President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday seeking to severely punish the law firm Perkins Coie by stripping its lawyers of security clearances and access to government buildings and officials — a form of payback for its legal work for Democrats during the 2016 presidential campaign.
With the order, Perkins Coie becomes the second such firm to be targeted by the president. Late last month, he signed a similar memorandum attacking Covington & Burling, which has done pro bono legal work for Jack Smith, who as special counsel pursued two separate indictments of Mr. Trump.
While the Covington memorandum sought to strip clearances and contracts from that firm, the Perkins Coie order goes much further, seeking to also limit its lawyers’ access to federal buildings, officials and jobs in a way that could cast a chilling effect over the entire legal profession.
The president’s animosity toward Perkins Coie dates back eight years, to when two lawyers at the firm, Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann, played roles in what eventually became an F.B.I. investigation to determine if anyone on the 2016 Trump presidential campaign conspired with Russian agents to influence the outcome of that election. Both lawyers left that firm years ago.
The executive order denounces what it calls “dishonest and dangerous activity” at Perkins Coie, singling out its hiring of a research firm that led to the compilation of a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations against Mr. Trump related to possible ties between his campaign and Russia. The executive order accused the firm of “undermining democratic elections, the integrity of our courts and honest law enforcement.”
The order instructs federal agencies to suspend any security clearances that Perkins Coie lawyers may have. It also orders government agencies to determine if they have any contracts with the law firm, and then cancel them.
Additionally, the order instructs the heads of all federal agencies to limit Perkins Coie lawyers’ access to federal buildings “when such access would threaten the national security of or otherwise be inconsistent with the interests of the United States.” It also instructs federal officials to limit their interactions with employees of the firm and seeks to prevent Perkins Coie lawyers from being hired by the federal government.
It is not clear what immediate effect the presidential decree will have on the firm. The president and his supporters have railed against what they call the “weaponization” of the legal system against him, arguing that he was unfairly targeted by prosecutors, judges and private practice lawyers for political purposes, rather than any wrongdoing on his part.
“This is an absolute honor to sign,” Mr. Trump said at the White House. “What they’ve done is just terrible. It’s weaponization, you could say weaponization against a political opponent, and it should never be allowed to happen again.”
The same executive order also accuses the firm of unfair hiring practices, and calls for a far-reaching review of top law firms to see if they promote diversity, equity or inclusion in a way that the Trump administration dislikes.
The federal review ordered by Mr. Trump will seek to determine “whether large law firms reserve certain positions, such as summer associate spots, for individuals of preferred races; promote individuals on a discriminatory basis; permit client access on a discriminatory basis; or provide access to events, trainings or travel on a discriminatory basis.”
In a written statement, the law firm said the executive order “is patently unlawful, and we intend to challenge it.” It was not immediately clear how many lawyers at the firm have security clearances.
Mr. Trump filed a lawsuit against Perkins Coie in 2022, accusing the firm, along with his former rival Hillary Clinton and others, of participating in a left-wing conspiracy to derail his presidential campaign. That lawsuit was quickly tossed by a judge who said it lacked substance and legal support.
Earlier this week, the president of the American Bar Association, William R. Bay, warned that Mr. Trump might take additional punitive measures against law firms he does not like, and said such behavior undermines the nation’s legal system.
“Lawyers must be free to represent clients and perform their ethical duty without fear of retribution,” Mr. Bay said in a written statement. He added: “We reject the notion that the government can punish lawyers who represent certain clients or punish judges who rule certain ways. We cannot accept government actions that seek to tip the scales of justice in this manner.”
Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.
