Democratic Rep.: Beijing Called and Wants Their Legal Playbook Back | Opinion

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." As William Shakespeare once wrote, this is Step One in the authoritarian playbook.

Shakespeare's insight is as true today as ever. Recently, in an effort to consolidate power, the White House has announced multiple executive orders targeting specific lawyers and specific law firms, including on the basis of the clients they choose to represent and the causes they seek to support.

These executive orders are not mere press releases. They directly interfere with the ability of these firms to practice law on behalf of their clients. Among other measures, they purport to deny entry to these firms' attorneys to federal buildings, making it impossible for lawyers to argue a case in a federal courthouse. And worse yet, they require disclosure of confidential attorney-client relationships and threaten to cut off federal contracts to firm clients. Taken together, these and other restrictions are designed to put these law firms out of business by making clients afraid to retain them.

Equally troubling, another recent executive order threatens disciplinary action, which can include disbarment, against lawyers from any firm who make so-called "frivolous" arguments against the government—with "frivolous" of course being defined by the Executive Branch. The message here is clear: If you go against the White House, there will be a target on your back. You might even lose your ability to practice law.

This recent turn of events isn't just a threat to lawyers. It's a threat to the rule of law in America. In Congress, I serve as the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). One of America's greatest strengths in our competition with the CCP is that we are governed by rules, while China is governed by the whims of Xi Jinping. In America, if the government tries to shut down your business, you can sue to stop it. In fact, that's what is happening right now—with three of the law firms targeted by these executive orders going to court and winning temporary restraining orders stopping the White House from essentially shutting them down. But in China, when Xi Jinping decides your time is up, there is no recourse. The CCP is judge, jury, and executioner.

While these recent courtroom victories highlight what makes America great, the executive orders themselves are straight out of the CCP's playbook. In China, the CCP arrests lawyers who represent clients who oppose the government. In 2023, two lawyers were sentenced to a decade in prison for "state subversion"—otherwise known as the crime of taking on human rights activists as clients. In 2015, nearly 300 people were seized by Chinese police in the 709 Crackdown designed to stamp out any lawyers willing to take on the government. And of course, lawyers are routinely disbarred for taking on sensitive clients, like Hong Kong protestors. As a result of actions like these, most lawyers in China refuse to represent clients disfavored by the CCP.

The recent executive orders are designed to achieve a similar outcome in America. Although the U.S. government is not threatening lawyers with arrest, it is threatening to put law firms out of business if they oppose core White House priorities. When a firm decides to take on a pro bono client who has been wrongfully targeted by the government, they now need to ask not just whether the case is worth working on for free, but whether taking on the case is worth putting a target on the back of the firm's paying clients. The means are less extreme than we see in China, but the end result is disturbingly indistinguishable—a society where lawyers are afraid to go against the government, and disfavored clients are unable to obtain the best legal representation.

We cannot accept this outcome. Americans may not all agree on the biggest legal battles of our day, but we should all agree that we need a fair system where both sides of these battles can be zealously represented. Our Founders demanded nothing less. The right to counsel is not only inscribed in the Constitution, but in our history.

As Paul Clement, who served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush, recently argued on behalf of Wilmer Hale, "John Adams famously embodied these principles by defending eight British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial." In fact, John Adams described his representation of these British soldiers as "one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country." In contrast, when Chairman Mao Zedong seized control of China in 1949, one of his first moves was to eviscerate the legal system.

As we compete against the CCP across various domains, we can't lose sight of what we are fighting for. We are fighting for a world governed by rules, not men. We are fighting for a world where government serves the people, not the other way around. And today, because of these unlawful executive orders, we must fight in court for those values. Some would say victory over the CCP rings hollow if we are mimicking their model at home.

This isn't about right or left. This is about right or wrong. The rule of law, including the ability of lawyers to represent disfavored clients without fear of retribution, is a key part of what makes us different from authoritarian societies in the first place. When it comes to our legal system, we should take our cues from the Constitution, not China.

Raja Krishnamoorthi serves as ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party and represents Illinois' 8th Congressional District.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.