HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general and the District of Columbia in a blunt public statement condemning President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms that have opposed his administration.
The group’s open letter denounces the actions as unconstitutional and accuses the president of weaponizing executive power against protected legal advocacy.
“Donald Trump’s attempts to bully the legal profession into silence and submission leave no choice but to fight back,” Tong said.
“He relentlessly targets attorneys to exact political revenge on those who defended the integrity of our elections. He arrests and perp-walks a sitting judge on the thinnest of charges. He mocks and defies court orders. These are foundational attacks on not just our legal profession—but on the rule of law itself.”
The executive orders, issued by the Trump administration, target several law firms for their work on cases or positions disfavored by the White House.
The orders have prompted criticism across legal and academic institutions.
The attorneys general argue the orders retaliate against attorneys based on protected political speech and association. They say the actions also violate due process and threaten the constitutional guarantee of effective legal representation.
The letter singles out firms that have made agreements with the administration to provide free legal services in support of federal policy priorities.
The signatories call these arrangements a surrender that erodes legal independence.
In contrast, the letter praises Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey—four firms that sued the administration over the orders and have successfully obtained court orders temporarily blocking them.
Backing those lawsuits are more than 800 law firms, law professors, former judges, and corporate legal officers who have signed amicus briefs.
“This is about preserving the integrity of our legal system,” the attorneys general wrote, calling on legal institutions to resist pressure and refuse to yield to political coercion.
Alongside Tong, the letter was signed by attorneys general from New Jersey, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
