A Democracy Drive Thread
Executive orders stripping security clearances and federal access from law firms that represented Trump’s opponents, and the firms that paid hundreds of millions in free legal work to make the threat go away.
In early 2025 Trump began signing executive orders against individual law firms because of who they had represented or employed: firms tied to the Mueller investigation, the Manhattan DA’s case, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and Dominion’s defamation suit against Fox. The orders cut off security clearances, barred lawyers from federal buildings and pressured clients with government contracts to leave. Courts struck down every order that was challenged as unconstitutional retaliation. But several of the largest firms settled first, pledging close to a billion dollars in free legal work for causes the president chose. This thread tracks it in order, with sources.
February 25, 2025
On the ground
A presidential memo suspended clearances held by Peter Koski and all Covington lawyers and staff “who assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith.” Covington said it represented Smith after it became apparent he would become the subject of a government investigation. It was the first of a series of orders punishing law firms for their clients and lawyers.
March 6, 2025
On the ground
Days later he told Fox News, “We have a lot of law firms that we’re going to be going after, because they were very dishonest people.” Legal experts told NPR there was no precedent for a president punishing firms over the clients they represent. On May 2, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell struck the order down as unconstitutional, writing that “no American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue.”
“We have a lot of law firms that we’re going to be going after, because they were very dishonest people.”
March 20, 2025
On the ground
The order had singled out former Paul, Weiss lawyer Mark Pomerantz, who worked on the Manhattan DA’s investigation of Trump’s finances. The firm pledged pro bono help for veterans, the president’s antisemitism task force and “fairness in the Justice System.”
April 9, 2025
On the ground
The order accused the firm of “weaponizing the American legal system and degrading the quality of American elections.” On June 27, 2025, Judge Loren AliKhan permanently blocked it as illegal First Amendment retaliation that “threatens the independence of the bar,” making her the fourth judge to strike down one of these orders.
April 11, 2025
On the ground
Four firms pledged $125 million each, and Cadwalader pledged $100 million. Like earlier deals, the work goes to the president’s chosen causes, such as veterans, combating antisemitism and “fairness in our Justice System.”
April 24, 2025
On the ground
Eric Trump called it a “conflict.” Burck had been hired in January to review the company’s major deals.
December 10, 2025
On the ground
An apparent ICE roster of immigration attorneys is found buried on ICE’s website and pulled after a lawyer discovers her own name on it. The list was made up overwhelmingly of lawyers with Latino, Asian or African-sounding names. The advocacy group Al Otro Lado filed a records request demanding to know who created it and why.