President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday to revoke the security clearances of Perkins Coie employees and prevent the Democrat-supporting law firm from accessing various federal resources.
Addressing the executive order, Trump told reporters on Thursday, “This is an absolute honor to sign.” The president added, “What they’ve done, it’s just terrible. It’s weaponization. You could say weaponization against a political opponent, and it should never be allowed to happen again.”
In a fact sheet accompanying the executive order, the White House explained that Trump’s order will “immediately” suspend the security clearances of Perkins Coie employees “pending a review of whether their access to sensitive information is consistent with the national interest.”
The White House said the executive order will also “halt all material and services” access to the law firm, restrict the law firm employees’ access to federal buildings, and prevent federal agencies from hiring employees of Perkins Coie without special authorization.
According to The National Law Journal, Perkins Coie was one of the Democratic National Committee’s top-paid law firms over the past several years. Despite its history of working with the Democratic National Committee, the law firm received $481,000 in federal contracts from January to July of 2024, according to Federal Election Commission records obtained by The Daily Wire.
In response to the president’s executive order, A Perkins Coie spokesperson told Fox News, “It is patently unlawful, and we intend to challenge it.”
READ MORE: Top anti-Trump officials stripped of security clearances
In Thursday’s executive order, Trump claimed that the “dishonest and dangerous activity” of Perkins Coie has “affected” the United States 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,” Trump wrote. “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.”
Trump accused the Democrat-supporting law firm of undermining law enforcement, democratic elections, and the integrity of the U.S. court system. The 47th president also accused the law firm of racially discriminating against its attorneys, staff members, and applicants.
“Perkins Coie publicly announced percentage quotas in 2019 for hiring and promotion on the basis of race and other categories prohibited by civil rights laws,” Trump wrote. “It proudly excluded applicants on the basis of race for its fellowships, and it maintained these discriminatory practices until applicants harmed by them finally sued to enforce change.”
Trump added, “Their disrespect for the bedrock principle of equality represents good cause to conclude that they neither have access to our Nation’s secrets nor be deemed responsible stewards of any Federal funds.”
