Judge blocks Trump’s effort to strip lawyer’s security clearance representing whistleblower

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from implementing a presidential memo issued in March to revoke the security clearance of prominent Washington lawyer Mark Zaid, ruling that the order — which also targeted 14 other individuals — cannot be applied to him.

The decision marked the administration’s second legal setback on Tuesday, after the Supreme Court refused to allow Trump to deploy National Guard troops to the Chicago area, capping a first year in office in which courts have repeatedly slowed President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose a sweeping agenda and seek retaliation against his political opponents.

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US District Court Judge Amir Ali in Washington granted Zaid’s request for a preliminary injunction, after he filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last May over the cancellation of his security clearance. Zaid’s request described this as an act of “inappropriate political retaliation” that jeopardizes his ability to continue representing his clients in sensitive national security cases.

The March presidential memorandum singled out Zaid and 14 other individuals who the White House asserted were ineligible to retain their clearances because doing so was “no longer in the national interest.” The list included targets that angered Trump from the political and legal spheres, including former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former President Joe Biden and members of his family.

The action was part of a much broader campaign of retaliation waged by Trump since his return to the White House, including directing specific Justice Department investigations against perceived adversaries and issuing sweeping executive orders targeting law firms over legal work he dislikes.

In August, the Trump administration said it had revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials. Ordering the revocation of clearances was a favored retaliation tactic that Trump used — or at least attempted to do — against prominent political figures, lawyers and intelligence officials in his second term.

Zaid said in his lawsuit that he has represented clients from across the political spectrum for nearly 35 years, including government officials, law enforcement officials, military officials and whistleblowers. In 2019, he represented an intelligence community whistleblower whose account of a conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky helped pave the way for the first of two impeachment cases against Trump in his first term.

“This court joins many other courts in this region that have prevented the government from using arbitrary revocation of security clearances to punish lawyers who represent people who oppose it,” Ali wrote in his order.

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Ali stressed that his order does not prevent the government from revoking or suspending Zaid’s permit for reasons independent of the presidential memorandum and through normal agency procedures. The preliminary injunction will not take effect until January 13.

“This is not just a victory for me, it is a condemnation of the Trump administration’s attempts to intimidate and silence the legal community, especially lawyers who represent people who dare to question or hold this government accountable,” Zeid said in a statement.

Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed to this report.