MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump's campaign to punish big law firms will get a hearing before an appeals court today.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The White House has tried to yank security clearances and ban attorneys from federal buildings because the firms hired people or represented clients the president does not like.
MARTIN: NPR's Carrie Johnson has been following this legal drama and she's here now to tell us more about it. Good morning, Carrie.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: First, would you describe these White House orders and then explain what the president was trying to do?
JOHNSON: Yeah. President Trump's orders targeted several major law firms. He went about that several ways, using security clearances and access to government buildings, and he tried to prevent the firms from winning federal contracts with the government, too. These law firms had once employed people who investigated Donald Trump, like attorneys in the Russia probe, or they had represented causes or clients like the Democratic National Committee. Here's what the president had to say when he signed one of those orders last year.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is an absolute honor to sign. What they've done is just terrible. It's weaponization - you could say weaponization against a political opponent - and it should never be allowed to happen again.
JOHNSON: Now, four of those law firms fought back in court - WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie and Susman Godfrey - and they all won before judges who were appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents. But this administration says courts cannot tell the president how to handle national security clearances and they cannot interfere with directives about building access or government contracts. Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is going to hear the case.
MARTIN: How are the law firms preparing to make their case?
JOHNSON: The firms are looking to Supreme Court precedent that says our justice system depends on an informed and independent bar. They're going to argue these orders violate the First Amendment and pose a severe threat to the legal profession and the rule of law. And they say in court papers the adversarial system depends on courts hearing views from both sides. Lawyers need to be able to represent unpopular causes. They also say it's not just these law firms - their clients have a right to a lawyer of their choice under the Sixth Amendment. Now, many nonprofit legal groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs to support the law firms, but people who tried to organize opposition to the Trump order say there's really been a lack of courage by other law firms and partners. Philip Lacovara served as a prosecutor in the Watergate scandal.
PHILIP LACOVARA: We encountered very widespread and very frustrating reluctance on the part of partners in major law firms to sign on to anything because they were concerned, or their firm management was concerned, about anything that involved getting crosswise with the president.
JOHNSON: Lacovara told me firms and partners were hiding in the weeds last year when Trump signed those orders, and it's still true, since he couldn't get some big-name lawyers and firms to sign briefs this year either.
MARTIN: What do you expect will happen in court today?
JOHNSON: It's really odd that we are here. Only a couple of months ago, the Justice Department filed papers to withdraw this appeal and just take the loss, but DOJ quickly reversed course in a sign that President Trump wants to have this fight. Arguing for the Justice Department will be Abhishek Kambli. He's argued some of the administration's toughest cases over the past year. This will be one of his final moves in the government because he's leaving the DOJ soon. And arguing for the law firms will be former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement. He's a conservative who's been taking on tough assignments against the administration in Donald Trump's second term.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Carrie Johnson. Carrie, thank you.
JOHNSON: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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