President Donald Trump’s administration is still working to exact his vengeance against at least one of the law firms he has targeted, even as several firms are fighting back in court — largely successfully so far.
The latest evidence of the administration’s efforts comes from a court filing Tuesday to the judge handling the case of WilmerHale, one of the firms that sued instead of settling or pre-emptively cutting a deal with Trump. The firm told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that two WilmerHale lawyers received letters from a government agency telling them their security clearances have been suspended.
“This development underscores that the Executive Branch stands ready and willing to implement the Executive Order absent judicial intervention,” attorney Paul Clement, who’s representing the firm, wrote. He didn’t specify which agency sent the letters but said he would provide them under seal to the court if the judge asked to see them.
“It also underscores the need for any permanent relief this Court may grant not only to restrain future implementation of the Executive Order, but also to redress actions already taken pursuant to it,” Clement wrote. He added that if Leon is going to block enforcement of Trump’s order against WilmerHale, then the judge should direct the government:
to (1) nullify and reverse any and all suspensions or revocations of WilmerHale personnel’s security clearances that have been made pursuant to the Executive Order; (2) cease any and all reviews of WilmerHale personnel’s security clearances initiated pursuant to the Executive Order; and (3) nullify, reverse, and/or cease any other actions that may have been taken pursuant to the Executive Order.
Leon previously issued a temporary restraining order in March against parts of Trump’s WilmerHale executive order, but not the part about security clearances, citing the deference owed to the executive branch. He held a hearing last month about granting further relief to the firm and is yet to rule. Trump’s executive order against WilmerHale cited, among other things, the firm’s connection to Robert Mueller, who worked for the firm before and after he served as special counsel investigating Trump during his first presidential term.
In a lengthy ruling this month blocking the order against another targeted firm that sued, Perkins Coie, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell discussed the security clearance aspect of the order in that case. Howell cited Trump’s similar order against a third firm, Paul Weiss, which did cut a deal with the president and got the order against it revoked. “The speed of the reversal and the rationale provided in the Paul, Weiss Revocation Order, which focused only on agreements to advance policy initiatives of the Trump Administration,” Howell wrote, “further support the conclusion that national security considerations are not a plausible explanation” for restricting security clearances. The administration has similarly cited national security in defense of Trump’s WilmerHale order. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in the Trump administration’s legal cases.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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