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Donald Trump has ordered a blow to Wilmerhale, a legal firm linked to the prosecutor who has investigated allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election after he expands an attack on elite US legal groups.
The president on Thursday led government agencies to terminate contracts with Wilmerhale, suspend his security clearances, and curb the entry of its staff into federal buildings.
Trump said the firm – where former special adviser Robert Mueller was once a partner – was “another legal firm that has abandoned the highest ideals of the profession and abused its pro -bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States.”
The measure marks the latest attack on a major legal firm as the president intensifies a blow to perceived enemies, causing a clash from legal groups to design emergency plans if they are targeted.
Order Mueller, former FBI director who worked in the firm before being appointed in 2017 to lead a federal investigation into charges of clash between Russia and Trump’s first presidential campaign. He withdrew from the firm in 2021.
The Mueller investigation eventually found no evidence of cooperation, but was called a “witch hunt” by the president, who claimed to have been politicized.
“Mueller’s investigation epitomizes the government’s weapon,” Trump wrote in Thursday’s order.
The directive accused Wilmerhale of “reward” Mueller and his associates “welcoming them to the firm as they had the power of the Federal Government to lead one of the most partisan investigations in American history.”
Wilmerhale said he was aware of the “unlawful order” and was looking forward to following all appropriate remedies “.
“Our firm has a long tradition to represent a wide range of clients, including in matters against the administrations of both parties,” she said in a statement.
The order reflects similar directives aimed at firms including Paul Weiss and Perkins Coie and a narrower against Covington Burling in recent weeks.
At the beginning of this week Trump launched an attack on Jenner & Block, whose former partner Andrew Weissman had worked with Mueller in Russia’s investigation.
