Dem
47
GOP
53
Last week, Donald Trump signed an XO that bans the federal government from hiring the elite Perkins Coie (Koo-ee) law firm, bans its employees from entering federal buildings, and bans and strips security clearances from all employees that have one. It also bans the federal government from using contractors represented by Perkins Coie. The firm represented Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016 and was also involved with the Steele dossier. The XO was thus another move to intimidate all people and companies in the U.S. from doing anything that Trump doesn't like. The firm did what lawyers do: It sued. Interestingly enough, it hired another law firm, Williams & Connolly, to defend it, even though it is one of the top law firms in the country itself, with over 1,000 lawyers and an annual revenue of over $1 billion.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a temporary restraining order blocking some of the penalties until she can hold a full hearing on the merits of the case. She said that the order could damage the integrity of the entire legal profession by intimidating lawyers from taking up cases that go against Trump's interests. She commended Williams & Connolly for taking the case, since it is probably now also on Trump's blacklist. She also noted that the XO was written in such a way that there could not possibly be any goal other than retribution. She also noted that it sent chills down her spine.
Howell may or may not have known that Perkins Coie first reached out to the firm of Quinn Emanuel to take the case, but Quinn refused because it was afraid of Trump punishing it for doing so. Several other top law firms also refused to handle the case. No profiles in courage here. Williams & Connolly was formed by famed defense lawyer Edward Bennett Williams, who defended many clients against the government. The firm prides itself on its willingness to take tough cases.
The lawsuit did not ask the judge to restore the firm's security clearances and she did not restore them. The president does have broad powers to grant or withdraw security clearances, even for malevolent reasons. Ordering the president to provide security clearances would probably fail on appeal even though the loss will hurt the firm economically by preventing them from handling national security cases (e.g., defending whistleblowers).
This is not the first time Trump has gone after a big white-shoe law firm. He also yanked all the security clearances from Covington & Burling for the sin of agreeing to defend former special counsel Jack Smith. Covington & Burling was so cowed by Trump that it didn't even fight back, despite the substantial economic loss. Now they know how Russian law firms feel—assuming Russia even has law firms.
Former federal prosecutor and current Duke law professor Samuel Buell said: "This is certainly the biggest affront to the legal profession in my lifetime." Another former federal prosecutor and current law professor (at Columbia) Daniel Richman said: "If you're a political enemy, you really need the best representation when the government comes after you for who you are. Chilling the lawyers who represent those people hurts the rule of law because when the government can't be legally opposed, the law provides no protections to anyone and you start to live in an autocracy." Last week, Acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., Ed Martin, told Georgetown Law School that he would stop hiring its graduates unless the law school abolished its DEI programs. Shakespeare put this a bit more crudely, but the idea is the same: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" (spoken by Dick the Butcher in Henry VI, Part II).
Meanwhile, AG Pam Bondi is even taking on the entire legal profession. She sent a letter to the American Bar Association questioning its DEI practices. She also barred a slew of government lawyers from attending the Bar Association's annual conference on white-collar crime, even though they usually go every year. It is clear that Trump and his henchwoman are hell-bent on destroying any law firm, law school, or organization of lawyers that refuses to obey his orders. This does not bode well for the rule of law since, if he succeeds, anyone the DoJ indicts will not be able to hire counsel. (V)