Judge strikes down executive order targeting WilmerHale in latest blow to Trump’s retaliation against major law firms
By Devan Cole, CNN
(CNN) — A federal judge on Tuesday struck down an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year targeting the elite law firm WilmerHale, becoming the latest jurist to permanently block enforcement of an order they concluded is unconstitutional.
The ruling from US District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, represents the third time this month that a judge in Washington, DC, has ruled against Trump in his efforts to punish law firms that have employed his perceived political enemies or represented clients who have challenged his initiatives.
The 73-page preliminary injunction, which is replete with exclamation marks, is a striking rebuke of Trump’s order targeting WilmerHale. The executive order, like others aimed at different firms, denied WilmerHale attorneys access to federal buildings and retaliated against firm clients with government contracts. It also suspended security clearances for lawyers at the firm.
“Any one of those sanctions would cause clients to strongly reconsider their engagements with WilmerHale,” Leon wrote. “Taken together, the provisions constitute a staggering punishment for the firm’s protected speech! The Order is intended to, and does in fact, impede the firm’s ability to effectively represent its clients!”
The judge said the executive order signed by Trump in late March violates the firm’s First Amendment rights and its right to due process.
WilmerHale is one of the largest law firms in Washington — and former professional home to onetime special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and is now retired.
The firm is also often at the heart of politically charged disputes, especially related to congressional probes, Justice Department enforcement and in the tech industry. In recent years, lawyers from WilmerHale represented Twitter — now Elon Musk’s X — when special counsel Jack Smith sought and obtained some of Trump’s private social media data. Its attorneys are also frequently behind liberal-leaning political causes that make their way into court.
After the firm rushed to court to challenge the order, Leon halted nearly every part of the order.
Trump’s executive order claimed that WilmerHale has “abandoned the profession’s highest ideals and abused its pro bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States.” The order specifically noted Mueller’s ties to the firm.
Tuesday’s ruling comes several days after a different judge in Leon’s courthouse — John Bates — issued a similar ruling overturning Trump’s order targeting the firm Jenner & Block, which also has connections to Mueller. And earlier this month, a third judge in the same courthouse permanently barred the government from enforcing a separate order from the president that sought to punish the firm Perkins Coie.
CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.
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