Trump Roars Down Multiple Paths Of Retribution As He Vowed. Some Targets Yield While Others Fight

The executive order directed at one of the country's most prestigious law firms followed a well-worn playbook as President Donald Trump roared down the road to retribution.

Reaching beyond government, Trump has set out to impose his will across a broad swath of American life, from individuals who have drawn his ire to institutions known for their own flexes of power and intimidation.

Which is how the Paul Weiss, a storied New York law firm that since its 1875 birth has advanced the cause of civil rights, shepherded the legal affairs of corporate power brokers and grown into a multi-billion-dollar multinational enterprise, came to learn it was in trouble. The reason: One of its former attorneys had investigated Trump as a Manhattan prosecutor.

Trump ordered that federal security clearances of the firm's attorneys be reviewed for suspension, federal contracts terminated and employee access to federal buildings restricted. Yet the decree was soon averted in the most Trumpian of ways: with a deal.

After a White House meeting with the firm's chairman yielded a series of commitments, including 40 million worth of legal work to support administration causes, the executive order was rescinded, but not without a backlash from a legal community that saw the resolution as a capitulation.