FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside of the law firm Perkins Coie at their legal offices in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
In a major blow to President Donald Trump, a federal judge has permanently blocked his executive order punishing a prominent law firm that represented anti-Trump clients.
The executive order in question targeted Perkins Coie, the law firm that represented the group commissioning the "Steele Dossier" detailing alleged ties between Trump and Russia, as well as plaintiffs who overturned GOP-backed restrictions on voting rights. Trump ordered Perkins Coie barred from government contracts and federal buildings, and also ordered an investigation into the firm's hiring practices and a review of security clearances of its employees.
Several other law firms were targeted by similar orders, and some persuaded Trump to lift them by agreeing to deals to commit millions of dollars in free legal work for causes Trump supports. Perkins Coie, however, sued the administration, alleging the executive order violated their constitutional rights.
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U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell agreed in a new order, finding that Trump's action "violates the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and is therefore null and void."
She ordered all the restrictions on Perkins Coie to be immediately reversed, to halt all security clearance review of the firm, and ordered the administration "to notify all officers, staff, employees, and independent contractors subject to Executive Order 14230 that Executive Order 14230 is unlawful, null and void in its entirety and therefore should be disregarded, including all prior formal or informal advice, opinions, or direction previously received or communicated to effectuate, implement, or enforce Executive Order 14230."
This comes following reports that many of the other law firms that signed deals with Trump may ultimately have had a different understanding of what they agreed to than the president did.