Judges block Trump executive orders targeting law firms tied to Mueller probe
CNN
A federal judge late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block, one of two firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish.
Two federal judges in separate rulings late Friday froze parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting the law firms Jenner & Block and WilmerHale, both firms linked to the Robert Mueller investigation Trump has sought to punish. There have now been direct and separate rebukes by three judges of the Trump administration’s retaliatory policies toward law firms. All three judges have said core constitutional protections are likely violated by the orders – for people and companies to choose their own attorneys and for firms to be shielded from political retribution because of their speech. The temporary restraining order in the Jenner & Block case, announced by Judge John Bates at the end of a hastily scheduled Friday hearing, pauses parts of the order instructing agencies to terminate contracts with the firm and its clients, as well as the order’s directives seeking to limit the firm’s access to federal officials and buildings. Bates said those directives, as well as another he paused aiming to crack down on former Jenner employees being hired for government jobs, were likely unconstitutional because they retaliated against protected speech and were a form of view point discrimination. Language in Trump order’s expressing his desire to sanction the firm for pro bono work for causes the president disagrees with was “disturbing” and “troubling,” Bates said. The Jenner & Block hearing began minutes after a different judge in the same courthouse heard a similar request from WilmerHale, which was also targeted by Trump in an executive order issued this week. Judge Richard Leon issued his order late Friday blocking parts of Trump’s executive order that denied attorneys for the law firm WilmerHale access to federal buildings and retaliated against firm clients with government contracts.
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