U.S. law firm Perkins Coie has hired outside lawyers from Williams & Connolly in response to President Donald Trump's executive order last week punishing the firm over its prior work for Hillary Clinton and its internal policies promoting diversity and inclusion.

The retaliatory aim of the Order is intentionally obvious to the general public and the press because the very goal is to chill future lawyers from representing particular clients,” the suit

President Donald Trump’s strike this week against a Democratic-linked law firm came years after it faced allegations of aiding unethical and, in some cases, illegal efforts to weaponize the Justice Department against Trump.

The 43-page complaint asks a Washington, D.C., federal court to immediately stop implementation of Trump’s executive order, pending the firm’s preliminary injunction motion.

Perkins Coie's lawsuit is in response to President Trump's executive order that accused the firm of "dishonest and dangerous activity" that sought to overturn laws and elections and of allegedly discriminatory DEI policies.

The order against the firm, which did work for Democrats during the 2016 campaign, represents an escalation of efforts to punish groups the president sees as aiding his enemies.

Trump in February issued a similar but narrower order against law firm Covington & Burling, which is representing the special counsel who led now-dismissed criminal prosecutions o