President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to strip all government security clearances from employees of Paul Weiss, one of the top law firms in the country and from attorney Mark Pomerantz.
The president's order, signed late Friday, also limits Paul Weiss employees' access to federal buildings and takes steps to take government contracts from the company's clients and firm, reports The Wall Street Journal Saturday.
The order cites the firm's pro bono work on a lawsuit from the D.C. attorney general's office against people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and cites its association with attorney Mark Pomerantz.
The attorney, who also lost his security clearances in the order, had worked at Paul Weiss for 20 years and had assisted in the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation into Trump and his business practices.
The order comes days after a federal judge scolded the administration for taking similar retaliation out against another law firm.
Paul Weiss, which has 1,200 lawyers, is the third major firm facing censure by the administration in recent weeks.
The company advises on some of Wall Street's biggest deals and marks the president's highest profile company to be targeted so far.
Paul Weiss often played a role in challenging Trump's first-administration policies but had not become involved so far this time around.
In Trump's order, he criticized global law firms, saying they play an "outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles."
He also slammed the pro bono work such firms provide, saying they give some Americans access to top legal talent they usually could not afford.
During Trump's first administration, Paul Weiss provided legal assistance to migrant families who had been separated at the Mexico-U.S. border.
A Paul Weiss spokeswoman said the order was mainly focused on Pomerantz, who had not been affiliated with the company for some time.
Another one of Trump's orders, targeting law firm Perkins Coie, is already being challenged.
Perkins Coie had worked with George Soros and Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 bid. It also had a role in working with a firm that compiled the "Russiagate" dossier against Trump that has since been discredited.
Judge Beryl Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, blocked the order against Perkins Coie, saying that it appears to violate constitutional principles that include the ability for clients to obtain legal representation.
The president has also issued a narrower order against the law firm of Covington & Burling for offering legal advice to former special counsel Jack Smith.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.