WASHINGTON — Three senior Democratic lawmakers are sharply criticizing the law firm Kirkland & Ellis for refusing to cooperate with congressional inquiries into its reported $125 million agreement to provide free legal services to President Donald Trump.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Sen. Adam Schiff sent a letter to firm chairman Jon Ballis, rejecting what they called Kirkland’s “legally specious” privilege claims and accusing the firm of stonewalling their investigation. The lawmakers say Kirkland has not produced a single document, refused meetings with staff, and offered only a “laundry list” of unsupported legal excuses.
According to the committees, Kirkland has failed to provide any written contract memorializing the $125 million arrangement beyond Trump’s own social‑media posts. Without a formal agreement, the lawmakers argue, Trump appears to be the sole arbiter of Kirkland’s obligations — a dynamic they say could compromise the firm’s professional judgment, given Trump’s history of retaliating against perceived disloyalty.
The lawmakers also rejected Kirkland’s claims of attorney‑client privilege, executive privilege, and settlement privilege, saying none apply to the firm’s communications with Trump’s personal lawyer Boris Epshteyn, its negotiations with federal agencies, or its free legal work for the government. They noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had already acknowledged in court that its requests to Kirkland were part of informal information‑gathering, not a formal investigation.
Raskin, Blumenthal, and Schiff renewed demands for records related to Kirkland’s negotiations with the Trump Administration, its communications with Epshteyn, potential conflicts involving existing clients, and efforts to recruit attorneys from rival firm Paul Weiss while facing a Trump‑issued retaliatory executive order. They also requested a detailed privilege log and confirmation that Kirkland is preserving all relevant records, including encrypted or disappearing‑message communications.