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Donald Trump ordered a repression against Wilmerhale, a law firm linked to the prosecutor who investigated the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, while he widens an attack on American elite legal groups.
The president ordered government agencies on Thursday to terminate contracts with Wilmerhale, to suspend his security authorizations and to slow down his staff access to federal buildings.
Trump said that the cabinet – where former special lawyer Robert Mueller was once a partner – was “another law firm who abandoned the highest ideals of the profession and abused his professional practice to initiate activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States”.
This decision marks the last attack on a large law firm while the president intensifies a repression against the enemies perceived, triggering a legal group race to establish emergency plans in the event that they are targeted.
The order distinguishes Mueller, the former FBI director who worked in the cabinet before being appointed in 2017 to conduct a federal investigation into the allegations of collusion between Russia and the first presidential campaign of Trump. He retired from the company in 2021.
The Mueller investigation ultimately found no evidence of collusion, but was described as “witch hunt” by the president, who alleged that he had been politicized.
“Mueller’s investigation embodies government’s armaments,” Trump wrote in the order of Thursday.
The directive accused Wilmerhale of “rewarding” Mueller and his associates “welcoming them in the company after having exercised the power of the federal government to conduct one of the most partisan investigations in American history”.
Wilmerhale said he was aware of “illegal order” and is eager to “continue all the appropriate remedies”.
“Our firm has a long-standing tradition of representing a wide range of customers, including in matters against the administrations of both parties,” he said in a statement.
The order reflects similar guidelines targeting companies, notably Paul Weiss and Perkins Coy and a closer against Covington Burling in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, Trump launched an attack on Jenner & Block, whose former partner Andrew Weissman had worked with Mueller during the investigation in Russia.
