Yet another of President Donald Trump's executive orders punishing law firms associated with advocacy he opposed has been struck down, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
"Siding with WilmerHale, which sued to block the president’s order, Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia wrotethat Mr. Trump appeared intent on coercing the firm to the bargaining table under the threat of harsh penalties," reported Zach Montague. This decision, the report continued, "was welcome news for the handful of law firms that opted to fight the White House even as several of their peers caved to the pressure campaign and made deals with Mr. Trump to avoid persecution."
The order, like several others targeting other law firms, prohibited WilmerHale — which has ties to former special counsel Robert Mueller, who headed up the investigation into Russian interference on Trump's behalf in the 2016 election — from federal contracts, barred their attorneys from federal buildings, and ordered a review of any security clearances associated with them.
Several law firms singled out by such orders, or under threat of same, cut deals with the White House to give millions of dollars in pro bono legal services to causes Trump supports. WilmerHale, however, sued, calling the order "unlawful."
Leon concurred, writing in his ruling that “the cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this.”
Other law firms have also fought back, including Perkins Coie, who represented the group that commissioned the "Steele Dossier" alleging many salicious details, some unproven, about the compromat Russia had on Trump. A federal judge declared the order barring that firm from doing business with the federal government "null and void in its entirety" earlier this month.