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nytimes.archives.com
Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.

Excerpt-——animosity toward Perkins Coie dates back eight years, when two lawyers at the firm, Marc Elias and Michael Sussmann, played roles in what eventually became an FBI investigation to determine if anyone on the 2016 Trump presidential campaign conspired with Russian agents to influence the outcome of that election. Both lawyers left that firm years ago.

The Trump executive order denounces what it calls “dishonest and dangerous activity” at Perkins Coie, singling out its hiring of a research firm that led to the compilation of a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations against Mr. Trump related to possible ties between his campaign and Russia. The executive order accused the firm of “undermining democratic elections, the integrity of our courts and honest law enforcement.”

The order instructs federal agencies to suspend any security clearances that Perkins Coie lawyers may have. It also orders government agencies to determine if they have any contracts with the law firm, and then cancel them.

Additionally, the order instructs the heads of all federal agencies to limit Perkins Coie lawyers’ access to federal buildings “when such access would threaten the national security of or otherwise be inconsistent with the interests of the United States.” It also instructs federal officials to limit their interactions with employees of the firm and seeks to prevent Perkins Coie lawyers from being hired by the federal government.

It is not clear what immediate effect the presidential decree will have on the firm. The president and his supporters have railed against what they call the “weaponization” of the legal system against him, arguing that he was unfairly targeted by prosecutors, judges and private practice lawyers for political purposes, rather than any wrongdoing on his part.

“This is an absolute honor to sign,” Mr. Trump said at the White House. “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.”