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U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie on Friday night, ruling his targeting of the law firm unconstitutional.
In a 102-page opinion, Howell excoriated Trump and called his efforts against Perkins Coie “an unprecedented attack” on the principles of the American judicial system.
“No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,’” she wrote.
It is the first ruling in which a judge has permanently blocked any of Trump’s efforts to target a law firm. In recent months, the president has sought to punish, via executive order, nearly a dozen firms over a range of grievances. Four of them, including Perkins Coie, have pushed back in court, but most have pre-emptively struck deals with the White House to avoid Trump’s wrath, as my colleague Steve Benen has pointed out.
Trump’s executive order against Perkins Coie, signed in early March, centered in part on the firm’s representation of his former presidential opponent Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign. He revoked security clearances for Perkins Coie employees, restricted their access to government buildings and ended government contracts with the firm.
In her ruling, Howell wrote in a footnote that other law firms have yielded to Trump, but that courts can review the legal merits of a case only when lawyers “make the choice to challenge rather than back down when confronted with government action.”
Perkins Coie said in a statement that Howell’s decision on Friday “affirms core constitutional freedoms all Americans hold dear, including free speech, due process, and the right to select counsel without the fear of retribution.”
“We are pleased with this decision and are immensely grateful to those who spoke up in support of our positions,” the firm said.
Whether the Trump administration plans to appeal Howell’s ruling is unclear. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to MSNBC’s request for comment.