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Trump strips Perkins Coie employees of security clearances

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Law firm has represented clients challenging Trump

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White House also accuses firm of 'unlawful DEI'

(Adds details, background throughout)

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump on Thursday said he would strip Perkins Coie employees of

federal security clearances over the law firm's diversity

practices and political activities, as he launched a probe into

other legal firms.

Seattle-founded Perkins Coie has long drawn criticism

from Trump allies over its prior work for Trump's 2016

Democratic election opponent Hillary Clinton.

White House officials were also critical of the firm's

involvement in cases challenging Trump administration policies,

as well as what it said were instances of racial discrimination

at the firm.

Perkins Coie did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Trump last week signed a similar order against another

prominent law firm, Covington & Burling.

In that order, security clearances were revoked for lawyers

who provided free assistance to Jack Smith, the former U.S.

special counsel who oversaw two criminal prosecutions against

Trump. The president also directed federal agencies to review

any contracts they have with Covington.

Perkins Coie and Covington are among nearly a dozen

major U.S. law firms representing clients in lawsuits against

the Trump administration, challenging executive actions related

to immigration, transgender rights and other issues.

Perkins is involved in two lawsuits against the Trump

administration, including one in Seattle federal court that

challenges the White House's move to restrict transgender people

from serving in the military.

Reporters were invited into 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," said a Trump aide, Will Scharf.

The aide said the probe would cover some 15 law firms.

"Your administration has made it a priority both to end

lawfare and weaponization of government, and also to hold those

who engaged in lawfare accountable," he said. "One of the law

firms that has been involved in that is called Perkins Coie;

that's also a law firm that is engaged in unlawful DEI

practices."

Trump said it was "an absolute honor to sign."

White House officials later said the clearances of

individuals at the firm that allow them to access classified

government materials would be suspended "pending a review of

whether their access to sensitive information is consistent with

the national interest."

They said federal agencies would refrain from hiring the

employees "unless specifically authorized" and block business

with contractors that work with Perkins Coie because of their

involvement in "partisan lawsuits against the United States."

The law firm's practices would be reviewed to ensure

compliance with laws against racial bias, a White House official

said, and agencies directed to "terminate engagements to the

maximum extent permitted by law."

DIVERSITY INITIATIVES

A group headed by prominent anti-affirmative action activist

Edward Blum sued the firm in August 2023, alleging its diversity

fellowships unlawfully excluded certain people based on their

race. Perkins Coie changed the criteria for its fellowship

program two months later and the suit was dropped.

Legal scholars said they were not aware of a U.S.

presidential administration ever taking such official actions

against specific law firms in the past.

Michael Frisch of Georgetown University's law school

said it is a foundation of the legal profession that "everyone

is entitled to a defense, and you don't judge a lawyer or law

firm by the client that it chooses to legitimately and lawfully

represent, and that's really under challenge right now."

University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter,

who served as associate White House counsel from 2005 to 2007,

said he could see no direct connection between law firm

diversity initiatives and risks to national security that would

entail stripping a law firm's security clearances.

Perkins Coie is widely known for its legal work for tech

companies and other clients. It is defending Alphabet's

Google against a lawsuit by the Republican National

Committee accusing the tech giant of sending its emails to

users' spam filters. The firm has represented Amazon ( AMZN ) in

a number of court cases. The companies did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

Its work for Hillary Clinton's campaign led to

criticisms from Trump supporters, including Elon Musk.