A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump‘s executive order targeting the Jenner & Block law firm, making it the second time such an order has been declared unconstitutional by a court.
Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the president’s March executive order was unlawful, issuing a ruling months after pausing the order.
“This order, like the others, seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers. It thus violates the Constitution and the Court will enjoin its operation in full,” Bates, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said in his ruling Friday.
Trump’s executive order pointed to the firm’s past employment of left-wing lawyer Andrew Weissmann as a reason for its security clearances to be stripped and its federal contracts to be revoked.
“Jenner & Block LLP (Jenner) is yet another law firm that has abandoned the profession’s highest ideals, condoned partisan ‘lawfare,’ and abused its pro bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States,” the struck-down executive order said.
Jenner & Block said it was “pleased” with Friday’s ruling, which it claimed was unlawful.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to decisively strike down an unconstitutional attack on our clients’ right to have zealous, independent counsel and our firm’s right to represent our clients fully and without compromise. This is the second ruling striking down these executive orders, which — as the court found — threaten ‘not only the First Amendment but also the right to counsel’s promise of a conflict-free attorney ‘devoted solely to the interests of his client,’” the firm said in a statement.
Friday’s ruling was the second time this month a Trump executive order targeting a law firm was declared unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found a similar executive order targeting the Perkins Coie law firm to be unlawful.
TRUMP SEEKS END TO FLORES DECREE LONG USED TO PUSH LIBERAL ‘OPEN BORDERS’ AGENDA
“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,’” Howell said in her ruling earlier this month.
The struck-down executive orders are some of the various ones targeting law firms linked to the Democratic Party, along with firms that had been adversarial toward Trump. Although some firms negotiated with Trump either after being targeted or to avoid being targeted, others, such as Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block, challenged the actions in federal court.
