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Wu calls on Kraft to return contributions from Trump-affiliated law firm
The mayor said Kraft’s campaign is “propped up by billionaires and Trump donors,” while Kraft fired back at Wu’s own contributors.
On Thursday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu implored Josh Kraft to immediately return campaign contributions from an elite law firm linked to President Donald Trump.
In a release, Wu said the New York-based law firm, formerly known as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss), offered “millions of dollars” in pro-bono legal services to Trump’s “chaotic and dangerous policy agenda.”
“Josh Kraft’s campaign is being propped up by billionaires, Trump donors, and lawyers engaged in implementing Donald Trump’s anti-Boston agenda,” Wu’s campaign said in the release. “While the City and people of Boston are facing unprecedented attacks from Donald Trump, Josh Kraft has repeatedly refused to return these contributions. We are once again calling on Josh Kraft to stand up for Boston and return these contributions immediately.”
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The law firm has connections to both the Trump administration and the Kraft family. In mid-March, Trump signed an executive order directly targeting the law firm – which, up until that point, was largely Democratic in its leaning.
To ameliorate the situation, Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots – who has ties to Trump – helped broker a meeting between Trump and the law firm. Paul Weiss serves as the National Football League’s “go-to counsel,” according to their website.
After the meeting, Trump rescinded his executive order in March against the law firm and they struck a deal: Paul Weiss would provide $40 million in pro bono work to the administration “to support causes including assisting our Nation’s veterans, fairness in the justice system, and combating anti-Semitism; and other similar initiatives.”
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Less than a month after the deal, several Paul Weiss attorneys contributed thousands of dollars to Josh Kraft’s mayoral campaign, according to data from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Seven attorneys at Paul Weiss contributed $7,000 total to Kraft’s mayoral campaign since April 18, campaign finance records show. Each attorney – including from the firm’s chairman, Brad Karp – gave $1,000, the maximum legal limit individuals are allowed to give to candidates per calendar year.
In a written statement to Boston.com, Kraft said he would resist Wu’s calls to return contributions from Paul Weiss.
“I will not be returning contributions from the individuals at Paul Weiss. Brad Karp in particular is a known Democratic donor and bundler, and raised $100,000 for Vice President Kamala Harris,” he wrote.
He also volleyed Wu’s demand back to her, urging the mayor to return donations from real estate mogul and former Republican Senator Terry Considine, who Kraft said has contributed thousands of dollars to her. Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance records show that Considine has contributed $3,000 since 2013.
Mayoral candidates Wu, Kraft, Domingos DaRosa, and Robert Cappucci will soon face off in the preliminary election on Sept. 9, which will narrow the race down to two candidates, followed by the general election on Nov. 4.
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