President Trump announced Thursday that employees of the law firm Perkins Coie would be stripped of their federal security clearances over the firm’s political activities and diversity practices.
The E.O. cites Perkins Coie’s previous involvement with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and its hiring of Fusion GPS, which “then manufactured a false ‘dossier’ designed to steal an election”—a reference to the Steele Dossier tied to the Russia Hoax investigation.
The order also accuses Perkins Coie of attempting to subvert democratic elections, alleging that the firm “work[ed] with activist donors including George Soros to judicially overturn popular, necessary, and democratically enacted election laws, including those requiring voter identification.”
Reporters were present in the Oval Office as Trump signed an executive order targeting Perkins Coie. “This executive order will suspend security clearances and access to certain federal resources for that law firm and also launch a holistic review of unlawful DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) practices at some of the nation’s largest law firms,” Trump aide Will Scharf stated.
Scharf said the review would extend to roughly 15 firms.
White House officials later stated that employees at the firm with security clearances would see their access to classified materials suspended “pending a review of whether their access to sensitive information is consistent with the national interest.”
Federal agencies were also directed to refrain from hiring Perkins Coie employees “unless specifically authorized” and to block business with contractors linked to the firm due to its involvement in “partisan lawsuits against the United States.” A White House official said the firm’s practices would be reviewed for compliance with laws against racial bias, with agencies instructed to “terminate engagements to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
“In addition to undermining democratic elections, the integrity of our courts, and honest law enforcement, Perkins Coie racially discriminates against its own attorneys and staff, and against 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. 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,” The Executive Order reads.
Read the Executive Order.
