Republican-led states demand 20 law firms disclose DEI practices
April 3 (Reuters) - Attorneys general from 12 Republican-led U.S. states sent letters on Thursday to 20 major law firms demanding information about their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employment practices, building on a similar request to the same firms by the U.S. agency that enforces federal laws banning workplace discrimination.
Andrea Lucas, acting chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, warned last month that the firms' employment policies related to DEI may be illegal.
The letters, opens new tab, sent by a group of states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, said that information in the EEOC's request "indicates that your firm may have acted in violation" of federal and state law.
Two of the law firms named in the letter, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale, were also targeted by Republican President Donald Trump in executive orders that focused partly on their DEI policies.
Perkins Coie and WilmerHale have sued to challenge Trump's actions. Five other firms, including Skadden Arps and Milbank, have reached deals with Trump since targeting the legal industry, agreeing in part to adopt only merit-based employment practices.
Representatives from those firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The blatantly illegal employment discrimination perpetuated by law firms and other businesses under un-American DEI ideology must be brought to an immediate and permanent end," Paxton said in a statement.
The attorneys general said that the firms should comply with the EEOC's request for information and send the same details to the states by April 15.
Lucas said that some of the firms had publicly touted their commitment to diversifying their workforces and at least two had adopted explicit numerical goals for recruiting lawyers based on their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The EEOC's letter asked the law firms for information about the internships, scholarships and fellowships they offer to law students and their hiring and compensation practices, along with other detailed demographic information.
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Daily Mirror
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
I went to Donald Trump's birthday tank parade and already thinks he's a king
When Donald Trump came on stage for his birthday speech, the US Army band struck up a very familiar tune. It wasn't one of the usual American patriotic hits - like Hail to the Chief. And it wasn't his favourite intro song, Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA - although Greenwood would perform that one live later. No, Trump came on to My Country 'Tis of Thee. Which shares a tune which is better know by Brits as God Save The King. As dogwhistles go, it was not subtle. Trump's speech itself was unusually brief and largely apolitical - but the rest of the event couldn't have been more Pyongyang if he'd come on stage in a sheepskin leather jacket. Over a couple of hours, 7,000 troops, dozens of tanks and other vehicles, swarms of helicopters and two robot dogs rolled, flew and ambled past Trump's podium as he apparently struggled to stay awake. It was the kind of muscular display of might that America just doesn't do. The last time this kind of military parade took place in Washington it was in celebration of the completion of Operation Desert Storm, back in the early 90s. And that one had a good reason behind it - it was a celebration of a military victory. This time it was so transparently just an excuse for an elderly wannabe hardman could look at his real life airfix models for the afternoon of his birthday. And don't be trying to claim the celebrations of the US Army's 250th anniversary were already underway before Trump took office. Because the original plan was just hold a festival in celebration - which still happened in the field next door. There was a rope climbing contest, a few choppers and tanks and vastly fewer MAGA hats. The parade was for Trump's birthday, and anyone who thinks it wasn't didn't speak to many people who turned up to watch. As it turns out, I did. Almost everyone mentioned Donald Trump before the Army when asked wha they were celebrating. It was undeniably a spectacle. The scale of the hardware and he sacrifice of the troops was genuinely quite stirring. And the firework display next to the Washington monument was a legit impressive display of American firepower. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visibly bored - at one point getting caught on camera yawning. Even Trump himself - sitting between a gurning Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth an a scowling Melania throughout the parade - appeared to drop off a few times. There also was a very weird moment towards the end as well, where Trump and Melania just stood in the middle of the stage for several minutes in silence, until a military officer appeared to tap Trump on the shoulder and suggest he might like to try leaving the stage. Earlier, a man in a Stars and Stripes stetson had old me it was about time America put its might on display - because it would raise morale. Not just with the troops, but the public too. You see, as well as being letting him play at being King - or perhaps playing Kim - it was transparently about hijacking American history and patriotism for MAGA. To make Donald Trump and a strong America he same thing in people's minds. As tension between the White House and Europe heats up, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is , select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our . And for the 70,000 or so people on the National Mall yesterday, it had been exceptionally successful. For the rest of the country, maybe not so much. They'll have watched it on a split screen, juxtaposed with either footage of the hunt for a political assassin in Minnesota, or of protests against his authoritarian behaviour. Or of a war in the Middle East that is showing up once again that his claims of being the "President of Peace" were absolute hogwash. It's a fraught week for America. And as Trump clutched his wife's pinkie and waddled off the sage, the sinister potential of what I'd just seen started to sink in. Pictures and video by Humphrey Nemar Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here. And follow our Mirror Politics team here - Lizzy Buchan, Mikey Smith, Kevin Maguire, Sophie Huskisson, Dave Burke and Ashley Cowburn. Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Or sign up here to the Mirror's Politics newsletter for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox. And listen to our exciting new political podcast The Division Bell, hosted by the Mirror and the Express every Thursday.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Israel and US perilously ‘gaming' over the fate of entire Middle East
But those were precisely the words posted by US Republican Senator Lindsay Graham on social media on Friday shortly after Israel launched its massive air strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear programme, military facilities and killing two of the Islamic Republic's top military commanders. Graham - a Trump ally - was far from alone, with at least three other senior Republican politicians using the exact words; 'Please join me in praying for Israel' in their statements. Not to be outdone, US House Speaker Mike Johnson was also at pains to make clear that Israel's actions were justified, declaring on social media, 'Israel IS right – and has a right – to defend itself!' Many of course would choose to differ, arguing with some justification that Israel's attack was unprovoked and in clear violation of the international law as enshrined in the United Nations Charter and of anything that can be labelled a rules-based international order. In making their case, the same people might also point to the fact that today this is now almost par for the course when it comes to Israel. They might argue too that by embarking on ethnic cleansing in Gaza and persistently using excessive force in serial attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the occupied West Bank, it's Israel itself that currently constitutes the biggest danger to the region. It was at around 3.30am Iran time on Friday that Israel launched at least six waves of air strikes in what it is calling Operation Rising Lion. In the wake of the strikes, Iran's state news agency confirmed that several senior military figures including Major General Hossein Salami, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed. (Image: First-responders gather outside a building that was hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran) Scientists killed Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, was also killed, state television reported. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a prominent physics professor, and Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran's atomic organisation, also died, the state news agency confirmed Israel's wave of attacks also struck command-and-control centres, ballistic-missile bases and air-defence batteries. Some of the attacks are reported to have been carried out by operatives from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and the electronic surveillance and targeting commando, military Unit 8200, who reportedly located key Iranian commanders and two leading nuclear scientists with precise accuracy. Israel also claims the operatives installed swarms of explosive drones deep inside Iran to neutralise air defence systems near Tehran. But aside from decapitating Iran's military leadership and missile production facilities, the prime target was the country's nuclear facilities at sites like Natanz and Fordow. Shortly after the attacks, social media showed footage of smoke rising from the uranium-enrichment plant near the city of Natanz about 150 miles south of the capital Tehran. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN watchdog, later confirmed the plant was 'among targets,' adding that it was in contact with Iranian authorities over radiation levels. Read more 'Messianic vision' Israel arming Gaza's crime gangs is certain to backfire badly 'Stakes could not be higher' Poland's election is a pivotal moment for all of Europe Scotland's oldest international medical charity is bringing hope to Himalayas Trump's sledgehammer politics are wreaking havoc in every sphere both home and away For three decades Netanyahu has spoken of the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons which he says poses an 'existential' threat to Israel. Israel has announced that the operation to knock out Iran's nuclear programme is likely to last four or five days. But the fear is that Israel has opened a new phase of war across the Middle East that has seen nearly two years of consistent conflict on a scale not witnessed in decades. Putting aside the fact that an escalation is now inevitable, predicting what will happen next is more tricky. But as Amir Tibon, diplomatic correspondent of the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz has highlighted, three questions will determine the pace and trajectory of events to come. The first of these is just how much damage did Israel's attack inflict? The second is what will be the nature and extent of Iran's retaliation? And finally, and perhaps most significantly, how will America be involved? Regarding the first of these questions, then certainly the killing of Iran's military chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Bagheri, and Maj. Gen Salami as well as several nuclear scientists and destroying swathes of Iran's air defence systems is unprecedented. (Image: People look beyond a barrier toward buildings heavily damaged after an overnight strike in Israel) Regime change Some reports also suggest that Ali Shamkhani, a national security adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who has oversight of the nuclear programme, was injured. This indicates Israel has struck parts of Iran's political leadership too, signalling that among its objectives may in fact be regime change. Netanyahu suggested as much when on Friday in a speech he told Iranians that he hoped Israel's ongoing military operation will 'clear the path for you to achieve your freedom.' What is certain about the strikes however is that they pile pressure on an Iranian military infrastructure already degraded from previous Israeli strikes. Last year, Israel attacked Iran using air-launched ballistic missiles from far beyond the reach of Iran's most advanced air defences, the Russian supplied S-300 surface to air missiles. These Israeli strikes severely degraded Iran's most advanced air defences, particularly the S-300, and it is not clear what remains. But it's the question of how much damage Israel has been able to inflict on Iran's main nuclear sites that will be uppermost in the minds of the Israeli leadership right now. Israel on Friday said it had struck Natanz and 'damaged' the underground area of the site, a multistorey enrichment area with centrifuges, electrical rooms and other infrastructure. But both of Iran's nuclear facilities have been built to withstand the heaviest of strikes, buried as they are deep below mountains and under dozens of feet of reinforced concrete. Experts have previously estimated that even America's largest 30,000-pound 'bunker-buster' bomb, the GBU-57, which cannot be carried by Israeli warplanes, would need to be used many times on the same point for any significant damage to be done. The US has thus far refused Israeli requests to provide the biggest bomb in its arsenal, but reports last month indicate that the US sent fresh supplies of smaller bunker busting bombs such as the CBU-28 which the Israeli air force is capable of carrying. These may have enabled Israel so far to have targeted the entrances, tunnels and ventilation shafts of Natanz or Fordow in an attempt to put them out of action. Which brings us to the question of Iran's capacity to retaliate. Overnight Friday into Saturday Iran hit back at Israel with retaliatory missile strikes. Israeli paramedics said yesterday that at least three people had been killed and dozens injured by Iran's overnight salvos, with missiles slipping through the country's air defences and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv and Rishon Le Zion. But as The Economist magazine has highlighted, Iran faces few good options in the scale and type of retaliation it can mount. 'If its response is too weak, it will not deter Israel; too strong, and it might draw America into the war. That would only compound the threat to the regime, which has not looked so vulnerable since the 1980s, when it fought a long war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq,' The Economist's assessment concluded, a view shared by other analysts. As it stands, Iran's most likely strategy will be to carry out further attacks using missiles and drones in the hope of depleting Israeli stocks of interceptor missiles and then send in its more advanced and harder-to-shot-down ballistic missiles. (Image: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu) No secret Israel's resupply of interceptors has become an issue of late. According to a report in the Financial Times (FT), Israel Aerospace Industries, the state-owned company which makes the Arrow interceptors used to shoot down ballistic missiles, said it was having to run triple shifts to keep its production lines running at full tilt, and that it was 'no secret that we (Israel) need to replenish stocks' In the past, any retaliation would have seen Iran turn also to its proxies in the region the most formidable of which was Hezbollah, the Shia militia and political party in Lebanon that had an enormous arsenal on Israel's northern border. But Hezbollah is not the force it once was, weakened by a year of war with Israel, in which its leaders were killed and many of its missile depots destroyed. Where Iran could turn tactically towards are its other proxies in places such as Iraq, mobilising them to attack American bases there or it might be tempted to go after other US installations in the region including in Qatar and Bahrain. All of that though has enormous risks of pulling America fully into the conflict, even if as many argue, Washington as ever is already committed when it comes to defending Israel. Other risky Iranian options - long discussed by regional strategists - might include blocking or disrupting oil exports from the region by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. Merchant shipping is still passing through the Strait, but with increased caution. Iran has previously threatened to close this critical trade route through which a quarter of global oil supplies and a third of liquefied natural gas production is transported. Even the suggestion of such a move has already sent shockwaves through global markets, and sent the price of oil soaring, something that doubtless worries the Trump administration that's keen to keep the Gulf monarchs happy. Which brings us to the most significant question of all, as to what America knew about Israel's attack and the likely extent of US involvement in the conflict? To begin with, some observers now believe that the talks between Iran and the US that were scheduled for today in Oman were little more than a ruse, lulling Iran into a false sense of security before Israel struck. Or, to put this another way, while Trump was talking about 'diplomacy' Israel was preparing its onslaught. All the signs were there that Washington knew what was coming say some diplomats and observers. Just over a week ago the US moved some anti-missile defences from Europe to Israel. It then raised threat levels to US citizens, started withdrawing personnel and their families, putting major military bases on standby, and also recently supplying bunker busting bombs such as the CBU-28 to Israel. All this too before Israel's dependence on US intelligence and air defence support. It beggars belief then attest analysts, that team Trump wasn't aware of Israel's real plans. Washington 'knew this was coming, and they helped maintain this fiction that there would be a meeting' on Sunday (today) between Iran's foreign affairs minister Abbas Araghchi and Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy, said Aaron David Miller, a former US state department negotiator in the Middle East now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'So to that degree, they co-operated with the Israelis in the ruse, and it clearly worked,' Miller added, in an interview with the FT, echoing the views of other Middle East experts. Deception Seen from an Iranian perspective, Trump's talk of giving diplomacy a chance will doubtless now be considered as the deception many now believe it was. In other words, Tehran was lured into a diplomatic trap orchestrated between Israel and the US aimed at blindsiding Iran as to the military operation that Israel had clearly long been planning with Washington's approval. If indeed that perception persists, then it's' unlikely the Iranians will return to the negotiating table any time soon. It signals too that despite so called 'differences' between Netanyahu and Trump, support for Israel in the US body politic remains - as most suspected - as strong as ever. It would also help explain the rush from some Republican politicians to send 'prayers' for Israel, as the bombs fell on Tehran while other less hawkish elements, expressed serious concern over the escalation. For Netanyahu, once regarded as a risk-averse leader, the strike on Tehran is a huge gamble. For Trump meanwhile, a president who campaigned on ending wars, not starting them, it's another arguably ignominious landmark in a shambolic foreign policy strategy. This weekend as the exchange of missile attacks between Israel and Iran intensify, it's hard to ignore the sense that both men are perilously 'gaming' over the fate of the Middle East, and that the region's future is being forged between them.
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Iran fires fresh missiles amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes
They also killed key leaders in the country's governing theocracy. Israel said hundreds of airstrikes over the past two days killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear programme, in addition to several top generals. Iran's UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded. People inspect the ruins of a house that was struck by a missile fired from Iran (AP/Daniel Rolider) The US and Iran had been scheduled to hold their sixth round of indirect talks over Iran's nuclear programme on Sunday in Oman, but Oman's foreign minister said the meeting was cancelled after Israel's strikes. First responders were looking for survivors and clearing the remnants of a missile which fell on a neighbourhood outside Tel Aviv early on Sunday morning. Responders used a drone to look for survivors in areas that were too hard to access. Some people were fleeing the area with their belongings in suitcases. People take shelter during sirens warning of incoming fire in Tel Aviv (AP/Baz Ratner) The Israeli military said early on Sunday it had targeted Iran's Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran as well as sites it alleged were associated with Iran's nuclear programme around Tehran. It alleged the sites were 'related to the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons project'. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have repeatedly said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon before Israel unleashed its campaign of airstrikes on Friday. Three drones were launched toward a base housing US forces in Iraq following Israel's strikes on Iran, a US military official and a second US official said on Saturday. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. The drones were shot down, the officials said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq. Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran (AP/Vahid Salemi) A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has remained mostly quiet amid the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. In the past, the militias had periodically attacked US bases in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington's support for Israel in its war against the Iran-allied Hamas militant group in Gaza. Also on Saturday, for the second day, supporters of armed factions in Iraq demonstrated in central Baghdad to denounce the Israeli bombing of Iran. The protesters did not attempt to breach the heavily fortified Green Zone where the US Embassy is located.
