By Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) -A judge in Washington on Tuesday struck down an executive order targeting law firm WilmerHale, marking the third ruling to overwhelmingly reject President Donald Trump’s efforts to punish firms he perceives as enemies of his administration.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, said Trump’s order retaliated against the firm in violation of U.S. constitutional protections for free speech and due process.
WilmerHale is the former home of Robert Mueller, the Republican-appointed special counsel who led a probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and Trump campaign ties to Moscow. Trump has derided the investigation as a political “witch hunt.”
Leon barred federal agencies from enforcing the March 27 executive order against WilmerHale, a 1,100-lawyer firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and across the country.
WilmerHale was among four law firms that sued the administration over Trump’s orders seeking to bar their attorneys from federal buildings and to strip their clients of U.S. federal government contracts.
Trump accused the firms of “weaponizing” the justice system against him and his allies.
WilmerHale called Trump’s order “flagrantly” unconstitutional, arguing it violated its rights to speech, due process and equal protection under the law. The firm in its lawsuit was represented by prominent conservative lawyer Paul Clement, who was the U.S. solicitor general during the George W. Bush presidency.
In a related lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell on May 2 overturned Trump’s executive order against law firm Perkins Coie, ruling that “settling personal vendettas by targeting a disliked business or individual for punitive government action is not a legitimate use of the powers of the U.S. government or an American President.”
On May 23, U.S. District Judge John Bates in D.C. issued a similar ruling that struck down Trump’s order against Jenner & Block. A fourth judge is weighing whether to overturn an executive order that targeted Susman Godfrey.
The U.S. Justice Department has defended Trump’s orders in court, arguing in each case that Trump was lawfully exercising his presidential power and discretion.
The Justice Department can appeal Leon’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Nine law firms, including Paul Weiss, Latham & Watkins; Skadden Arps; and Willkie Farr, reached deals with Trump that averted punitive actions, pledging a combined total of nearly $1 billion in free legal services to advance causes he supports.
Trump’s targeting of firms has drawn condemnation from many within the legal industry. Some have criticized the firms that reached agreements as capitulating to presidential coercion.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; editing by David Bario and Bill Berkrot)
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