U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell on Wednesday sharply questioned the Trump administration’s reasoning behind an executive order targeting Perkins Coie, including the issue of whether it could be viewed as punishment for simply taking on matters adverse to the president.
However, Howell reserved making a decision in the case, with the government expected to submit more briefings later this week. The case was one of two court hearings on Wednesday over President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr’s case was heard later in the day), and in both cases, the Justice Department was pressed to explain the reasoning behind Trump’s orders.