brand of the conservative legal movement. While the transition could signal a business decision to withdraw from right-wing causes in light of mounting negative publicity (affiliate link), it’s probably wise to take that theory with a full-sized salt lick.
There are two Jones Days out there: “MAGA Jones Day” and “Lawyers Who Enable MAGA Jones Day.” Plenty of law firms indulge unpopular legal work up until it begins to impact the bottom line, but Jones Day has spent so much time and effort orienting its business model around attorneys and clients who don’t just accept the Trump worldview but actively endorse it that it’s hard to imagine the firm stepping back.
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More likely, the firm has decided it will pick another champion. Donald Trump did his part for the firm, but in the end he couldn’t even pull off a decent coup! Sorry, but Jones Day has no room for losers. Maybe Ron DeSantis — whose chief of staff is a Jones Day alum — can take things to the next level.
Jones Day’s dutiful work for Trump over two elections got results. When rioters stormed the Capitol, all the work Jones Day put in reached its zenith. They had spent years enabling the mob and could then collect their winnings and politely walk away. Those weren’t our people, the firm could say. And they weren’t… just the people the firm had worked hard to grant outsized influence over American politics. Trump’s done his part. Someone else can take that energy into 2024.
Greatness achieved!
Jones Day Won’t Advise Trump in 2024 White House Campaign [Bloomberg]
Earlier: Jones Day Is Divided Between ‘MAGA Jones Day’ And ‘Lawyers Who Enable MAGA Jones Day’
New Report Explains That No Matter How Objectionable You Thought Jones Day Was, It’s Worse
Yesterday Was The Day America Learned What We’ve Known About Jones Day All Along
GOP Lawyer Slams Trump For Undermining Election Confidence Despite Long Career Of Undermining Election Confidence
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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
