By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has agreed to rescind an executive order that suspended security clearances for lawyers and staff at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, according to a statement he posted to Truth Social on Thursday.

The New York-based firm has agreed to dedicate the equivalent of $40 million in pro bono legal services over the course of Trump’s term “to support the Administration’s initiatives,” the statement said. The firm has also agreed to audit its employment practices and pledged to not “adopt, use, or pursue” diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The statement notes that Trump agreed to the deal following a meeting with the firm’s chairman Brad Karp, “during which Mr. Karp acknowledged the wrongdoing of former Paul, Weiss partner, Mark Pomerantz, the grave dangers of Weaponization, and the vital need to restore our System of Justice.”

It was not immediately clear what wrongdoing the statement referred to. Paul Weiss’ leadership and a firm spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

Karp met with Trump to try to resolve the issue after Trump’s executive order, a person familiar with the meeting told CNN.

The deal comes as the Trump administration cracks down on top law firms. Trump had signed the executive order targeting Paul Weiss a little over a week after he targeted the large corporate firms Covington & Burling and Perkins Coie.

The White House last month suspended the active security clearances of lawyers from Covington who are working with former special counsel Jack Smith, who prosecuted Trump unsuccessfully on behalf of the Justice Department under the Biden administration. Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order suspending the security clearances of employees at Perkins Coie citing the law firm’s DEI practices.

The White House’s decision to blacklist the firms in various ways has been met with widespread shock and condemnation across the legal industry, and a federal judge recently blocked much of the White House’s retaliation toward Perkins Coie.

But Paul Weiss’ leadership took the approach to make a deal rather than sue, according to Trump’s statement.

The firm had been bracing for last Friday’s executive order after word leaked that the White House had circulated a list of as many as 14 firms that could be targeted, as Trump had done with Covington and Perkins Coie, two people familiar with the discussions said.

The moves by Trump toward the legal establishment are unprecedented in the modern American presidency – and so is Paul Weiss’ approach of promised pro bono work.

The firm in recent years had been often aligned with liberal-leaning legal pursuits, even filing a much-publicized amicus brief in a Supreme Court case that brought together successful female lawyers who had had abortions to defend those choices.

Well-known alumni of Republican presidential administrations also hold sway at the firm.

It isn’t unusual, however, for law firms to commit significant time and expense to pro bono causes.

Law firms are in a bind over the administration’s claims that their hiring practices are discriminatory. That’s because many of their policies are in place because their clients want diversity in the firms they hire, lawyers at the firms say.

Meanwhile, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Monday that it was investigating the hiring practices of a slew of law firms for possible discrimination.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Evan Perez and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

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