A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's administration Wednesday from enforcing portions of an executive order designed to punish a prominent law firm linked to Democrat-funded opposition research during the 2016 presidential campaign into alleged ties between the Republican candidate and Russia.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington granted a temporary restraining order sought by the firm, Perkins Coie, one day after it filed a federal lawsuit alleging it's being illegally targeted because of its legal work. The judge said the president's action sends a chilling message that lawyers can be punished for representing clients or advancing views unfavorable to the administration.
"Such a circumstance threatens the very foundation of or legal system," said Howell, who was nominated to the bench by Democrat President Barack Obama. "Our justice system is based on the fundamental belief that justice works best when all parties have zealous advocates."
The order came during an extraordinary court hearing in which Attorney General Pam Bondi's chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, defended the latest in a series of retributive moves targeting the president's perceived adversaries. It's highly unusual for such a high-ranking Justice Department official to argue on behalf of the government in the trial court.
Mizelle, who's also serving as the acting associate attorney general, argued that the president has the clear authority to take action against entities he believes present a threat to national security.
"If that means excluding individuals that are no longer trustworthy with the nation's secrets, that's a bedrock principle of our republic," Mizelle said.
Perkins Coie says it's already suffering financial consequences of the order, which calls for limiting firm employees' access to federal buildings and terminating any government contacts of its clients. The judge's temporary restraining order doesn't block the administration from enforcing another provision that seeks to strip Perkins Coie attorneys of security clearances.
Perkins Coie says all 15 of its top clients have government contracts, and several clients have already ended their legal arrangements with the firm or threatened to do so. Dane Butswinkas, an attorney representing Perkins Coie, said keeping the order in place will "spell the end of the law firm."
"This executive order takes a wrecking ball to the rule of law, to the principles that promote democracy," Butswinkas said.
Perkins Coie represented the 2016 presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump's opponent, and also represented Democrats in a variety of voting rights challenges during the 2020 election. The firm made headlines in 2017 when it was revealed to have hired a private investigative research firm during the 2016 campaign to conduct opposition research on Trump. That firm, Fusion GPS, subsequently retained a former British spy, Christopher Steele, who researched whether Trump and Russia had suspicious ties.
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