WASHINGTON, D.C.—In less than 24 hours after filing a lawsuit against President Donald J Trump’s executive order addressing the weaponization of government and national security concerns of law firm Perkins Coie LLP, United States District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., a President Barrack Obama appointee, granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, March 12, sought by the firm. Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based law firm was represented by law firm Williams & Connolly.
“The chilling effect of this executive order threatens to undermine our entire legal system and the ability of all individuals to access justice in the American judicial system,” Howell said. “The public interest therefore demands that the TRO be issued to protect the integrity of the judicial system.”
Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown on Wednesday led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie LLP. Joining Brown were the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The temporary restraining order only blocks parts of the Trump’s executive order titled, “Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP.” The order sought to:
- Immediately suspended security clearances held by individuals at Perkins Coie LLP
- Immediately suspended federal agencies from hiring Perkins Coie LLP employees unless specifically authorized
- Immediately suspended federal agencies from sharing sensitive material with Perkins Coie LLP
- Immediately restricted Perkins Coie employees from entering federal buildings
- Prohibit the funding of government contractors that use Perkins Coie LLP pending a “rigorous scrutiny”
- Immediate Title VII review of Perkins Coie LLP to ensure compliance with civil rights laws against racial bias.
Judge Howell’s order did not blocked security clearances for the firms attorneys nor an investigation into whether the firm “reserve certain positions, such as summer associate spots, for individuals of preferred races; promote individuals on a discriminatory basis; permit client access on a discriminatory basis; or provide access to events, trainings, or travel on a discriminatory basis.”
Dane Butswinkas, of Williams & Connolly representing Perkins Coie, argued that the president acted outside the bounds of his executive authority and that the “executive order takes a wrecking ball to the rule of law, to the principles that promote democracy.”
Butswinkas also said that keeping the order in place will “spell the end of the law firm [Perkins Coie]” adding that 15 of its top clients are under government contracts and several clients have already ended or threatening to sever their relationship with his client, Perkins Coie.
In 2016, Perkins Coie LLP hired Fusion GPS to manufacture a false “dossier” (aka. The Steele Dossier or the Trump-Russia Dossier) designed to influence the 2016 election while representing then-presidential Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton who was running against Republican presidential candidate Donald J Trump.
Marc Elias, who worked for Perkins Coie at the time of the dossier and left the firm in 2021, contracted with Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on then-candidate Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Fusion GPS subsequently retained then-British spy, Christopher Steele, who researched and compiled the dossier into whether Trump was a Russian asset. The claims were investigated by the FBI and found to be unsubstantiated.
Perkins Coie LLP pushed debunked claims of secret Trump-Russia communications via Alfa Bank, with its attorney Michael Sussmann who was later indicted for lying to the FBI about this scheme.
In March 2022, the FEC fined Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign $8,000 and the Democratic National Committee $105,000 for not properly disclosing the money they spent for the fake dossier.
Perkins Coie also represented Democrats in a variety of voting rights challenges during the 2020 election. Trump’s executive order also alleged that Perkins Coie LLP worked with activist donors, including George Soros, to judicially overturn enacted election laws, such as those requiring voter identification.
“Regardless of whether the president dislikes the firm’s clients, dislikes the litigation positions the law firm takes in vigorous representation of those clients or dislikes the results Perkins Coie achieved for its clients,” Judge Howell said, “issuing an executive order targeting the firm based on the president’s dislike of the political positions of the firm’s clients or the firm’s litigation positions is retaliatory and runs head-on into the role of First Amendment protection.”
Perkins Coie in a statement praising Wednesday’ ruling wrote: “Today’s decision granting our motion for a temporary restraining order is an important first step in ensuring this unconstitutional Executive Order is never enforced. We will follow the court’s direction regarding next steps and will continue to challenge the Executive Order, which threatens our firm, our clients, and core constitutional protections important to all Americans.”
Author: Mario Lotmore
