Trump administration drops suits against law firms after judges find president’s orders unconstitutional
The Justice Department on Monday gave up the fight against President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting companies he disliked, conceding unanimous rulings from federal judges finding the orders violated fundamental principles of the Constitution.
Companies targeted included Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey and Jenner & Block. They had fought against Trump’s executive orders that targeted their security clearances, government contracts and access to government buildings because of their patronage and recruitment.
Perkins Coie has represented prominent Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; WilmerHale employed former special counsel Robert Mueller after investigating Trump; and Jenner & Block hired Andrew Weissmann, who was on Mueller’s team.
The firms, which stood up to the administration at a time when many other major law firms were giving in, welcomed the administration’s capitulation.
“As we have said from the outset, our challenge to the unlawful executive order was to defend our clients’ constitutional right to retain counsel of their choice and to uphold the rule of law. We are pleased that these fundamental principles have been upheld,” a WilmerHale spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
Jenner & Block said in a statement that the administration’s decision makes permanent previous rulings by federal judges that the lawsuits against the companies were unconstitutional.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report the administration’s decision to drop the charges.
Federal judges have repeatedly sided with the companies; A May ruling by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell called the decree against Perkins Coie an “unprecedented attack” on the U.S. justice system.
Some companies, like Paul Weiss, struck deals with the administration after the executive orders were issued, agreeing to donate tens of millions of dollars in pro bono work to Trump-backed causes and getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps’ concessions sparked significant backlash within the legal community, resulting in a letter signed by Skadden alumni criticizing the Trump deal.
Vanita Gupta, who was the third-ranking Justice Department official under the Biden administration, blasted the companies that quickly acceded to Trump’s demands, saying after the Justice Department’s decision was announced Monday that the companies that capitulated were “undermining the rule of law and the legal profession in this country.”
“This episode will be remembered as demonstrating the difference between institutions that had the ethical courage to uphold the Constitution and stand up to bullying and then won, and those that compromised their ethics and gained nothing,” Gupta said in a statement Monday. “Hopefully media companies, universities and other organizations will take note.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, praised the companies that fought back.
“Today, these companies forced Trump to back down and abandon his blatantly unconstitutional efforts to punish lawyers, clients and causes because Trump disagrees with their rhetoric,” Raskin said in a statement.
