
Trump signs order suspending security clearances for employees of Perkins Coie, citing DEI practices
CNN
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday suspending the security clearances of employees at Perkins Coie, citing the law firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday suspending the security clearances of employees at Perkins Coie, citing the law firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices. “This is an absolute honor to sign,” the president said in the Oval Office. Perkins Coie has long been among the private Washington law firms most known for its work in Democratic Party politics. For several years, elections lawyer Marc Elias, who coordinated legal efforts for many Democratic campaigns and the party itself, was with the firm, which still handles legal work for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The firm was also a magnet for Trump’s anger after the 2016 election because it had used Democratic Party money to hire the opposition research firm that commissioned the Russia dossier about Trump and his campaign. In recent weeks, the firm has joined many other lawyers who are opposing the administration’s actions publicly in court. Half a dozen Perkins Coie attorneys are working on a case challenging Trump’s ban on trans service members. “We have reviewed the Executive Order. It is patently unlawful, and we intend to challenge it,” a Perkins Coie spokesperson said in a statement to CNN when reached for comment.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









