By Jessica Wedemeyer
2:59am PDT, May 29, 2025
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A federal judge is slamming
Donald Trump's efforts to retaliate against a top law firm that hired
Robert Mueller following his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
On Tuesday, May 27, Judge
Richard Leon dropped
a 73-page takedown of the president's
executive order targeting WilmerHale.
"This Order must be struck down in its entirety as unconstitutional. Indeed, to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!" he wrote.
Keep reading to see what else he had to say in his epic Trump takedown…MORE:
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"The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this!" Richard Leon began his 73-page opinion of Donald Trump's executive order targeting WilmerHale, which employed Robert Mueller following his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Leon used 26 exclamation points to emphasize the arguments in his blistering takedown of Trump's late March executive order directing agencies to block WilmerHale employees from accessing federal buildings and to suspend their security clearances. The EO also directed government agencies to review and terminate any contracts with WilmerHale and to refrain from hiring the firm.
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In his 73-page opinion, Judge Richard Leon pushed back on the Trump administration's claims that Donald Trump's executive order targeting WilmerHale hasn't impacted the firm's business: "Please — that dog won't hunt!" Leon wrote, later adding that "this argument is absurd!"
He called the executive order "a staggering punishment for the firm's protected speech" and noted that it does, in fact, "impede the firm's ability to effectively represent its clients!"
"The Order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!" Leon wrote.
"The Court finds that WilmerHale has both alleged and shown this First Amendment violation!" he argued, adding that the order is "an egregious violation of the First Amendment!"
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Judge Richard Leon went on to agree with WilmerHale's assertion that Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm "violates the separation of powers by usurping judicial authority to identify and sanction abuses of the judicial process."
"To say the least, the Order is fraught with the risk of arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement!" he noted.
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In
his late March executive order targeting WilmerHale, Donald Trump wrote that the firm is "bent on employing lawyers who weaponize the prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process and distort justice."
"WilmerHale rewarded Robert Mueller and his colleagues … by welcoming them to the firm after they wielded the power of the Federal Government to lead one of the most partisan investigations in American history. Mueller's investigation epitomizes the weaponization of government, yet WilmerHale claimed he 'embodies the highest value of our firm and profession.' Mueller's 'investigation' upended the lives of public servants in my Administration who were summoned before 'prosecutors' with the effect of interfering in their ability to fulfill the mandates of my first term agenda. This weaponization of the justice system must not be rewarded, let alone condoned," Trump wrote.
The former reality TV star has insisted ad nauseam over the years that Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was nothing more than a "witch hunt."
