BURSTLaw firm Jenner & Block sued the Trump administration Friday, calling the president’s executive order targeting the firm an “unconstitutional abuse of power.”
Trump has signed a series of executive orders that take aim at Big Law firms with ties to his critics and people he perceives as his enemies.
On Tuesday, Trump signed the order targeting Jenner & Block, which previously employed Andrew Weissman, a prominent anti-Trump legal pundit who worked on then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“The Constitution, top to bottom, protects against such attempts by the government to target citizens and lawyers based on the opinions they voice, the people with whom they associate, and the clients they represent,” the lawsuit states.
Trump’s order seeks to limit the firm’s government contracts and its attorneys’ security clearances and access to government buildings.
“It is intended to hamper the ability of individuals and businesses to have the lawyers of their choice zealously represent them. And it is intended to coerce law firms and lawyers into renouncing the Administration’s critics and ceasing certain representations adverse to the government,” the lawsuit states.
It is one of five such orders Trump has signed. He has also signed similar ones targeting law firms Covington, Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss and WilmerHale.
Jenner & Block is now the second of the targeted firms to launch a lawsuit. It is represented in its fight by Cooley.
The new lawsuit follows one filed by Perkins Coie. A federal judge has temporarily blocked portions of that firm’s order as the litigation continues. Paul Weiss, meanwhile, cut a deal with Trump that included a $40 million spending commitment on pro bono causes aligned with the administration.