Lawyers Ante Up $27 Million for Kamala Harris in Past Two Months

Lawyers threw out another $27 million to help Vice President Kamala Harris beat former President Donald Trump in the upcoming contentious election.

The reliable fundraising bloc raised more than $27.4 million for the former California attorney general between August and the end of September, according to the latest batch of Federal Election Commission records.

Harris’ PAC, dubbed the Harris Victory Fund, received $250,000 from Cravath’s presiding partner Faiza Saeed and another $250,000 from Sullivan & Cromwell senior chair Rodge Cohen in that timeframe. Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp gave $25,000 in September to the Harris Victory Fund.

Saaed, Cohen and Karp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The latest FEC records illuminate the money that’s been pouring in behind attorneys’ enthusiastic support for Harris. Karp was part of a Wall Street-heavy Zoom call with around 50 prominent Democratic supporters in July that strategized support for her.

Cohen was part of a group in August to host a fundraising lunch featuring Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, according to an invitation that was viewed by Bloomberg Law.

Harris outraising Trump in this arena isn’t new. Lawyers gave more to the vice president in the first 10 days of her presidential campaign than to Trump in nearly two years.

Dwindling Support for Trump

Trump’s PAC, the Trump 47 Committee, did not receive any contributions from self-identified lawyers or attorneys during the same period, following a continued trend.

Trump’s donations from attorneys has wound down from earlier this year. Trump’s Big Law backers have been much more muted about their support compared with their Harris-supporting counterparts who have rushed to pad Harris’ campaign coffers. Lawyers who support Trump are worried about repercussions including ticking off clients and messing with their firms’ bottom lines.

Lawyers historically have given more—and in recent elections, much more—in individual contributions to Democrats than Republicans in presidential elections. But Trump has seen a small fraction of support from Big Law.

Kirkland & Ellis partner Norm Champ gave the Republican National Committee more than $88,000 in April and the Trump 47 Committee another $100,000 that same month. Michael DeSombre, former ambassador to Thailand and current Sullivan & Cromwell partner, gave $50,000 to Trump’s committee in May 2024. Fierce critic of the US Securities and Exchange Commission Stuart Alderoty—chief legal officer of crypto firm Ripple—gave the Trump 47 Committee $300,000 in June.

Trump is getting support from other deep-pocketed donors outside of the legal profession. Elon Musk gave $75 million to a super PAC that’s powering Trump’s get-out-the-vote operations in battleground states.