Court rules presidential memo targeting Washington lawyer Mark Zaid amounts to political retaliation and cannot be enforced against him.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from stripping the security clearance of prominent Washington attorney Mark Zaid, dealing another legal setback to President Donald Trump’s efforts to target perceived political opponents.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali issued a preliminary injunction preventing the enforcement of a March presidential memorandum that ordered the revocation of Zaid’s clearance. The directive also named 14 other individuals, but, according to the ruling, could not be applied to Zaid as written.
The decision came the same day the Supreme Court declined to approve Trump’s request to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area, marking a second courtroom loss for the administration in a single day. Together, the rulings underscore how Trump’s policy and personnel actions have been repeatedly slowed or halted by judges since his return to office.
As reported by The Washington Post, Zaid filed suit in May, arguing that the revocation was motivated by politics rather than legitimate security concerns. In court filings, he described the Trump administration’s move as “improper political retribution” that threatened his ability to represent clients involved in sensitive national security matters.
Judge Ali agreed, writing that the government cannot use expedited clearance revocations to punish...
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