President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting Perkins Coie, a prominent Seattle-based law firm that regularly represents Democratic and liberal groups.
The executive order suspends security clearances for employees of the law firm, which has long provided legal work for the Democratic National Committee, other Democratic entities and Democratic campaigns, including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The firm was central to the commissioning of the infamous “Steele dossier,” which was published shortly before Trump was inaugurated in 2017. Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele was commissioned by Fusion GPS, a research firm that had been hired by Perkins Coie, to dig up information about Trump’s business relationships overseas.
“This is an absolute honor to sign. What they’ve done is, it’s just terrible,” Trump said as he signed the order. “Weaponization — you could say weaponization against a political opponent — and it should never be allowed to happen again.”
Perkins Coie did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While the firm still represents Democrats, the scope of that work has decreased since prominent Democratic Party attorney Marc Elias — one of the key attorneys involved in the commissioning of the dossier — left in 2021 to establish his own elections-focused firm.
It’s the latest chapter in the president’s campaign to punish his perceived political enemies. Last month, Trump signed a similar presidential memorandum terminating security clearances of lawyers and other personnel at another law firm, Covington & Burling, that provided free legal services to special counsel Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor who brought two criminal cases against Trump that were dropped after he won last November’s election.
He previously revoked security clearances for former intelligence community officials who signed a letter raising concerns that Hunter Biden’s hard drive bore the hallmarks of a foreign influence operation, which ultimately turned out to be false. He also suspended the security clearance for Mark Zaid, a prominent whistleblower attorney who represented the intelligence official who helped trigger Trump’s 2020 impeachment.
The president has also pulled security details for figures who have criticized and publicly opposed him, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The executive order also calls for ending all contracts Perkins Coie has with the federal government, although a federal spending database doesn’t show any current government contracts.
It additionally orders a “holistic review of unlawful DEI practices” at some of the nation’s largest law firms, in line with the president’s broader efforts to quash diversity, equity and inclusion efforts nationwide as part of his new culture war. Perkins Coie was sued over its diversity fellowship program in 2023, later deciding to open the program up to all first-year law students.
That review, which will be undertaken by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, will apply to all “large, influential, or industry leading law firms” and will look at whether the firms reserve certain positions, like summer associate spots; promote individuals; permit client access or provide access to events, trainings or travel based on race.
Trump said during the Thursday afternoon executive order signing that he believes more steps should be taken against other people tied to the FBI’s probe into ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign, but that the decision is up to Attorney General Pam Bondi and others.
Bondi has launched a “Weaponization Working Group” to review officials who investigated Trump, including Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
