Alston & Bird Stays Mum Over Reported $1M Donation to Project Veritas
The firm would not comment further on a New York Times report that called attention to its work serving as a conduit between an unidentified client and the conservative group.
March 10, 2020 at 10:18 AM
4 minute read
Alston & Bird sign/courtesy photo
Atlanta-based firm Alston & Bird is playing a supporting role in a blockbuster drama over domestic spying on organizations considered hostile to President Donald Trump's agenda. But exactly what that role is remains unclear, and the firm won't shed light on it.
A New York Times report that went online Saturday found that Erik Prince, the security contractor who is a sibling of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, has been helping right-wing activist group Project Veritas by recruiting former spies to help infiltrate teachers unions and Democratic congressional campaigns.
A note that Alston & Bird served as the conduit for a $1 million donation to the controversial organization appeared halfway through the article.
The firm told the Times that Alston & Bird "has never contributed to Project Veritas on its own behalf, nor is it a client of ours," declining to comment on the source of the contribution. A spokesman did not respond to an inquiry from the American Lawyer on Monday.
Project Veritas was founded in 2010 by conservative provocateur James O'Keefe, the same year he was convicted for entering a federal building under false pretenses. Three Harvard University professors referred to the group as a "right-wing disinformation outlet" in their 2018 book on manipulation in American politics.
The Times report focused on the organization's efforts to infiltrate the Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers and the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer elected to Congress as a Democrat in 2018. Prince, the former head of Blackwater Worldwide and an occasional informal adviser to Trump administration officials, allegedly recruited intelligence veterans to help guide Project Veritas staff.
Other previous targets of the group include Planned Parenthood, NPR and the Washington Post.
A search through federal records validates Alston & Bird's assertion that it has not represented Project Veritas in any litigation. But other Big Law firms have not shied away from working on behalf of the controversial group: attorneys from Am Law 100 firm Womble Bond Dickinson and Am Law 200 firms GrayRobinson and McCarter & English have all represented the firm in various pieces of federal litigation.
Alston & Bird, meanwhile, has previously appeared in another Trump-era controversy, one with origins well before the 2016 election. The firm registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to advise a public relations firm working on behalf of the Russian Federation in 2014, and a 2019 CNN report said that it has worked on behalf of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a business contact of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, since 2003.
That 2019 report focused on another Alston & Bird mystery client: a foreign government-owned company that was challenging a mysterious grand jury subpoena related to the Robert Mueller investigation. While details of the matter remained cloudy even as the case rose to the U.S. Supreme Court, one of the few things reporters were able to ascertain was that Alston & Bird represented the business.
The firm opened up its 12th office last year, adding London to earlier international outposts Brussels and Beijing. In addition to its capabilities in litigation, deals and regulatory work, Alston & Bird hosts an influential D.C. lobbying team led by former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kansas, and former Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota. In 2019, it brought in nearly $8.5 million in lobbying revenue from 64 clients, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Read More
DC Circuit Questions Broad Secrecy for Alston & Bird's Mystery Client
New York AG Threatens Project Veritas' Fundraising Ability Over Nonprofit Filing Gaps
Alston Boosts Partner Profits as Revenue Per Lawyer Exceeds $1M
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Paul Hastings, Recruiting From Davis Polk, Adds Capital Markets Attorney
3 minute read
Kirkland Is Entering a New Market. Will Its Rates Get a Warm Welcome?
5 minute read
Goodwin Procter Relocates to Renewable-Powered Office in San Francisco’s Financial District
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
