President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday targeting a Texas law firm that has successfully represented Dominion Voting Systems in defamation litigation against supporters of the president, including My Pillow Guy, Fox News and Newsmax, which broadcast claims that the 2020 election was fixed.
The two-page executive order accuses the Houston-based law firm of “egregious conduct and conflicts of interest” and representing “clients that engage in conduct undermining critical American interests and priorities.” The order by the president suspends “security clearances held by individuals at Susman Godfrey pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.”
“Susman spearheads efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrade the quality of American elections,” President Trump wrote in the executive order. “Susman funds groups that engage in dangerous efforts to undermine the effectiveness of the U.S. military through the injection of political and radical ideology, and it supports efforts to discriminate on the basis of race.”
In a written statement, Susman Godfrey said that “there is no question that we will fight this unconstitutional order.”
President Trump’s executive order against Susman Godfrey is the fifth he has signed against law firms during the past month and the first targeting a law firm based in Texas.
The White House released the executive order only an hour before a judge in Delaware issued an 83-page opinion that gave lawyers for Susman Godfrey and their client, Dominion, a huge court victory against Newsmax Media in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit related to the 2020 presidential election. Dominion sued Newsmax for defamation after the conservative news network accused the electronic voting system company of criminal activity that led to President Trump losing the election.
Susman Godfrey was one of nine Texas firms that signed an amicus brief last week asking the federal courts to strike down President Trump’s previous executive order against the corporate law firm Perkins Coie, which has offices in Dallas and Austin.
The legal brief accuses President Trump of illegally using executive orders to punish law firms that represent clients or causes that he opposes.
Susman Godfrey served as legal counsel for Dominion in its defamation lawsuit against Fox News and other media outlets, which broadcasted claims by President Trump and his supporters that the Dominion electronic voting machines helped rig the 2020 election. Fox News settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million instead of going to trial.
In the Newsmax case, Susman Godfrey is expected to ask a jury later this year to award billions of dollars in damages to its client.
Susman Godfrey is also representing election technology company Smartmatic International Holding in litigation against My Pillow founder Mike Lindell, a Trump advocate who claimed Smartmatic was part of an election scheme that denied President Trump victory in 2020.
Susman Godfrey, which has more than 200 lawyers and 2023 revenues in excess of $700 million, is also representing Media Matters in litigation against Trump supporter Elon Musk and his social media company X Corp., which was previously known as Twitter.
In announcing that it will fight the executive order, Susman Godfrey joins Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner Block challenging the Trump administrations authority to ban them from representing clients with federal government contracts. Three different federal judges, including two appointed by former President George W. Bush, have issued temporary restraining orders preventing the EOs against the law firms from taking effect.
Three large corporate law firms — Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps and Willkie Farr — negotiated settlement agreements with the White House by agreeing to abandon their diversity and inclusion efforts and to do tens of millions of dollars in pro bono work for causes supported by President Trump. Skadden Arps and Willkie have offices in Houston.
“The Federal Government will halt all material and services, including sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) access provided to Susman and restrict its employees’ access to government buildings,” the executive order states. “To ensure taxpayer dollars no longer go to contractors whose earnings subsidize activities not aligned with American interests, the federal government will terminate contracts that involve Susman. President Trump believes that lawyers and law firms that engage in conduct detrimental to critical American interests should not be subsidized by American taxpayers or have access to our nation’s secrets.”
The case is Dominion Voting Systems v. Newsmax Media, State of Delaware Superior Court. Case No. N21C-08-063.