The two states challenging President Trump’s executive order on immigration won a resounding victory on Thursday evening as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, in a unanimous decision, to uphold a temporary ruling that blocks the order.
The three-judge ruling came after more than 100 tech companies signed on to briefs to support Washington and Minnesota in their legal challenge.
While the ruling came as a victory for all of the companies that challenged the ruling, Amazon (AMZN) was particularly vocal in hailing the decision.
On Thursday, Amazon’s general counsel, David Zapolsky, took to Twitter (TWTR) to give a shout-out to the state of Washington’s top lawyers, who won the appeal, and to his own company’s legal team:
Congrats and kudos to the @WGOWA Bob Ferguson and SG Noah Purcell for their tremendous work in representing the citizens of WA and USA. Https://t.co/cESXolvDsD
— David Zapolsky (@DavidZapolsky) February 9, 2017
Proud of @AGOWA, the Amazon legal team that helped on the case, and amici — who all made today's 9th Circuit ruling possible.
— David Zapolsky (@DavidZapolsky) February 10, 2017
In a tweet earlier this week, Zapolsky also noted how Amazon and another Washington state company, Expedia (EXPE), are witnesses in the underlying lawsuit in Seattle that gave rise to the temporary block on Trump’s order:
Great to see biz comm aligning to support WA's challenge to immigration order-superb brief. Amazon, Expedia were witnesses in original suit. Https://t.co/wv8LAH3OnG
— David Zapolsky (@DavidZapolsky) February 6, 2017
While it is not unusual to see companies’ lawyers talk about cases on social media, Zapolsky’s comment is notable given the political nature of the case, because Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have sparred in the past—most notably when Trump suggested an antitrust suit against Amazon.
Trump has also taken repeated shots at The Washington Post, a newspaper owned by Bezos that has criticized some of his decisions.
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day ‘s technology newsletter.
In the wake of the 9th Circuit ruling, Trump has so far not attacked the companies that supported the legal challenge by Washington state. Instead, the President responded on Twitter with an all caps tweet that he would see the judges “in court,” prompting some humorous replies.
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
“oh no, not court” —judges
— Casey Johnston (@caseyjohnston) February 10, 2017
Please please please represent yourself in front of the Supreme Court. I'll never ask for anything else ever again. Https://t.co/kNqncAijFN
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) February 10, 2017
The case is now poised to head to the Supreme Court, which could decide whether Trump’s order that bars people from certain countries (including green card holders) from the United States, should be halted while courts determine if it’s constitutional.
