Trump strips security clearances at law firm with ties to Jack Smith

President Donald Trump is targeting the elite Washington law firm that is representing former special counsel Jack Smith, issuing a directive that would strip some of its lawyers of their security clearances and examine the firm’s government contracts.

The order signed Tuesday afternoon called for suspending the security clearance of any attorney at Covington & Burling who the Trump administration concludes was involved in representing Smith while he was special counsel. It also directs federal agencies to limit their interactions with Covington & Burling and assess government contracts with the firm to align “funding decisions with the interests of the citizens of the United States.”

The firm has been providing pro bono personal legal services to Smith, who oversaw federal prosecutions of Trump for allegedly taking classified documents and obstructing efforts to retrieve them, and allegedly trying to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Covington & Burling was not involved in the criminal investigations.

The order specifically named Peter Koski, a Covington attorney representing Smith, as well as “all members, partners, and employees” assisting or involved in that work. It says their security clearances should be suspended “pending a review and determination of their roles and responsibilities, if any, in the weaponization of the judicial process.”

The order was the latest effort by the Trump administration to target those he perceives as political foes - by revoking clearances and security details, firing government employees or launching investigations.

Legal experts said the action is unlikely to have widespread implications for Covington & Burling, because the firm’s revenue does not come from government contracts and relatively few attorneys have cases that regularly require security clearances.

As he signed the directive, Trump suggested that he should send the pen to Smith, before tossing it to one of the reporters in the audience.

When asked if he was targeting the law firm, Trump replied: “I was targeted. … Don’t talk to me about targeting.”

David Schaefer, a spokesperson for Covington & Burling, defended the firm’s work on behalf of all clients facing government investigations, describing it as “consistent with the best traditions of the legal profession.”

“We recently agreed to represent Jack Smith when it became apparent that he would become a subject of a government investigation,” Schaefer said in a statement. “Covington serves as defense counsel to Jack Smith in his personal, individual capacity. We look forward to defending Mr. Smith’s interests and appreciate the trust he has placed in us to do so.”

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions on whether, by signing the directive, Trump was suggesting Covington & Burling’s representation of Smith in a personal capacity somehow represented a “weaponization of the judicial process” or if the president believed that the firm had played a role in the special counsel’s investigations.

Trump sent the directive as a memo to heads of agencies that may have granted security clearances to Covington attorneys or may interact with the law firm.

A Washington Post review of public federal contracting data did not show the firm held any active government contracts. But even if a law firm does not have a contract with the federal government, its attorneys could still interact with government officials as they work on cases.

Smith revealed in a government financial disclosure form when he left the Justice Department in early 2025 that he received $140,000 in pro bono legal services from Covington, Politico reported.

Since Trump took office, his administration officials has also revoked the security clearances of figures including Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose offices pursued civil and criminal cases against Trump.

Several former Trump administration officials turned critics, including ex-national security adviser John Bolton and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also lost their clearances.