On February 25, 2025 President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the security clearances of lawyers and staff at the Washington, D.C. law office of the international law firm Covington & Burling. The firm had provided legal services to former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith.

Jack Smith had been appointed by former Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Donald Trump for a range of activities after he left the White House in 2021. Mr. Smith eventually brought two criminal cases against Mr. Trump. The first criminal case was centered around charges of election interference by Mr. Trump regarding the 2020 presidential election that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden. The other criminal case centered around charges that Mr. Trump impermissibly hoarded top secret government documents after he left office. These two cases were set to go to trial but faced numerous legal delays. After Mr. Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Jack Smith reluctantly dismissed the two criminal cases against Mr. Trump because of the Department of Justice (DOJ) policy that forbids the prosecution of a sitting president. This comes on the heels of Mr. Trump making a number of threats and promises of retribution should he win the presidential election. Mr. Trump’s executive order is not aimed at Jack Smith himself but only at the lawyers and their staff who agreed to represent Mr. Smith because of the threats of retribution that came from Mr. Trump and his allies.

Additionally on March 6th, 2025, President Trump canceled federal clearances for specific members of the law firm Perkins Coie, LLP (Perkins Coie) because of connections to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump’s order also ordered any and all federal agencies that have existing federal contracts with Perkins Coie to immediately cancel those contracts. Trump’s order also criticized the firm’s diversity hiring practices and a number of reasons that have often been characterized as unfounded conspiracy theories.

Analysis

The orders signed by President Trump do not specifically go after Jack Smith or Hillary Clinton. The orders are directed at those at the law firm who have a connection to Mr. Smith and Mrs. Clinton due to the legal services they provided to both persons. This is a very dangerous legal road for the President to go down.

The reason why the President’s actions are troubling is because the orders are punishing a law firm and their staff for actions that are perfectly legal. Jack Smith and Hillary Clinton were provided legal services by Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie, respectively, which Smith and Clinton are entitled to and which the law firms are permitted to provide. The only reason why President Trump is now targeting the law firms and their staff is because of the President’s desire for revenge against Jack Smith and Hillary Clinton. The President is angry that he was charged with crimes in two criminal cases by Jack Smith and the President has had a long running animosity against Mrs. Clinton.

But the interesting part of Mr. Trump’s orders are that they are targeting the lawyers and staff of the law firm even though the firms did not provide any legal services connected to the criminal prosecutions of Mr. Trump. The law firm Covington & Burling has stated in a statement that they represent Jack Smith in his “personal, individual capacity” and that they only agreed to represent Smith “when it became apparent that he would become subject of a government investigation.” What this means is that President Trump is not revoking the security clearances based on any work that may have been done by Covington & Burling regarding the criminal cases Jack Smith brought against the President because it is clear that they did not participate in the investigation at all. The revocation of the security clearances is only being done because the law firm decided to represent Jack Smith after Trump’s rhetoric of retribution against his perceived political enemies. It is an element of guilt by association and nothing more. Jack Smith could very well have chosen another law firm or lawyer to represent him and Trump would have still focused his revenge on whatever legal counsel Mr. Smith would have chosen. By revoking security clearances, Mr. Trump is trying to shame the firm and possibly prevent other non – Trump related federal work contracts from being awarded to the law firm, similar to his order to cancel federal contracts with Perkins Coie simply because they represented Mrs. Clinton in the past. Quite simply, the orders are small and petty moves currently undertaken by the man sitting in the Oval Office.

Furthermore, Trump’s actions may very well have a chilling effect. If lawyers and law firms perceive that there is a great risk to providing legal services to Jack Smith or Hillary Clinton, some attorneys and law firms might think twice about representing those persons. They might not want to risk their financial well – being (loss of business opportunities or contracts with the federal government) or reputation because of the pettiness of the President. Law firms might simply decide to stay away from representing Smith or Clinton for now. And this also leads to what might happen with Smith and Clinton on a personal level. If law firms are wary about representing Mr. Smith and Mrs. Clinton, then what options are available for them to secure legal representation? They might certainly need legal counsel for non – Trump related activities in the future. Should they be shut out from competent legal representation because of a law firm’s fear at being associated with either Mr. Smith or Mrs. Clinton?

In the U.S., everyone is entitled to legal representation. Even murderers and other undesirables are entitled to competent legal representation. But the way President Trump has crafted his orders, it appears that he wants to scare anyone and everyone off from assisting with Mr. Smith and Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Trump does not need to do this but it appears his desire for petty revenge is more important to him than being the leader and unifier that this country needs right now. LEARN MORE, LEARN MORE

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