Donald Trump plainly was plainly seeking revenge by sanctioning the Perkins Coie law for having represented Hillary Clinton, who indirectly commissioned the Steele dossier. Another client was George Soros, the Republican's favorite whipping boy. I told the tale in Trump tries to eliminate the source of the Steele Dossier.
Now, Judge Beryl Howell has temporarily blocked Trump's executive order from taking effect. You'll remember Judge Howell as the one that ruled that the Trump administration had illegally fired a National Labor Relations Board member, and forced them to reinstate her.
Judge Howell said, "I'm sure that many in the legal profession are watching in horror at what Perkins Coie is going through here. The order casts a chilling harm of blizzard proportions across the legal profession."
In another indication that the Justice Dept. doesn't have enough lawyers to go around on all the legal cases against them, 121 and counting, the case was argued by Chad Mizelle, the Justice Department's chief of staff and DOJ's acting No. 3.
"This may be an amusing 'Alice in Wonderland' where the Queen of Hearts yells 'off with their heads' at annoying subjects... and announces a sentence before verdict, but this can't be the reality of what we're living under," the judge added.
Even though Perkins Coie has a staff of over 1,000 lawyers, they did not represent themselves in court. They were defended by Williams & Connolly, after a another large law firm refused to take their case. This might have been still another bit of intimidation by the Trump administration.
Judge Beryl Howell even gave the law firm a plug in court when she said, "I have enormous respect for Williams & Connolly, and enormous respect for them taking this case when not every law firm would."
Wednesday's hearing took place less than 24 hours after Perkins Coie filed its lawsuit, saying that Trump's order was "an affront to the Constitution."
Howell issued the temporary restraining order, ruling from the bench, saying the executive order likely violated the First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments.
"Our justice system is based on the fundamental belief that justice works best when all parties have zealous advocates. That fundamental premise extends to all parties, even those with unpopular ideas or beliefs or causes disliked by President Trump," the judge added.
Perkins Coie has already seen some fallout from the executive order. Long-time clients have ended their relationship with the firm, and in one instance, a federal prosecutor refused to meet with Perkins Coie attorneys representing a client.
Here's a video of David French interview on Morning Joe. Columnist for NY Times and former lawyer, he says the government confessed to the crime in the executive order and the court proceedings.
If you want to take a look at the Steele dossier, it's available here as a PDF of photographs of the memos.
Dane Butswinkas (real name), the attorney from Williams & Connolly, said that, "Every one of the top 15 clients at the law firm has government contracts. I think that accounts for 25% of the revenue of the law firm," of Perkins Coie.
One of the parts of the executive order is that Perkins Coie lawyers were banned from entering any federal buildings.
Every federal courthouse is technically operated by the General Services Administration. The judge wanted to make sure that the lawyer for the lawyers wasn't being blocked from entry.
"I want to make sure --- you had no trouble getting into this building today? Howell asked.
Butswinkas replied, "Your point...is a really good one. I mean, I hardly have to explain the colossal damage that rule, the restriction on one law firm and no other, is for their ability to practice their profession."
Mizelle, for Trump, tried to take the narrative as an innocent party, "We're being put up with a bunch of 'what ifs' and boogeymans and ghosts that we're having to fight about. None of those ghosts are real. The boogeyman are not real."
Judge Howell asked Mizelle if Trump would sanction the law firm representing Perkins Coie as a result of their taking the case.
"If he made a finding that there's a national security risk with a particular law firm, then yes," Mizelle replied.
Chilling comment.
Judge Howell said from the bench, "Regardless of whether the president dislikes the firm's clients... issuing an executive order targeting the firm based on the president's dislike or political positions of the firms clients, or the firms litigation positions is retaliatory and runs head on into the wall of First Amendment protection."
As a result, District Judge Beryl Howell found that the attorney for Perkins Coie had met the bar to issue a temporary restraining order.
The Attorney General of Washington state, and 18 other Attorneys General, along with the District of Columbia, filed a brief in support of Perkins Coie.
The Judge issued a written order Wednesday night.
The order did not block sections 2 and 4 of the executive order which revoked security clearances and Trump's anti-diversity efforts.
The original executive order.
Fact Sheet by the White House about the reasons for the executive order.
The government and Perkins Coie have to file a joint status report on how the proceedings should continue by 4:00 p.m. Thursday. The government has to file a report by Friday that describes all the actions they've taken to comply with her order blocking provisions 1, 3 and 5 of the executive order.
For a president who moaned for four years about weaponization of the Justice Department against him, the executive order was so transparently illegal there was little language to disguise the attack.
Another win against the Trump administration. 121 more to go as of today. More tomorrow, as the overworked Justice Dept. starts a deservedly so, losing streak.
