A federal judge Wednesday issued a temporary block to President Donald Trump’s executive order against the law firm Perkins Coie for its election work representing his political opponents.
District Judge Beryl Howell, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said Trump’s order was clearly “retaliatory in nature” against Perkins Coie.
Trump’s order set off alarms over its potential to undermine fair elections and the U.S.’ adversarial justice system by intimidating attorneys or law firms who might represent the president’s political opponents.
Trump’s order called on agencies to suspend Perkins Coie lawyers’ security credentials, to bar the lawyers from accessing government buildings and to terminate any contract they had with the firm — effectively paralyzing the firm’s ability to represent clients dealing with the federal government.
It specifically said Perkins Coie employees having access to government buildings would “threaten the national security” of the U.S. because of the firm’s work with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Howell’s restraining order prevents the Trump administration from barring Perkins Coie employees from accessing government buildings. However, it does not apply to the security clearance reviews called for in Trump’s order, the judge noted.
Perkins Coie, who is being represented by Williams & Connolly, argued in its lawsuit that Trump’s order “is an abusive, irrational abuse of power that shocks the conscience” and violated...
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