Federal judge blocks Trump throttling of Perkins Coie

WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order that would bar the law firm Perkins Coie from engaging in any government business and entering government buildings, finding the order is clearly retaliatory and violates the First Amendment.

Perkins Coie sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, challenging Trump’s March 6 executive order targeting the firm for being apparently “inconsistent with the interests of the United States” and its national security.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, a Barack Obama appointee, granted a temporary restraining order requested by the firm to prevent enforcement of the order’s requirements that effectively bars government contracts with the firm and bars employees entering government buildings.

“The chilling effect of this executive order threatens to undermine our entire legal system and the ability of all individuals to access justice in the American judicial system,” Howell said. “The public interest therefore demands that the TRO be issued to protect the integrity of the judicial system.”

She noted the order would inflict serious harm to the firm’s 1,200 lawyers, as well as the 2,500 others employed at the firm such as mail room staff, IT staff and secretaries.

Dane Butswinkas, of Williams Connolly and representing Perkins Coie, argued Wednesday that the president’s order was like a “tsunami waiting to hit the firm.”

“It truly is life-threatening,” Butswinkas said. “It will spell the end of the law firm.”

Howell’s order does not address Trump’s decision to revoke the lawyers’ security clearances, nor an instruction to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate major firms for reserving certain intern positions for applicants of “preferred races.”

In his executive order, Trump described the firm as “dishonest and dangerous” and highlighted its connection to the 2016 “Steele Dossier,” which detailed claims the Trump campaign had ties to Russia. The claims were investigated by the FBI and found to be unsubstantiated.

Marc Elias, who left Perkins Coie in 2021, contracted with the research and intelligence firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Fusion then hired former British spy Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier.

“This may be amusing in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where the Queen of Hearts yells, ‘Off with their heads!’ at annoying subjects and announces a sentence before a verdict,” Howell said. “But this cannot be the reality we are living under.”

Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle defended the order, arguing that the president has the sole constitutional authority to determine whether an individual or entity poses a national security risk.

Mizelle repeatedly pushed back on Howell’s concern that the order amounted to viewpoint discrimination. He said that the basis for the order was the law firm’s conduct, not its views, and said the president had the prerogative to deem an entity “untrustworthy” to handle the nation’s secrets.

He refuted Butswinkas’ assertions that emergency relief was necessary over concerns that the firm’s employees would be barred from federal buildings, such as the Department of Justice and potentially the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, as unrealistic hypotheticals.

“What they’re complaining about is a series of boogeymen,” Mizelle said. “None of those ghosts are real. The boogeymen are not real.”

At one point, Mizelle suggested that First Amendment protections are more “nuanced” in a national security context, such as applications for security clearance.

He noted that the First Amendment protects even “abhorrent” speech, such as statements in support of terrorist groups or advocating to overthrow the government, but those statements easily sink a clearance application.

“Unless you have a green card,” Howell said in an aside, referencing pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend.

Mizelle agreed with the statement, adding that Khalil advocated for the violent overthrow of the government.

Howell pushed back and said that was not her understanding of Khalil’s speech criticizing Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Mizelle replied that there “are a lot of facts in that case that are tricky and not all public,” before quickly changing the subject.

Trump has similarly targeted law firm Covington Burling for its work with former special counsel Jack Smith and his two federal criminal cases against the president. Trump issued a memorandum directing Attorney General Pam Bondi and other agency heads to review the security clearances of those who worked with Smith and review all related contracts.

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