For weeks now, President Donald Trump has been issuing memos and executive orders targeting big law firms.

Here's how he laid it out on Fox News.

We have a lot of law firms that we're going to be going after because they were very dishonest people.

They were very, very dishonest.

They could go point after point after point.

Trump's moves suspended firm security clearances, prohibited government contractors from retaining

the firms, and even barred their employees from federal buildings.

He also issued an executive memo threatening sanctions on any law firms that pursue, quote,

frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States. Here's how Professor

Timothy Zick at William and Mary Law School describes it all. This is an effort to target and

retaliate against law firms that were doing lawful work, advocacy on behalf of their clients.

Each of the firms had fallen a foul of Trump in one way or another.

Perkins Cooey, for example, represented Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign and had a hand

in the creation of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier.

With another firm, Paul Weiss, the complaints included the rehiring of an attorney who had

left to help prosecute a case against Trump.

In court, the Trump administration has argued that the president has the authority to take

action against companies if he believes they can't be trusted with national secrets.

University of Pennsylvania law professor Claire Finkelstein says it appears clear the president has a

different goal.

I think if you look at the purpose of the executive orders, it's to intimidate professionals,

to intimidate the legal profession from engaging in professional activities that go against

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