March 10 (Reuters) – U.S. law firm Perkins Coie has hired outside lawyers from Williams & Connolly in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order last week punishing the firm over its prior work for Hillary Clinton and its internal policies promoting diversity and inclusion.
Perkins Coie last week called the president’s executive order unlawful and said the firm would challenge it.
A person familiar with the hiring of Williams & Connolly confirmed it was retained in the matter. The New York Times first reported the Washington, D.C.-based firm’s involvement.
Trump’s sweeping order against Seattle-founded Perkins Coie directed federal agencies to review any contracts between the firm and the government, and to temporarily suspend security clearances that lawyers at the firm use to access and handle some sensitive information.
The order also said agencies should consider ending any contractual work with Perkins Coie clients.
Trump in the order cited the firm’s legal work for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and its hiring practices that sought to help promote diversity in the legal profession, which Trump called discriminatory.
A spokesperson for Williams & Connolly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A White House spokesperson in a statement on Monday defended the executive order and said Trump was “fulfilling his commitment to end the weaponization of government and protect the nation from partisan actors who exploit their influence.”
Legal scholars have questioned the lawfulness of Trump’s order against Perkins Coie and a related but narrower order he issued against law firm Covington & Burling. The experts said the orders raise constitutional concerns.
Covington and Perkins Coie are among several prominent law firms that are representing clients in lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Litigation-focused Williams & Connolly is known for its corporate defense work, and is currently defending Amazon and Alphabet’s Google in U.S. government lawsuits challenging the companies’ business practices.
It has also defended The Washington Post in defamation lawsuits. The Post is owned by Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos.
In 2018, Trump named Williams & Connolly’s Emmet Flood as a White House special counsel to help him navigate a probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. Trump has denied any such connection, calling the Russia probe a “hoax” and “witch hunt.”
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