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Victimless Rhyme
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2017
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A judge used Trump’s own words to expose his real agenda
The president and those around him just had to brag — and Howell turned their own words against them.
In issuing a permanent injunction halting the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie, U.S. Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the order singled out Perkins Coie based on the content of its speech and actions. To conclude that the order infringed upon the First Amendment rights of Perkins Coie and its clients, Howell unsurprisingly relied upon the text of the president’s order and the accompanying “fact sheet” from his administration. But she also did something else far more unusual: Howell used Trump’s subsequent agreements with other firms — and his boasts about them — as evidence against his administration.
Trump’s order limited Perkins Coie’s lawyers access to government buildings, revoked their security clearances and ordered federal agencies to terminate contracts with the firm. One of Perkins Coie’s claims in its lawsuit was that this punishment was in retaliation for stances that the firm has taken over the years, including its representation of Hillary Clinton and her 2016 campaign for president. The firm showed that it already had lost clients as a result of the order and that it was likely to lose many more if the judge did not permanently halt the enforcement of the order.
The president and those around him just had to brag — and Howell turned their own words against them.
In issuing a permanent injunction halting the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie, U.S. Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the order singled out Perkins Coie based on the content of its speech and actions. To conclude that the order infringed upon the First Amendment rights of Perkins Coie and its clients, Howell unsurprisingly relied upon the text of the president’s order and the accompanying “fact sheet” from his administration. But she also did something else far more unusual: Howell used Trump’s subsequent agreements with other firms — and his boasts about them — as evidence against his administration.
Trump’s order limited Perkins Coie’s lawyers access to government buildings, revoked their security clearances and ordered federal agencies to terminate contracts with the firm. One of Perkins Coie’s claims in its lawsuit was that this punishment was in retaliation for stances that the firm has taken over the years, including its representation of Hillary Clinton and her 2016 campaign for president. The firm showed that it already had lost clients as a result of the order and that it was likely to lose many more if the judge did not permanently halt the enforcement of the order.
