Ex-prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Friday reacted to a federal judge striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting law firm Jenner & Block because the order violated the First Amendment.
“It allows people to connect the dots,” said Weissmann, who was previously employed by the law firm and served as a prosecutor on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team as it investigated the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates — a George W. Bush appointee — wrote in his ruling that Trump’s order “makes no bones about why it chose its target,” adding that “it picked Jenner because of the causes Jenner champions, the clients Jenner represents, and a lawyer Jenner once employed.”
Friday’s ruling marks the second time in a matter of weeks that a judge has foiled Trump’s attempts to retaliate against a major law firm whose work he’s not a fan of.
Several law firms have opted to kiss the president’s ring by striking deals with him in hopes of avoiding similar executive orders targeting them, leading a number of law associates as well as top partners to abandon ship as a result.
