A top law firm sued the Trump administration on Friday to block an executive order targeting the company over its ties to Robert Mueller, who led the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In a statement shared with HuffPost, the firm said President Donald Trump’s order against Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, known as WilmerHale, is “a plainly unlawful attack on the bedrock principles of our nation’s legal system—our clients’ right to counsel and the First Amendment.”
“We are bringing the dedication, expertise, and values that have served a wide range of clients in matters against administrations of both parties for decades to ensure their and our rights are upheld,” a WilmerHale spokesperson said.
WilmerHale’s lawsuit follows complaints against the Trump administration by law firms Jenner & Block and Perkins Coie.
Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting WilmerHale, adding that Mueller’s probe “epitomizes the weaponization of government.”
The White House said WilmerHale “is yet another law firm that has abandoned the profession’s highest ideals and abused its pro bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States.”
Trump’s order takes issues with the firm’s decision to hire Mueller and two of his colleagues following their work on the Russian election interference probe.
“Mueller’s ‘investigation’ upended the lives of public servants in my Administration who were summoned before ‘prosecutors’ with the effect of interfering in their ability to fulfill the mandates of my first term agenda,” Trump said. “This weaponization of the justice system must not be rewarded, let alone condoned.”
Trump’s order states that the attorney general, the director of national intelligence and other department heads must revoke the security clearances of any WilmerHale employees “pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.” The president also restricted their access to federal buildings and ordered the end of all government contracts with the law firm.
WilmerHale previously had said it would pursue “all appropriate remedies to this unlawful order,” adding that Mueller retired from the firm in 2021, noting his “long, distinguished career in public service, from his time as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam to his leadership of the FBI in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that while WilmerHale had tried to convince the administration not to take such action against it, the punishment became inevitable given Trump’s disdain for Mueller.
Mueller, a former director of the FBI, left WilmerHale in 2017 after being appointed as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation and returned to the law firm in 2019.
The Journal added that a 2019 announcement welcoming Mueller back into the firm has been scrapped from WilmerHale’s website.
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Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison struck a controversial deal with Trump to rescind an executive order against the company in exchange for the firm committing to align its diversity policies with the administration and providing $40 million in pro bono services to the “mutually agreed upon” priorities with the White House.