Donald Trump’s recent order targeting a law firm that opposed his interests was recently put on hold by a judge, but one former Republican says the executive action is akin to a confession.

U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell recently issued a temporary restraining order after President Trump signed an executive order retaliating against a law firm for representing Hillary Clinton and George Soros. That firm is Perkins Coie.

New York Times columnist David French, a former attorney and ex-writer for the conservative National Review, appeared on MSNBC early on Thursday to discuss the topic.

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“I’ve never seen anything like it,” French said of the executive order. “I practiced first amendment law for more than 20 years. I litigated countless cases. And always when you are litigating a retaliation case, the government was saying, no, no, no, we’re not retaliating, you misunderstand. And we are having to prove retaliation here.”

In this situation, French says, “They just confessed to it.”

“They said, right there, we’re doing this because of their political activities, because of their first amendment protected expression,” he added. “They’re taking action against a law firm. It was just plain on the face of the document. So nothing about this order surprises me. And it’s going to be the first of many if they keep doing this.”