Judge rejects another Trump executive order targeting the legal community

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday struck down another of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan ruled that the order against the firm of Susman Godfrey was unconstitutional and must be permanently blocked.

The order was the latest ruling to reject Trump’s efforts to punish law firms for legal work he does not like and for employing attorneys he perceives as his adversaries. Susman Godfrey suggested that it had drawn Trump’s ire at least in part because it represented Dominion Voting Systems in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News over false claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election. The suit ended in a massive settlement.

Other judges in recent weeks have blocked similar orders against the firms of Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie and WilmerHale. The orders have sought to impose similar sanctions, including the suspension of security clearances of attorneys and the restriction of access to federal buildings.

“The order was one in a series attacking firms that had taken positions with which President Trump disagreed. In the ensuing months, every court to have considered a challenge to one of these orders has found grave constitutional violations and permanently enjoined enforcement of the order in full,” AliKhan wrote. “Today, this court follows suit, concluding that the order targeting Susman violates the U.S. Constitution and must be permanently enjoined.”

In a statement, the firm called the ruling “a resounding victory for the rule of law and the right of every American to be represented by legal counsel without fear of retaliation.”

“We applaud the Court for declaring the administration’s order unconstitutional. Our firm is committed to the rule of law and to protecting the rights of our clients without regard to their political or other beliefs. Susman Godfrey’s lawyers and staff live these values every day,” the statement said.

Other major firms have sought to avert orders by preemptively reaching settlements that require them, among other things, to collectively dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars in free legal services in support of causes the Trump administration says it supports.

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