President Donald Trump said Thursday he was moving to suspend the security clearances of attorneys at a prominent law firm linked to Democratic-funded opposition research during the 2016 presidential campaign into ties between the Republican candidate and Russia.
The sanction against Perkins Coie is the latest in a series of retributive moves by Trump and his administration targeting a broad cross-section of perceived adversaries, including Justice Department prosecutors, career intelligence officials and most recently private-practice attorneys. Taken together, the actions appear designed not only to settle scores from years past but also to deter both government officials and private sector workers from participating in new inquiries into his conduct.
“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,” Trump said after being presented with the executive order at the Oval Office.
New York state officials have told the Trump administration that they will not comply with its...
