By Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) – U.S. law firm Jenner & Block asked a judge on Monday to permanently bar Republican U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order punishing the firm for its affiliation with a prosecutor who investigated ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia.
A lawyer for the firm told Republican-appointed U.S. District Judge John Bates at a hearing in Washington that the danger of Trump’s pressure campaign against law firms had only grown since Jenner was targeted in the March order.
“We’ve seen more executive orders, and we’ve seen nine prominent, powerful law firms bend to the threat of the executive order, reaching unknown accommodations with the administration,” attorney Michael Attanasio said.
Trump’s order against Chicago-founded Jenner cited its past employment of Andrew Weissmann, a top federal prosecutor in U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump has described the Russia investigation as a “hoax” and “witch hunt.”
The executive order sought to restrict Jenner’s lawyers from accessing federal buildings and officials and to end government contracts held by its clients.
Jenner sued, calling the order a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections against government abridgment of speech and Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process, a requirement for the government to use a fair legal process.
Three other firms — Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey — have sued the administration to permanently block the executive orders he issued against them.
Judges in all four lawsuits against the administration issued temporary rulings that blocked key provisions of the White House orders.
Nine law firms, including Jenner rivals Paul Weiss, Milbank, Simpson Thacher and Skadden Arps, have pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services to causes the White House supports and made other concessions to avoid being targeted by Trump.
The Justice Department will also present arguments at Monday’s hearing. It has argued that Trump acted within his authority in issuing orders against firms he has accused of “weaponizing” the legal system against him and his allies.
Jenner is one of more than a dozen law firms that are currently suing the Trump administration over its efforts to curb transgender rights and to freeze federal spending at many agencies.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Editing by William Maclean)