Trump order against law firm Susman Godfrey faces court test
May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. law firm Susman Godfrey will ask a judge in Washington on Thursday to permanently bar President Donald Trump's executive order against it, calling the measure an act of retaliation that trampled its rights under the U.S. Constitution.
The hearing before U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan will be the latest in a series of high-profile court clashes over the Republican president's orders targeting major law firms for their connections to his political adversaries or stances they have taken.
Trump has been losing the legal battle so far, after judges put his orders against four firms on hold and struck down one of them entirely on May 2.
AliKhan is set to hear arguments in Susman Godfrey's case at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. The Houston-based firm sued the administration last month, asserting Trump's executive order violated constitutional protections for free speech and due process.
Trump issued orders against Susman and three other firms — Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block and WilmerHale — that suspended their lawyers' security clearances, restricted their access to government officials and sought to cancel federal contracts held by their client.
Susman Godfrey in its lawsuit said Trump's order was retaliation for its defending the integrity of the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The firm represents election technology supplier Dominion Voting Systems in cases that challenged false claims the election was stolen from Trump through widespread voting fraud.
The U.S. Justice Department has defended Trump's orders as lawful exercises of presidential authority and urged judges to uphold them.
Nine prominent law firms, including Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis, have settled with the White House to avoid similar actions against them by the administration.
Those firms cumulatively pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services and made other concessions in their deals with Trump. They have defended agreements as being aligned with their principles.
At an earlier hearing in the Susman Godfrey case, AliKhan lamented the settling firms were "capitulating" to the Trump White House.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
John Fetterman snubs wife Giselle on their own wedding anniversary as he dines with MAGA power player
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman was spotted out to dinner with a MAGA icon at a conservative hotspot in Washington - apparently on his wedding anniversary. The senator who has made a name for himself for bucking his party was spotted dining with a Breitbart reporter on Monday, June 9th, Politico reported. But that's not what caused the online stir. What left onlookers gobsmacked about the weeknight dinner was a brief visit from former Trump advisor and MAGA strategist Steve Bannon, the conservative fireband and liberal bogeyman who anchors his own influential 'War Room' podcast. More stunningly, that dinner at Butterworth's - a buzzy Capitol Hill bistro known to attract MAGA socialites and GOP Hill staffers - apparently happened on Fetterman's 17th anniversary. However, the senator's wife, Gisele, was not mentioned in the dispatch about the surprising dinner party. 'John Fetterman, the not-uncontroversial Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, dining in D.C.'s top MAGA hangout Butterworth's ... Fetterman was joined by Breitbart's Matt Boyle, plus — for a good 20 minutes or so — Steve Bannon,' the outlet wrote. Fetterman's office did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Mail. The potential dinner snub comes after Senate staffers told the Daily Mail in May that Gisele has been absent from Washington this year. A New York Magazine report around that time also documented how Gisele has been concerned with her husband's behavior, including his support for Israel. Fetterman, 55, once believed to be the pro-union, socialist assumed heir to Bernie Sanders ' far-left platform, has since the October 7 attack been leaning more rightward, fervently supporting Israel and denouncing the 'progressive' moniker. He has met personally with President Donald Trump and broken ranks with Democrats with his support for strict border and immigration restrictions as well as fracking, the controversial method to extract oil and gas from the ground. As Fetterman has slid from pseudo-progressive to Democratic populist his staffers have expressed concern over the senator's health and behavior. The 55-year-old suffered a stroke during his 2022 campaign and soon after joining Congress checked himself into the hospital as he battled depression. The bombshell New York Mag piece on the senator lifted the veil on many personal details regarding the Democrat's health struggles, including sections about Gisele complaining to her husband's staff and doctors locking him out of his social media as he underwent treatment. The Democrat and many senators slammed the article at the time. Fetterman told the Daily Mail the report was a 'hit piece.' In the days after the piece was published, multiple staffers told the Daily Mail that Gisele had not been spotted around her husband's Senate office recently. But when Gisele was spotted not wearing her wedding ring in early May, she told the Daily Mail that she was not wearing it because she is a firefighter. 'I'm a firefighter, did you know that? If I wore my wedding ring to fight fires, that would be dangerous,' she said. 'That's why it's not here.' Shortly after the news broke that Fetterman and Bannon dined together briefly on June 9th, X users pieced together that dinner occurred on what Fetterman has said is his anniversary with Gisele. Fetterman posted on June 10, 2024 that he and Gisele had gotten in a car accident 'yesterday,' noting it was a bad way to spend their 'anniversary.' So his sit-down at a MAGA hub with Bannon a year later on his anniversary has raised questions and criticism online. 'OH MY GODDDDD,' one X user reacted to the senator's anniversary plans. You might have heard G and I were in a car accident yesterday. Thank you all for the well wishes. Not the best way to spend our 16th wedding anniversary but we're doing well and happy to be back home in Braddock with the family. — U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) June 10, 2024 'On his 17th wedding anniversary, John Fetterman was seen dining at D.C.'s top MAGA hangout,' Howie Klein, a progressive blogger, wrote on X. 'At the rate he's going, he'll be eligible for Gavin Newsom's podcast soon!' he said of the California governor's show that frequently features Republican guests.
Reuters
27 minutes ago
- Reuters
China says it will remove all tariffs on African exports to boost trade
NAIROBI, June 12 (Reuters) - China will negotiate and sign a new economic pact with Africa that will get rid of all tariffs on the 53 African states it has diplomatic ties with, it said, a move that could benefit middle-income nations. The Asian economic giant offers duty- and quota-free market access to least developed countries (LDCs), including many in Africa, but the new initiative will level the playing field by also offering middle-income countries similar market access. "China is ready to... welcome quality products from Africa to the Chinese market", China's foreign ministry said after a meeting of senior Chinese officials with African foreign ministers in Changsha to review implementation of commitments made during a summit in Beijing last September. In recognition of the significant disadvantages that businesses from LDCs like Tanzania or Mali could face from their more developed counterparts like South Africa once the market is fully opened, China pledged additional measures to support LDCs, including training and marketing promotion. Beijing's move could help relatively advanced countries, with significant manufacturing bases for value added products, to take advantage of the vast Chinese market, analysts said. "It enables middle-income countries like Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco... to be able to now enter the Chinese market duty-free," said Hannah Ryder, founder of Development Reimagined, an Africa-focused consultancy. Trade between China and Africa has been growing in recent years, but it has been heavily skewed in favour of China, which had a surplus of $62 billion last year. "Unless we have an equivalent increase of African exports to China, then trade deficits will continue to increase," Ryder said, adding that the initiative announced by Beijing could help to balance trade. During last year's summit in Beijing, China pledged 360 billion yuan ($50 billion) to African economies over three years in credit lines and investments, marking its return to big-ticket funding deals for the continent after a pandemic-related hiatus. ($1 = 7.1747 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
German defence minister: not considering sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine
BERLIN, June 12 (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday that Germany is not considering delivering Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine despite Kyiv's repeated requests. Although Germany is one of Ukraine's main military backers, Berlin has never supplied Taurus missiles, which have a range in excess of 300 miles (480 km). Answering a journalist's question during his fifth visit to Kyiv since the start of the war, Pistorius said, "Since you asked me whether we are considering this, my answer is no." In the same news conference, the minister said his country's military support for Ukraine had reached 7 billion euros ($8.12 billion) this year and a further 1.9 billion euros were pending parliamentary approval. ($1 = 0.8621 euros)
