Wake Up Call: DOJ Taps Immigration Lawyers for Denaturalization

Welcome to Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call, a daily rundown of the top news for lawyers, law firms, and in-house counsel.

• The Justice Department is assigning immigration lawyers to work on denaturalization cases. Axios reports that lawyers from US Citizenship and Immigration Services are being temporarily moved to US attorneys’ offices as officials seek to strip citizenship from some naturalized Americans accused of fraud. DOJ has made these cases a priority, filing 35 since the start of Trump’s second term, though the burden of proof remains high. (Axios)
• Michael Cohen plans to file a claim with DOJ’s new anti-weaponization fund. CBS News reports that Trump’s former lawyer, now a critic of the president, is preparing a claim letter and says the issues that prompted Trump to sue the government are “identical” to his own. DOJ says there are no partisan requirements for claims for payouts from the $1.8 billion fund, which has faced widespread criticism. (CBS News)
• Zohran Mamdani’s chief counsel has a history of challenging government authority. The New York Times’ Emma Goldberg profiles the New York City mayor’s top legal adviser, Ramzi Kassem, whose background has drawn scrutiny from some New Yorkers. A Columbia Law graduate and CUNY Law professor, Kassem has previously sued the NYPD over surveillance of Muslim New Yorkers and has represented clients including Guantánamo detainees and Mahmoud Khalil. (New York Times)
• Eric Swalwell is spending big to fend off sexual misconduct claims. The disgraced politician’s campaign paid Sara Azari’s New York law firm more than $313,000, according to his most recent disclosure spanning from April 19 to May 16. (New York Post)
  

Laterals, Moves, In-House

• John Ormonde joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in its state and local tax practice in Washington, DC.
• Shaun Kennedy joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in its government contracts practice in Denver.
• Michael Leard joined Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in its litigation practice in Boston.