Trump administration files appeal to revive executive order against law firm Jenner

By Mike Scarcella

July 21 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday appealed a ruling that struck down an executive order targeting law firm Jenner & Block over its past employment of a prosecutor involved in a special counsel investigation of Trump's 2016 campaign.

The U.S. Justice Department’s notice in the federal court in Washington, D.C. did not detail its legal arguments in the appeal. The case will now move to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The appeal was the second by the Justice Department in four lawsuits from firms that challenged the White House’s executive orders against them. The administration in June appealed a judge’s order that permanently blocked an executive order against law firm Perkins Coie.

The administration has not yet appealed court rulings that blocked executive orders against law firms WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jenner in a statement on Monday said "the district court correctly declared that Jenner’s clients have a right to independent counsel and that the firm’s right to represent clients vigorously and without compromise is sacred."

Trump in March and April issued a series of executive orders against prominent firms that represented his political adversaries or employed lawyers who investigated him in the past.

The orders sought to suspend security clearances for lawyers at the firms and restricted their access to government buildings, officials and federal contracting work.

Four judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents struck down the orders, finding they violated free-speech protections and rights in the U.S. Constitution.

Trump's order targeting Jenner cited the firm's past employment of Andrew Weissmann, a prosecutor involved in former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that detailed Russian contacts with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

In May, U.S. District Judge John Bates struck down the order and said it "casts a chill over the whole of the legal profession."

The White House has defended the executive orders, which accused firms of "weaponizing" the legal system, as lawful under the president’s broad executive powers.

Nine law firms, including Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, Milbank and Latham, settled with the White House to avoid being targeted by the administration.

Those firms as part of their deals pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services to causes the White House supports and made other concessions. The firms have been criticized by some lawyers, firms and others over the accords, but have defended them as necessary and consistent with their principles.

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