A judge ruled against the Trump administration and temporarily blocked parts of the president’s order targeting the infamous Perkins Coie law firm.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said Wednesday that the order from President Donald Trump was likely unlawful and issued a temporary restraining order against parts of the command.
‘I am sure that many in the legal profession are watching in horror at what Perkins Coie is going through here.’
The firm is most famously known for being involved in the Trump dossier debacle that Democrats used to accuse Trump of collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump ordered the suspension of all active security clearances held by people at the law firm and ordered the Office of Management and Budget to identify federal properties and assets used by the firm in order to terminate their access.
Howell said the order likely violated the Constitution in relation to free speech as well as due process.
“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,” Howell wrote in the decision, “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.”
The temporary restraining order only pertains to three of six sections in accordance with the wishes of the firm.
“I am sure that many in the legal profession are watching in horror at what Perkins Coie is going through here,” Howell added at the hearing.
Howell was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
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