President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday targeting a law firm that once employed Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor who served as a top deputy on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
The order targets the law firm Jenner & Block, which hired Mr. Weissmann after Mr. Mueller concluded his investigation into ties between Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the firm engaged in the “weaponization of the legal system against American principles and values.”
“And Andrew Weissmann is the main culprit with respect to this firm?” Mr. Trump asked, adding, “he’s a bad guy.”
The order revokes security clearances for lawyers at the firm, prohibits them from receiving government contracts and limits their access to government buildings.
It says Jenner & Block engaged in “conduct detrimental to critical American interests … that threaten public safety, national security, limit constitutional freedoms, degrade the quality of American elections or undermine bedrock American principles.”
Jenner & Block responded in a statement by noting that the order is “similar to the one which has already been declared unconstitutional by a federal court,” referring to a judge earlier this month issuing an injunction against Mr. Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm of Perkins Coie.
Jenner & Block said it “will pursue all appropriate remedies.”
The order is the latest in a series of orders penalizing major law firms connected to lawyers who have worked on investigations into the president or cases against him. Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie and Paul Weiss have also been targeted with executive orders.
Mr. Weissmann was the top lawyer on Mr. Mueller’s team, leading the prosecutors who investigated Paul Manafort, who chaired Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign in summer 2016.
Mr. Manafort was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison after being convicted on tax and bank fraud charges. He was pardoned by Mr. Trump during the final days of his first term.
Before joining the special counsel team, Mr. Weissmann worked as one of the top lawyers at the FBI while Mr. Mueller was the bureau’s director.
