Overview
- The Justice Department recently filed a notice indicating it would abandon its defense of executive orders aimed at specific law firms before reversing that stance.
- After the filing became public, President Trump reportedly told aides, "I never signed off on that," in what sources described as an angry outburst.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the department amended its filing at the president’s direction, reinstating the government’s defense of the orders.
- District court injunctions blocking the directives remain in effect while the consolidated appeal proceeds, and four firms are expected to file responses later this month.
- The orders target firms that employed lawyers such as Robert Mueller and Jack Smith; some firms reportedly agreed to large pro bono commitments, while others criticized the DOJ reversal as an "unexplained about-face."