It is just totally weird that the Trump administration is targeting major law firms. I wrote about that odd new practice here. Pres. Trump has now targeted a handful of law firms. Two of those firms, Perkins Coie and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, have filed lawsuits seeking protection from these strange Executive Orders. Not surprisingly, the Federal judges hearing those matters are very skeptical about the President’s EOs. U.S. DistrictJudge Beryl Howell asked DOJ in one hearing:
“Is this a throwback to the McCarthy era, the Red Scare era?”
One of the acts of retribution taken by those EO’s is suspension of security clearances. The EO’s generally suspend the security clearance for 2,000 attorneys due to the lawful actions of one person. In one hearing, Judge Howell asked the question – after reviewing a Declaration from a former Department of Defense official who oversaw security clearances. That DOD official noted that a blanket suspension of clearances “harkens” back to the days of the Red Scare when such actions were taken. The official was likely explaining that lifting clearances for hundreds of lawyers at a time is just very odd.
In a separate hearing U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, the DOJ lawyer argued that suspending security clearances is a valid exercise of the executive branch. Judge Leon, replied that it appeared to him to be “pretty clear” this was retaliation for free speech, not a valid executive function. See ABA Bar Journal report here. It is unusual for a Federal Judge to make such clear remarks during the hearing. That suggests it is indeed clear these Eos amount to retaliation.
The Above the Law blog has created a BigLaw Spine Index to track how the big firms are responding to Pres. Trump’s unheard of EOs. See that Index here.