CNN
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A federal judge on Wednesday halted parts of President Donald Trump’s executive order that targeted a Democratic-linked law firm.
US District Judge Beryl Howell sided with the firm Perkins Coie, which represented Hillary Clinton in 2016 and has been involved in election litigation that Trump opposed.
Howell granted the firm’s request for a temporary restraining order for some sections of Trump’s order. The parts being blocked include its limitations on government contracts with clients of the firm and the potential restrictions it puts on the firm’s employees, such as bans on hiring those employees for government positions or barring their access to federal buildings.
The executive order, Howell said, is “a punishment for a singled-out entity being disloyal.”
When “the Queen of Hearts yells ‘off with their heads’ for her subjects,” Howell added, that “cannot be the reality we are living under.”
The ruling came near the end of a hearing where the top aide to the attorney general argued that the president should be trusted without question if he wants to blacklist or sanction businesses or people as he sees fit across the country.
The argument from Chad Mizelle, the chief of staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, is one of staggering presidential power.
Howell, a Barack Obama appointee, was flabbergasted by Mizelle’s argument, saying it sent “chills down my spine” to hear the president could bar all government business with a particular company or person. Howell compared that type of decision by the president to Treasury Department economic sanctions that are decided by the Office of Foreign Assets Control related to national security.
“Your view is, ‘Don’t be chilled, judge. You can just trust the president to draw the right line, and yes, he has that power?’” Howell asked. “And that’s the government’s position here?”
“100 percent,” Mizelle said. “The president has every right to take that action.”
Mizelle also argued the courts shouldn’t be able to limit the president’s authority, especially as he decides upon lawyers’ security clearances or other access questions related to national security.
Perkins Coie’s lawyer Dane Butswinkas, however, said that the national security argument is a red herring, and the Trump administration’s approach refers to “a different Constitution from the one I’m familiar with.”
The firm says the order will cause top clients to drop its lawyers, and ultimately “will spell the end of the law firm,” Butswinkas said. “The president is punishing this law firm” for defending free speech.
He said that Justice Department prosecutors have canceled meetings with Perkins Coie lawyers, hurting their ability to represent clients in ongoing legal matters.
Howell said she was blocking Trump’s order because it appears to violate several Constitutional protections, including the right for defendants to choose their lawyers, and the First Amendment right to petition the government. Perkins Coie also had no warning of the executive order or chance to oppose it before the White House issued it last Thursday, violating their due process, the judge added.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
