Perkins Coie files suit to block Trump executive order aimed at punishing firm

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: ABC

The law firm Perkins Coie has filed suit against the Trump administration over an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week that targeted the firm for its work representing Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.

Attorneys representing Perkins Coie filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with a request for a temporary restraining order to bar enforcement of the executive order.

"The Order is an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice," the lawsuit said. "Its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients."

It's the first legal challenge in what Trump has previewed will be a wave of executive actions seeking to punish law firms that have represented his perceived political enemies.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/perkins-coie-files-suit-block-trump-executive-order/story

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Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Law Firm Targeted By Trump Executive Order Sues Administration

trjump's executive orders need to be challenged
 

Link to tweet

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-perkins-coie-lawsuit-executive-order/

The law firm Perkins Coie filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday, challenging an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week that appeared to punish the firm for its election work representing his political opponents.

The order has drawn criticism for its potential to undermine fair elections by intimidating attorneys or law firms who might represent Democrats.

Perkins Coie, which is being represented by Williams & Connolly, argued that Trump’s order violated federal law and “is an affront to the Constitution and our adversarial system of justice.”

“Its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the President perceives as adverse to the views of his Administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients,” the lawsuit reads.

Trump’s order called on agencies to suspend Perkins Coie lawyers’ security credentials, to bar the lawyers from accessing government buildings and to terminate any contract they had with the firm — effectively paralyzing the firm’s ability to represent clients dealing with the federal government.

Trump claimed Perkins Coie employees having access to government buildings would “threaten the national security” of the U.S. because of the firm’s work with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. "Judge Beryl Howell will hold on hearing on whether to issue a TRO *tomorrow* (Weds.) at 2 p.m."

Reposted by Adam Klasfeld

‪Joyce White Vance‬ ‪@joycewhitevance.bsky.social‬
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2h
This is going to be a big test for the rule of law as well as for the constitutionality of Trump's executive order that focuses on lawyers from doing their jobs.

https://bsky.app/profile/joycewhitevance.bsky.social/post/3lk5346aevc23

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Adam Klasfeld‬ ‪@klasfeldreports.com‬
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2h
That didn't take long.

Judge Beryl Howell will hold on hearing on whether to issue a TRO blocking portions of Trump's executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie *tomorrow* (Weds.) at 2 p.m.

The firm sued the Trump admin *today.*

https://bsky.app/profile/klasfeldreports.com/post/3lk52kvs7242r

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "Williams & Connolly put *14* individual lawyers' names in the signature block of their complaint."

Reposted by Jesse Eisinger

‪George Conway‬ ‪@gtconway.bsky.social‬
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3h
I cannot overstate how much I love the fact that Williams & Connolly put *14* individual lawyers’ names in the signature block of their complaint.

W&C is sending a clear message: We are not afraid.

BRAVO.

https://bsky.app/profile/gtconway.bsky.social/post/3lk4xqbrerc2j

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Adam Klasfeld‬ ‪@klasfeldreports.com‬
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3h
Perkins Coie, which helped defeat Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 election, fights Trump's order targeting the firm as a violation of the 1st, 5th and 6th Amendments and the separation of powers.

"Perkins Coie cannot allow its clients to be bullied." https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278290/gov.uscourts.dcd.278290.1.0.pdf

https://bsky.app/profile/klasfeldreports.com/post/3lk4vdoc6ap2k

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. I love that too

Williams and Connolly is a world class law firm and I am glad that they took this case

[Teacher of the Year]

4. LOL....he banned law firm employees from entering government buildings.

LOL.... can't wait to see the first lawsuit about being banned from the post office.

[mackdaddy]

6. Federal Court houses are Gov't Buildings.

Maybe Trump will try to have them barred from entering them too.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Judge temporarily blocks part of Trump's executive order against prominent Democratic Party-tied law firm Perkins Coie

The judge was correct to enjoin this crazy executive order. I am surprised that they found a DOJ stupid enough to go defend this clearly void executive order

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/politics/perkins-coie-trump-executive-order-challenge

A federal judge on Wednesday halted parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order that targeted a Democratic-linked law firm.

US District Judge Beryl Howell sided with the firm Perkins Coie, which represented Hillary Clinton in 2016 and has been involved in election litigation that Trump opposed.

Howell granted the firm’s request for a temporary restraining order for some sections of Trump’s order. The parts being blocked include its limitations on government contracts with clients of the firm and the potential restrictions it puts on the firm’s employees, such as bans on hiring those employees for government positions or barring their access to federal buildings.

The executive order, Howell said, is “a punishment for a singled-out entity being disloyal.”

This order is based on a view of presidential executive power that was rejected by Judge Howell

The ruling came near the end of a hearing where the top aide to the attorney general argued that the president should be trusted without question if he wants to blacklist or sanction businesses or people as he sees fit across the country.

The argument from Chad Mizelle, the chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, is one of staggering presidential power.

Howell, a Barack Obama appointee, was flabbergasted by Mizelle’s argument, saying it sent “chills down my spine” to hear the president could bar all government business with a particular company or person. Howell compared that type of decision by the president to Treasury Department economic sanctions that are decided by the Office of Foreign Assets Control related to national security.

“Your view is, ‘Don’t be chilled, judge. You can just trust the president to draw the right line, and yes, he has that power?’” Howell asked. “And that’s the government’s position here?”

“100 percent,” Mizelle said. “The president has every right to take that action.”

Mizelle also argued the courts shouldn’t be able to limit the president’s authority, especially as he decides upon lawyers’ security clearances or other access questions related to national security.