Perkins Coie, law firm targeted by Trump, wins temporary restraining order
A federal judge on Wednesday said she will temporarily halt President Donald Trump's new restrictions on law firm Perkins Coie, which represented Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 bid for the presidency.
In a March 6 executive order, Trump directed federal agencies to terminate contracts with Perkins Coie "to the extent permitted by law," to limit the firm's approximately 1,200 lawyers' access to federal buildings and federal employees, and to halt security clearances for employees at the firm. By explanation, the order claimed the law firm hired Fusion GPS to compile of dossier of information critical of Trump while it was representing Clinton, and − in reference to its workforce diversity and inclusion policies − that the firm discriminates on the basis of race in hiring decisions
Judge Beryl Howell said at a hearing Wednesday that she would issue a temporary restraining order to block Trump's order while the firm's lawsuit challenging it plays out.
"I am sure many in the legal profession are watching in horror about what Perkins Coie is going through here," she said.
In its lawsuit, the firm accused Trump of seeking to destroy it based on "a tiny sliver" of its work.
"The Order is not just an attempt to constrain or weaken Perkins Coie; its objective is to destroy the Firm," the firm said in a filing. "Unless restrained, the Order realistically might succeed in that objective within days based on the weight of the federal pressure being deployed against the Firm’s clients."
The firm also warned of far-reaching potential consequences if the order remains in place.
"By punishing a law firm for its advocacy on behalf of clients whom the President disfavors, the Executive Order is designed to have a chilling effect extending far beyond Perkins Coie," the firm wrote in its request for a temporary restraining order.
A lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department, Chad Mizelle, argued at the hearing that the president has broad power to determine that some individuals and companies cannot be trusted with the country's secrets.
"We have a lot of law firms that we're going to be going after, because they were very dishonest people," Trump told the Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" program on Sunday.
Perkins Coie in a statement called Howell’s ruling “an important first step in ensuring this unconstitutional Executive Order is never enforced.”
Contributing: Reuters
This story was updated to include additional information.