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    Trump Targets WilmerHale, Citing Law Firm’s Connection to Robert Mueller

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    President Trump moved on Thursday to punish the law firm WilmerHale, where Robert S. Mueller III worked before and after he served as special counsel in the Trump-Russia investigation, expanding his widespread campaign of retribution.In an executive order, Mr. Trump hit the elite firm with many of the same penalties that he had applied to its competitors who had taken on cases or causes he did not like.He directed the cancellation of all government contracts with WilmerHale, and the suspension of any security clearances of its employees. The order also barred WilmerHale employees from federal buildings, banned them from communicating with government employees and prevented them from being hired at government agencies.Other elite law firms have been hit with similar sanctions, leaving them to choose whether to fight the orders or cut a deal with Mr. Trump to remove the restrictions, even as a judge has already blocked one of the orders because it is likely to be unlawful.The order said Mr. Trump was in part punishing WilmerHale for the firm’s connections to Mr. Mueller, who led an inquiry that the order described as “one of the most partisan investigations in American history.”In fact, Mr. Mueller was appointed as special counsel by Mr. Trump’s own deputy attorney general amid concerns about Mr. Trump’s desire to shut down the F.B.I. investigation of his campaign after he took office. Mr. Mueller, then working at WilmerHale, resigned from the firm to lead the investigation, and returned to WilmerHale after the investigation was closed. Mr. Mueller retired from WilmerHale in 2021.“WilmerHale rewarded Robert Mueller and his colleagues,” the order said, adding that “Mueller’s investigation epitomizes the weaponization of government, yet WilmerHale claimed he ‘embodies the highest value of our firm and profession.’”The order also attacked diversity efforts at WilmerHale, as well as its representation of clients who Mr. Trump disagreed with, asserting that the firm “backs the obstruction of efforts” against illegal immigrants and drug trafficking.In a statement, WilmerHale defended Mr. Mueller’s character and said the firm had “a longstanding tradition of representing a wide range of clients, including in matters against administrations of both parties.”The firm added, “We look forward to pursuing all appropriate remedies to this unlawful order.”Matthew Goldstein More

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      Trump Administration Questions Law Firms Over DEI Employment Practices

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      President Trump’s acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday sent letters to 20 law firms requesting information about their diversity, equity and inclusion-related employment practices, the latest Trump administration assault on private law firms.In letters to prominent firms, including Perkins Coie, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin, the commission, a federal agency responsible for protecting employees from discrimination, said it was concerned that some of the firms’ employment practices might violate civil rights laws. The agency suggested in the letters that the firms, in trying to recruit more people of color, could have discriminated against white candidates.“The E.E.O.C. is prepared to root out discrimination anywhere it may rear its head, including in our nation’s elite law firms,” Andrea R. Lucas, the acting chair, said in a statement on Monday. “No one is above the law — and certainly not the private bar.”The letters come amid Mr. Trump’s recent retribution campaign against several prominent law firms, which the president has accused of carrying out “harmful activity.” This month, Mr. Trump issued an executive order aimed at crippling Perkins Coie, a firm that worked with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He also revoked security clearances held by any lawyers at Covington & Burling who were helping provide legal advice to Jack Smith, the special counsel who led investigations into him.Last week, the president also restricted the business activities of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, specifically calling out one of its former lawyers, Mark F. Pomerantz, who had attempted to build a criminal case against Mr. Trump while working at the Manhattan district attorney’s office several years ago.Mr. Trump has taken aggressive measures to eliminate D.E.I. efforts — which he has called “illegal and immoral discrimination” programs — outside the legal profession, too. E.E.O.C. leaders have signaled recently that they would prioritize rooting out “DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination” to comply with Mr. Trump’s orders.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      SEC Is Investigating OpenAI Over Its Board’s Actions

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      The U.S. regulator opened its inquiry after the board unexpectedly fired the company’s chief executive, Sam Altman, in November.The Securities and Exchange Commission began an inquiry into OpenAI soon after the company’s board of directors unexpectedly removed Sam Altman, its chief executive, at the end of last year, three people familiar with the inquiry said.The regulator has sent official requests to OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT online chatbot, seeking information about the situation. It is unclear whether the S.E.C. is investigating Mr. Altman’s behavior, the board’s decision to oust him or both.Even as OpenAI has tried to turn the page on the dismissal of Mr. Altman, who was soon reinstated, the controversy continues to hound the company. In addition to the S.E.C. inquiry, the San Francisco artificial intelligence company has hired a law firm to conduct its own investigation into Mr. Altman’s behavior and the board’s decision to remove him.The board dismissed Mr. Altman on Nov. 17, saying it no longer had confidence in his ability to run OpenAI. It said he had not been “consistently candid in his communications,” though it did not provide specifics. It agreed to reinstate him five days later.Privately, the board worried that Mr. Altman was not sharing all of his plans to raise money from investors in the Middle East for an A.I. chip project, people with knowledge of the situation have said.Spokespeople for the S.E.C. and OpenAI and a lawyer for Mr. Altman all declined to comment.The S.E.C.’s inquiry was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.OpenAI kicked off an industrywide A.I. boom at the end of 2022 when it released ChatGPT. The company is considered a leader in what is called generative A.I., technologies that can generate text, sounds and images from short prompts. A recent funding deal values the start-up at more than $80 billion.Many believe that generative A.I., which represents a fundamental shift in the way computers behave, could remake the industry as thoroughly as the iPhone or the web browser. Others argue that the technology could cause serious harm, helping to spread online disinformation, replacing jobs with unusual speed and maybe even threatening the future of humanity.After the release of ChatGPT, Mr. Altman became the face of the industry’s push toward generative A.I. as he endlessly promoted the technology — while acknowledging the dangers.In an effort to resolve the turmoil surrounding Mr. Altman’s ouster, he and the board agreed to remove two members and add two others: Bret Taylor, who is a former Salesforce executive, and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers.Mr. Altman and the board also agreed that OpenAI would start its own investigation into the matter. That investigation, by the WilmerHale law firm, is expected to close soon. More