Trump signs order targeting law firm that employed Mueller team prosecutor
The order, which targets the law firm Jenner and Block, is the latest move from Trump to punish major firms with ties to critics and individuals he holds grudges against.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf alleged the firm had engaged in 'weaponization of the legal system against American principles and values.'
'And Andrew Weissman is the main culprit with respect to this firm?' Trump asked, calling Weissman a 'bad guy.'
Scharf said Weissman was 'one of a number of reasons' the order was being issued.
'Jenner & Block has had a long history representing clients, paid and pro bono, in their most difficult matters since 1914,' a spokesperson for the law firm said in a statement. 'Today, we have been named in an Executive Order similar to one which has already been declared unconstitutional by a federal court. We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients' interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies.'
The order Trump signed Tuesday is similar to others he has signed in recent weeks targeting security clearances, government contracts and access to government buildings for major law firms with ties to lawyers who represented Democrats or worked on cases involving Trump.
One previous order targeted Covington & Burling, which is providing pro bono services to represent former special counsel Jack Smith in his personal capacity. Smith oversaw two federal criminal cases against Trump involving the alleged mishandling of classified documents and his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Another targeted Perkins Coie, which worked for the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 and worked for a political opposition research company that dug into Trump during his first run for president.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the portion of Trump's order denying Perkins Coie attorneys entry to federal buildings.
Trump also targeted the Paul Weiss law firm, but the firm later reached a deal with the administration to have it rescinded. As part of the agreement, the law firm agreed to provide the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services to support the Trump administration's initiatives.
Updated: 4:55 p.m.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
14 minutes ago
- CNBC
EU chief to meet Trump in Scotland in push to avoid a transatlantic trade war
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Scotland over the weekend, seeking to reach a framework trade agreement shortly before a 30% tariff on EU imports comes into effect. In a post on social media platform X on Friday, the EU's von der Leyen said she had agreed to meet with the U.S. president on Sunday "to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." Trump later confirmed the meeting would take place as he arrived in Scotland on Friday evening, saying "we'll see if we can make a deal." "I think we have a good 50/50 chance. That's a lot," he added. It comes amid a sense of growing optimism about the prospect of a tariff breakthrough, with sources telling CNBC that the current base-case scenario for a deal includes a 15% tariff on EU imports to the U.S. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 30% on EU goods from Aug.1, prompting the EU to consider countermeasures as part of its response. The U.S. and EU have the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world, representing almost 30% of global trade in goods and services, and accounting for 43% of global gross domestic product (GDP), according to EU figures. Trump's four-day and golf-heavy Scotland visit is also expected to see him hold an informal meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Unlike the EU, the U.K. recently struck a trade deal with the Trump administration, one which is centered on a 10% tariff baseline on British goods arriving in the U.S. Hopes of the U.S. and EU averting a transatlantic trade war from Aug. 1 have been buoyed at least in part by the recent announcement of a framework agreement between the U.S. and Japan. The U.S.-Japan deal, which Trump described in a social media post as "perhaps the largest Deal ever made," includes a baseline tariff rate of 15%. Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief euro zone economist at Capital Economics, said Friday that a similar framework for the EU might be seen as case where a bad deal is better than no deal. "Reports this week suggest that the EU and US are on the brink of agreeing a trade deal with a 15% baseline tariff on US imports from the bloc. It's hard to spin it as a good deal, but it would at least avoid much higher US tariffs and retaliation from the EU," Allen-Reynolds said in a research note.
Newsweek
14 minutes ago
- Newsweek
China's Xi Makes Trump Wait for Leader Talks
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The White House has been optimistic about the prospects for an in-person summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping—the first of President Donald Trump's second term. Yet analysts say the Chinese leader is likely holding out for concrete deliverables before agreeing to the high-profile meeting. All Eyes on Sweden Trump dramatically escalated the trade war with the world's second-largest economy in April, rolling out sweeping new tariffs that prompted China to respond with its own export duties and other measures. While Trump has said that "the confines of a deal" are in place ahead of a third round of talks between U.S. and Chinese negotiators, set for Sweden next week, several contentious issues remain unresolved. These include ongoing U.S. curbs on advanced chip exports to China and persistent geopolitical friction over influence in Asia and Beijing's threats toward Taiwan. Newsweek reached out to the White House and Chinese embassy in the U.S. via email for comment. Europe's Role Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, told Newsweek: "A Xi-Trump summit is highly probable, but withholding final approval until Beijing can button down more information and as many concessions as possible is no doubt part of Xi's calculus." "What China and the United States can each negotiate with the EU will also help inform the China-US trade bargain that will be at the heart of any Xi-Trump summit," Cronin said. After months of efforts with dozens of countries, the White House recently secured a handful of deals with Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, Cronin added. In a picture combination created on May 14, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump are shown. In a picture combination created on May 14, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump are shown. Dan Kitwood, Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images Among the deals Trump hopes to achieve is with the EU—a traditionally U.S.-aligned bloc that has become increasingly alienated by Trump's unpredictable trade moves and controversial domestic policies. Analysts say China has been seeking to exploit this rift and achieve a thaw in ties with Brussels that has deteriorated over issues like alleged Chinese market flooding with state-subsidized electric vehicles, human rights concerns and Beijing's support for Russia amid the war in Ukraine. Sean King, an Asia scholar and senior vice president at Park Strategies, told Newsweek: "PRC [People's Republic of China] leaders have long seen Europe as a comparatively easier mark, as the continent doesn't have America's Asian security concerns and obligations." He added, "It's probably better for Trump to first line up what he says are trade deals with friends and allies before going for the big one with Beijing." While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's visit to Beijing this week yielded a memorandum of understanding on climate change and an agreement to facilitate rare-earth exports, analysts note that a fundamental shift in EU-China ties remains elusive. Timetable Uncertain U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Malaysia earlier this month for meetings with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, said that "the odds are high" a Trump-Xi summit will take place by the end of the year. Rosemary Foot, professor and senior research fellow at the University of Oxford's Department of Politics and International Relations, told Newsweek it's unlikely Xi is counting on Europe as leverage in his dealings with the White House. "I think that it is to do with China's more general approach to the Trump administration which is to wait for some intention to offer a serious deliverable from the meeting and perhaps also to paint President Trump as supplicant," she said. Trump and Xi last met in 2019 at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Washington Post
29 minutes ago
- Washington Post
US-China trade talks: Can China reduce its export dependence?
BEIJING — China's high dependence on exports will likely be a key focus of a new round of U.S.-China trade talks this coming week in Stockholm, but a trade deal would not necessarily help Beijing to rebalance its economy. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he hopes the negotiations can take up this issue, along with China's purchases of oil from Russia and Iran, which undercut American sanctions on those two countries.
