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Donald Trump has ordered a crackdown on WilmerHale, a law firm with ties to the prosecutor who investigated allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, as he widens an attack on elite US legal groups.
The president on Thursday directed government agencies to terminate contracts with WilmerHale, suspend its security clearances and curb the access of its staff to federal buildings.
Trump said the firm — where former special counsel Robert Mueller was once a partner — was “yet another law firm that has abandoned the profession’s highest ideals and abused its pro bono practice to engage in activities that undermine justice and the interests of the United States”.
The move marks the latest attack on a large law firm as the president intensifies a crackdown on perceived enemies, triggering a scramble by legal groups to draw up contingency plans in case they are targeted.
The order singles out Mueller, the former FBI director who worked at the firm before being appointed in 2017 to lead a federal investigation into allegations of collusion between Russia and Trump’s first presidential campaign. He retired from the firm in 2021.
The Mueller investigation ultimately found no evidence of collusion, but was branded a “witch-hunt” by the president, who alleged it was politicised.
“Mueller’s investigation epitomises the weaponisation of government,” Trump wrote in Thursday’s order.
The directive accused WilmerHale of “rewarding” Mueller and his associates “by welcoming them to the firm after they wielded the power of the Federal Government to lead one of the most partisan investigations in American history”.
WilmerHale said it was aware of the “unlawful order” and looked forward to “pursuing all appropriate remedies”.
“Our firm has a long-standing tradition of representing a wide range of clients, including in matters against administrations of both parties,” it said in a statement.
The order mirrors similar directives targeting firms including Paul Weiss and Perkins Coie and a narrower one 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 on the Russia investigation.
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