Jones Day, the powerful law firm that’s been a close ally to Donald Trump, will not be advising the ex-president on his bid to return to the White House.
The law firm is not working on Trump’s 2024 campaign and does not plan to provide legal services related to the run, according to a source familiar with the situation. Jones Day lawyers are winding down “legacy matters” for committees affiliated with Trump’s previous campaigns, the person said.
Jones Day representatives declined to comment. The Trump campaign did not respond to comment requests.
The move marks a striking departure for the century-old law firm whose prominence in Republican circles crescendoed as Trump became the face of the party. It comes as Washington lawyer Greg Shumaker last month took over as Jones Day’s chairman, replacing Stephen Brogan after two decades at the helm.
Jones Day advised Trump on both of his previous presidential campaigns. The firm also sent a wave of partners to key government roles after Trump won the 2016 election, including White House Counsel Don McGahn and Solicitor General Noel Francisco.
Jones Day was not among the lawyers and law firms listed as receiving payment from the Trump campaign in a federal disclosure filed Tuesday. Trump, who announced his 2024 run in mid-November, has so far relied on the law firm of former White House ethics lawyer Scott Gast, the year-end filing shows.
Trump’s campaign in the final six weeks of 2022 paid just over $20,000 to Compass Legal Group, where Gast, a former White House deputy counsel, serves as chief counsel, according to the Federal Election Commission filing.
The campaign also paid $30,000 to a firm run by Trump 2020 election adviser Boris Epshteyn for “communications and legal consulting,” the filing shows. The House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack at the US Capitol spotlighted Epshteyn in its final report as a member of a core group promoting baseless fraud claims after the election.
Gast did not respond to requests for comment. Epshteyn declined to comment.
Trump Ties
Jones Day earned nearly $14 million from the Trump campaign from 2015 to 2020, according to FEC records.
McGahn, now back at Jones Day as a partner, served as a top lawyer for the 2016 campaign. He later became one of more than a dozen attorneys from the firm to join the high ranks of the Trump administration.
Jones Day’s work on Trump-aligned court fights sparked discord within the firm following the 2020 presidential election. The firm said in a public statement at the time that it did not represent Trump, his campaign or any affiliates in litigation alleging voter fraud. Instead, it’s lawyers represented the Pennsylvania Republican Party in litigation challenging state rules on counting mail-in ballots.
Former Trump Attorney General William Barr turned to the firm in closed-door depositions with the House Jan. 6 panel. Francisco, who now leads the firm’s Washington office, was among those representing Barr in his dealings with the committee.
In addition to McGahn and Francisco, Jones Day partners Eric Dreiband and John Gore worked in the Trump Justice Department before returning to the firm.
Jones Day’s profits from campaign-related work is modest compared to its other practices. The firm, whose corporate clients include Chevron and Walmart, earned nearly $2.5 billion in gross revenue in 2021, according to the American Lawyer.
Jones Day continued handling certain Trump-related matters before the FEC and federal courts in the years after the 2020 election. The Trump-aligned Make America Great Again political action committee paid the firm more than $180,000 in 2022 for “legal consulting.” That included a $25,000 payment to the firm in December, according to a Tuesday FEC filing, indicating work has not totally dried up.
The firm’s lawyers have also continued to handle work for a range of Republican groups and candidates, including the Republican National Committee, which has paid Jones Day more than $1.2 million over the past two years, per FEC disclosures.
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