Crazy Lawfare – DC District Judge Rules President Trump Cannot Make National Security Decisions

Sundance reporting for CTH 

In more than a few ways this decision is even more crazy than District Judge Beryl Howell’s prior rulings.

Judge Howell (pictured below) issued a temporary restraining order, blocking President Trump from barring the law firm of Perkins Coie from representing federal contractors.

There are a few outlines of the hearing HERE and HERE that essentially tell the story.  Consider this quote:

“When you say that if the president, in his view, takes the position that an individual or an organization or a company is operating a way that is not in the nation’s interests, he can issue an executive order like this and take steps to bar that individual, that entity, that company from doing any business with the government, terminate whatever contracts they’ve got, bar them from federal buildings,” Howell said. “I mean, that’s a pretty extraordinary power for the president to exercise.”

Yes, and that’s called the power of the presidency.  Apparently Judge Howell has never heard of ‘executive power’ that allows the elected President of the United States to determine what is in our nation’s best interests.  Approving his ability to make these decisions, is what that whole voting thing is all about.

Howell further pressed — what would happen if Trump were to “get annoyed” by the law firm representing Perkins Coie in this lawsuit and issue a separate order targeting them?

“If he made a finding that there’s a national security risk with a particular law firm, then yes,” Mizelle responded.

Chad Mizelle is not exactly the best voice to be making the DOJ argument, after all it was this knucklehead who as Rod Rosenstein’s counsel wrote the authorities for the Robert Mueller special counsel.  However, on this issue Mizelle is exactly correct.

Yes, the president has the ability to make decisions about national security threats and private enterprises who the President might feel are detrimental to the national security of our nation, like Perkins Coie.  Howell then went into crazyville to extend her logic.

The executive order, which Trump issued last week, “runs head on into the wall of First Amendment protections,” the judge concluded.

No. That’s not at all what the executive order does.  Perkins Coie is free to talk about how terrible Donald Trump is, free to rail against him, free to take to the public square and decry his approach, free to do and say anything they want; the law firm just cannot represent federal contractors or hold security clearances granting them access to materials that are national security matters.

The core of Beryl Howell’s decision boils down to her wanting to protect the business interests of Perkins Coie. Howell/Coie want the firm to retain access to clients who are federal contractors.

Even Perkins Coie didn’t try to keep their security clearances because they know the President has absolute plenary power to issue or remove them.

[…] The executive order also stripped security clearances from lawyers at the firm, but the firm has not challenged that provision. Under Supreme Court precedent, the president has nearly unfettered discretion to grant or remove security clearances.

Dane Butswinkas, a lawyer representing Perkins Coie, described the president’s order as “like a tsunami waiting to hit the firm.”

“It truly is life-threatening. … It will spell the end of the law firm,” he said. (source)

Apparently, stopping Perkins Coie from representing federal contractors will “spell the end of the law firm.”

That’s interesting.