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.
“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.
In the latest executive order, Trump also directed agency heads to issue guidance limiting Perkins Coie employees’ official access to federal buildings “when such access would threaten the national security of or otherwise be inconsistent with the interests of the United States.” Meetings between lawyers at agencies are frequent when they represent a regulatory or investigations client
The president also sought to block agency officials from hiring members of the firm.
Previously, Trump has suspended the active security clearances of lawyers at the large Washington firm Covington & Burling who were working on representing Jack Smith, the former special counsel who now as a private individual is expecting Republican-driven investigations.
Trump has also revoked the clearance of prominent national security whistleblower lawyer Mark Zaid and others.
Security clearances are often used by private practice lawyers so they can defend clients whose cases may require access to classified evidence or other protected national security material.
The president’s move to suspend clearances of some lawyers he politically opposes has shaken the legal community, especially in Washington, where a fundamental part of practicing law is allowing clients to choose their own representation. Even Trump’s own defense lawyers in his classified documents case were able to have security clearances approved by the Biden administration’s national security apparatus so they could adequately represent him in court.
CNN’s Paula Reid contributed to this report.
