The Republican Party has always had a problem with its lawyers.
On the one hand, there were the big-firm lawyers who supported smaller government, a balanced budget and federalism. They generally avoided the deeply ideological causes of the right — restricting abortion rights, attacking civil rights and promoting guns.
When it came to elections, these lawyers were prepared to argue constitutional claims that limited voting but would not involve themselves in the really dirty work — challenging voters at the polls and openly advocating for the disenfranchisement of minority voters.
They also stayed away from crazy conspiracy theories. Big-firm Republicans might be willing to argue that the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional, but they were not prepared to claim that a Venezuelan leader rigged the 2020 election.
After the 2020 election, I was proud to help lead the Biden campaign’s litigation efforts against Trump’s attacks. At the time, I was at a large law firm — and the firm was happy to do the work. So were a half-dozen other large, prestigious law firms.
By contrast, one of the defining storylines of that period was the Trump campaign’s inability to retain top-tier lawyers. Even the big firms that had represented his campaign seemingly bowed out rather than help him overturn the result of a free and fair election.
Standing on the other side of this historic divide within the GOP were the true believers — everything the big-firm lawyers were not. They sought out legal fights over social issues. They were often the lawyers on the ground, at polling places and in ballot-counting offices.
Most importantly for Trump, they relished the conspiracy theories. They were more than happy to embrace the most outlandish claims he advanced.
Still, they were largely kept on the margins of the party. Now they run it.
The result is that even as the GOP faces increasingly favorable courts, it continues to lose at an astounding rate.
Part of this is because of the positions they advocate. But another, less easily quantified factor is the clownish and disrespectful behavior they bring to the courtroom. It is one thing to have Donald Trump shouting lies in the White House; it is another to have his lawyers doing the same in the courthouse.
Consider the sheer number of misstatements DOJ lawyers have made to federal judges. Add to that the disrespectful spectacle Attorney General Pam Bondi created at a recent congressional hearing. Then listen to nearly any lawyer who represents Trump speak about the courts and judges.
There is a style to how Republican lawyers increasingly write and speak that is not just insultingly hyperbolic but alarmingly disconnected from reality. Earlier this week, for example, I read a brief that led me to conclude with certainty that the Republican Party has completely lost its mind.
It all started when the Department of Justice demanded that the Wisconsin Elections Commission turn over the state’s personal voter files. After the Commission filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the Wisconsin Republican Party filed an amicus brief in support of the DOJ.
The brief opens by quoting the late Zig Ziglar in all-caps, bolded font: “WITH INTEGRITY, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE.”
I will admit I was not familiar with Mr. Ziglar’s work. However, a helpful footnote informs the reader that he was “a prolific American speaker and author of over 30 books who inspired millions, including world leaders, with his simple but critical life-guiding principles.”
The brief then proceeds to read like a rant your senile uncle would deliver while watching Fox News. Its thrust is that Democrats are bad, Wisconsin is hiding something, and the DOJ’s request “is honorable.” But the brief’s crowning achievement is this line: “Like Alabama in the 1950s, Wisconsin attempts to use state law to obstruct the Attorney General’s investigation today.”
Having read the brief several times, I am confident that no aspect of this case hinges on anything Zig Ziglar might have said — no matter how motivational. I am even more certain that, whatever your perspective, Wisconsin’s effort to protect its citizens’ sensitive voting data is not the equivalent of Alabama’s commitment to preserving Jim Crow laws.
I have no illusions that the Republican Party cares what I think about the quality of its attorneys. Nor do I expect its lawyers to take my admonitions to heart. Frankly, as far as democracy is concerned, that is probably for the best.
In the midst of the post-2020 election litigation, Lou Dobbs chastised Stephen Miller over the quality of the Trump campaign’s lawyering and suggested the Republican Party pay me $500 million to stop defeating them in court.
I can’t be bought — and in any event, it would be a waste of money. You don’t need Zig Ziglar when you have the law and the facts on your side. The Republican Party’s lawyers are still looking for both.
