FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is expected to sign a memo Tuesday suspending the security clearances for employees of a top D.C.-based law firm who assisted in former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, Fox News has learned.
The memo, first reported by Fox News, outlines the administration’s sweeping plans to suspend security clearances for all counsel members involved in Jack Smith’s dual special counsel investigations into Trump, the White House confirmed.
It’s the latest in a string of punitive actions Trump has taken to strip power from his political and legal foes.
The memo orders the federal government to review and terminate the engagement of law firm Covington & Burling by the U.S. government “to the maximum extent permitted by law,” and will conduct a detailed evaluation of funding decisions to ensure they with American citizens’ interests and the priorities of this Administration, as detailed in executive directives.
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Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Among those targeted is Peter Koski, the former deputy chief of the Justice Department’s public integrity section. Covington vice chair Lanny Breuer, who helped lead the Justice Department’s criminal division under then-President Barack Obama, is also expected to be squarely in the crosshairs of the review. Breuer, for his part, recruited Smith in 2010 to head up DOJ’s Public Integrity Section.
The two made headlines earlier this month after Politico reported they had been offering pro bono legal services to Jack Smith prior to his resignation from the Justice Department last month.
The White House said Tuesday that the firm had offered Smith $140,000 in free legal services.
In revoking the government clearances of top Justice Department personnel, the administration said Trump is “sending a clear message that the Federal Government will no longer tolerate the abuse of power by partisan actors who exploit their positions for political gain.”
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, where he signed an executive order, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Ben Curtis)
Covington is home to a long list of former Justice Department officials – among them, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sarah Harrington, and Stacey Grigsby, a former Justice Department official who most recently served as deputy White House Counsel to President Joseph Biden.
“All contracts with Covington & Burling LLP will undergo a detailed evaluation to ensure agency funding decisions align with American citizens’ interests and the priorities of this Administration, as detailed in executive directives,” the memo will say.
Covington & Burling LLP did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment.
Smith was tapped by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.
He had previously indicted Trump in D.C. on charges stemming from his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Smith also brought federal charges against Trump in Florida for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
Trump has taken several actions against those perceived to be his legal foes in the federal government. (AP Images / Getty Images)
Both cases were dropped after Trump’s election, in keeping with a longstanding Justice Department memo that states it is against DOJ policy to investigate a sitting president for federal criminal charges.
The memo says it is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine to do so, and a Supreme Court decision last summer further expanded the scope of immunity for sitting presidents.
Still, the news comes as the Trump administration has announced a flurry of recent actions aimed at combating the so-called weaponization of federal agencies.
The FBI headquarters and seal are seen in Washington, D.C. Photos by Getty Images. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
Since his inauguration, Trump has pardoned or granted clemency to 1,600 individuals criminally charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riots. His administration fired more than a dozen inspectors general across multiple federal agencies, and created a so-called “Weaponization Working Group” to identify perceived political actions taken by law enforcement agencies.
But critics have argued that – far from ending what Trump has described as a politically motivated “abuse” of federal agencies – these actions risk backfiring and worsening the very problem they were ostensibly designed to solve.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., described Trump’s inspector general firings last month as both an illegal move and a “chilling purge” of government watchdogs. “Yeah, he broke the law,” Schiff said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association (FBIAA) also criticized the recent actions taken by the Trump administration, citing concerns that the retaliatory measures could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI.
They said in a letter this month that Trump’s actions could threaten “transparency and due process,” and “are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.”
