Quick Hit: Trump EO hits Clinton-tied law firm
Law firm Perkins Coie targeted by Trump executive order
It's not everyday a law firm is singled out by a presidential executive order.
President Donald Trump’s executive order issued on Mar. 6 targets the law firm involved in the promulgation of the debunked “Steele Dossier.”
From the order:
Section 1. Purpose. The dishonest and dangerous activity of the law firm Perkins Coie LLP (“Perkins Coie”) has affected this country for decades. Notably, in 2016 while representing failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Perkins Coie hired Fusion GPS, which then manufactured a false “dossier” designed to steal an election. This egregious activity is part of a pattern. Perkins Coie has worked with activist donors including George Soros to judicially overturn popular, necessary, and democratically enacted election laws, including those requiring voter identification. In one such case, a court was forced to sanction Perkins Coie attorneys for an unethical lack of candor before the court.
This executive order does a lot more than just call out Perkins Coie.
Perkins Coie is essentially barred from federal agencies through a series of government-wide restrictions and investigations. The order suspends security clearances for Perkins Coie employees and restricts their access to government facilities, resources, and personnel. It also requires agencies to identify and cease providing government resources to the firm where legally possible.
On the contracting front, the order requires contractors to disclose any connections to the firm. Agencies must review and potentially terminate existing contracts with Perkins Coie or entities doing business with them, following up with assessment reports to the Office of Management and Budget within 30 days.
Additionally, the order launches investigations into potential discriminatory practices at large law firms, particularly focusing on hiring, promotion, and access policies that might violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Attorney General are directed to review and investigate these practices, with special attention to firms that do business with the federal government.
One could look at this order as a shot across the bow of Marc Elias, Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer.
Elias, along with Perkins Coie attorney Michael Sussman, were the two involved in paying off Fusion GPS for the Steele dossier, which the FBI used repeatedly as the basis for FISA Court warrant. It was later learned the FBI knew the dossier was garbage, yet failed to inform the court of that fact and did not reveal the dossier’s origins to the court.
Sussman went down for it. Elias managed to escape by issuing denial after denial, but not without taking some damage.
After the firm took heat over the dossier, Elias was ostensibly shown the door, but it was played out as if he left of his own accord to form his own firm, the Elias Law Group.
The DNC also dumped Elias as their lawyer in 2023, as did former President Biden’s campaign team.
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