President Donald Trump plans to cancel security clearances and government work for Covington & Burling because the law firm has aided special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump took the action Tuesday through a memo he signed in the Oval Office. He said he was acting against “the weaponization of our system by law firms—even pro bono work they’re doing—just in order to clog up government, stop government.”
The memo calls on agencies “to suspend any active security clearances held by Peter Koski and all members, partners, and employees of Covington & Burling” who assisted Smith. Koski is a partner at the firm. The memo also directs agencies to review all contracts with Covington and to “align their agency funding decisions with the interests of the citizens of the United States.”
Trump’s directive comes after Smith, who brought two criminal cases against the president, disclosed to the Office of Government Ethics this month his receipt of $140,000 worth of pro bono legal services from Covington.
Covington said in a statement that the firm recently agreed to represent Smith when it became apparent that he would become a subject of a government investigation.
“Covington serves as defense counsel to Jack Smith in his personal, individual capacity,” the firm’s statement said. “We look forward to defending Mr. Smith’s interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so.”
Security clearances are necessary for many non-government lawyers to connect with government officials on national security matters, said Jeff Hauser, founder of the watchdog group Revolving Door Project. Hauser pointed to Mark Zaid, another lawyer who saw his clearance pulled after Zaid represented the whistleblower that sparked Trump’s 2019 impeachment over his phone call with Ukraine’s president.
“It’s necessary to have lawyers in the private sector that have security clearance if they’re doing national security work or work with classified information,” Hauser said.
Trump before signing the memo said, “We’re going to call it the Deranged Jack Smith signing.” After he signed it he held up the pen he used. “Who would like this pen? Why don’t you send it to Jack Smith? A deranged person.”
The New York Times first reported Trump’s action against Covington.
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