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Trump directed suspension of Covington & Burling security clearances and contract terminations over Jack Smith representation

President Trump issued a presidential memorandum on February 25, 2025, directing the Attorney General and all agency heads to immediately suspend security clearances held by partners, members, and employees of Covington & Burling LLP who had assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith, and to terminate all federal agency contracts with the firm. The memorandum cited the firm's representation of Smith as "involvement in government weaponization." It was the first in a sequence of retaliatory executive actions targeting major law firms whose attorneys had represented parties adverse to Trump or participated in investigations of him.

Jurisdiction
federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On February 25, 2025, President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the Attorney General and all relevant agency heads to immediately suspend the security clearances of Peter Koski and all members, partners, and employees of Covington & Burling LLP who had assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith during his tenure. The same memorandum directed agencies to terminate all existing contracts and engagements with Covington & Burling to the maximum extent permitted by law, and instructed the Office of Management and Budget to issue a government-wide memo requiring all agencies to review their contracts with the firm.

The memorandum framed the firm's representation of Smith as "involvement in government weaponization," invoking Executive Order 14147, Trump's January 20, 2025 order titled "Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government," as its stated authority. Covington & Burling had provided approximately $140,000 in pro bono legal services to Smith. The firm is one of Washington's largest and employs hundreds of attorneys with government security clearances; the order's reach extended to personnel not directly involved in the Smith representation.

The action was the first in a series of retaliatory presidential directives targeting law firms whose attorneys had represented parties adverse to Trump or participated in legal investigations of him. Trump signed EO 14230 against Perkins Coie the same day, and subsequently signed orders against Jenner & Block, WilmerHale, and Susman Godfrey. Bar associations and legal ethics scholars condemned the actions as attempts to deter firms from representing clients adverse to the administration. The First Amendment and professional conduct rules protect attorneys' right to accept legal representation without facing government retaliation.

Why we recorded this

The First Amendment and professional conduct rules protect attorneys' right to represent unpopular clients, including political adversaries of those in power. President Trump used a presidential memorandum to direct the suspension of security clearances for employees of Covington & Burling who represented former Special Counsel Jack Smith, and to order termination of all federal contracts with the firm. Deploying security-clearance revocations and contract cancellations as punishment for lawful legal representation coerces law firms away from taking cases adverse to the executive and belongs in the archive as a targeted use of government power to silence legal opposition.

Sources

  1. Suspension of Security Clearances and Evaluation of Government Contracts — The White House primary accessed June 28, 2026
  2. Trump moves to suspend security clearances for lawyers who assisted Jack Smith — CNN secondary accessed June 28, 2026

See also