A district court judge declared President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the Big Law firm WilmerHale unconstitutional.
In his ruling, federal Judge Richard Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said the executive order against WilmerHale was a form of “coercion” against the firm to “suppress WilmerHale’s representation of disfavored causes and clients.”
“I have concluded that this Order must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional,” Leon wrote. “Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!”
The decision marks the third straight victory for law firms suing the Trump administration over the executive orders targeting them.
Judges have also blocked executive orders targeting Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block. A final decision for Susman Godfrey, the fourth and most recent firm to sue the administration, remains pending, although a judge has already placed a restraining order preventing the implementation of Trump’s order.
Earlier in May, WilmerHale’s attorneys said the Trump administration suspended the security clearances of two of its lawyers. Judge Leon’s order on Tuesday requires government agencies to “immediately take any and all steps necessary to nullify and reverse any implementation” of Trump’s order.
“The Court’s decision to permanently block the unlawful executive order in its entirety strongly affirms our foundational constitutional rights and those of our clients,” a spokesperson for WilmerHale told Business Insider. “We remain proud to defend our firm, our people, and our clients.”
Harrison Fields, principal deputy press secretary, told Business Insider in a statement that the White House opposes Judge Leon’s ruling.
“The decision to grant any individual access to this nation’s secrets is a sensitive judgment call entrusted to the President,” Fields said. “Weighing these factors and implementing such decisions are core executive powers, and reviewing the President’s clearance decisions falls well outside the judiciary’s authority.”
The federal government can appeal Judge Leon’s decision, in which case the proceedings will be heard in the court of appeals. Any subsequent appeal would be heard by the Supreme Court.
Fields did not immediately respond to Business Insider when asked if the government would appeal Judge Leon’s decision.
In the now-blocked executive order, Trump specifically singled out attorney Aaron Zebley, a WilmerHale employee who served as a top aide in Robert Mueller’s special counsel’s office, which investigated Trump’s ties to Russia in 2016. The order described WilmerHale’s decision to hire Zebley after his participation in the federal probe as “weaponization of the justice system.”
WilmerHale hired the superstar conservative lawyer Paul Clement to defend the firm in its suit against the Trump administration.
In his ruling, Judge Leon wrote that it is “obvious” that enforcing Trump’s order against WilmerHale would be “contrary to the public interest.”
“The WilmerHale Order violates the separation of powers by attempting to usurp the Judiciary’s authority to resolve cases and sanction abuses of the judicial process,” Jude Leon wrote. “‘A scheme so inconsistent with accepted separation-of-powers principles’ must fall.”
