President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would rescind security clearances and access to certain federal resources for Perkins Coie, the law firm that hired the company responsible for crafting the so-called "Steele dossier" containing alleged salacious material and Trump’s alleged connections to Russia, which the president has denied. 

"This is an absolute honor to sign," Trump told reporters Thursday. "What they’ve done, it’s just terrible. It’s weaponization, you could say weaponization against a political opponent, and it should never be allowed to happen again." 

Specifically, the executive order suspends security clearances for Perkins Coie employees until a further review evaluating its access to sensitive information is complete to determine if it aligns with the national interest. 

Additionally, the order cuts off access to sensitive compartmented information facilities for Perkins Coie employees, and will limit the company's access to government employees. Additionally, the order bars the federal government from hiring Perkins Coie employees without specific authorization. 

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Likewise, the federal government is prohibited from hiring contractors that use the law firm, amid a review of all federal contracts associated with Perkins Coie that agency heads will be ordered to terminate to the fullest extent lawfully permitted. 

The international law firm represented Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 election, and former President Joe Biden after Trump challenged Biden’s win in the 2020 election.

Perkins Coie first came under scrutiny after Marc Elias, the former chair of the firm's political law practice, hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research against then-presidential candidate Trump in April 2016 for his opponent, Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee.

Fusion GPS then hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who composed the so-called "Steele dossier." The document included scandalous and mostly unverified allegations, including details that Trump engaged in sex acts with Russian prostitutes. 

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Trump repeatedly denied allegations included in the dossier, and filed a lawsuit against Orbis Business Intelligence, a company that Steele co-founded. Trump’s legal team claimed that he "suffered personal and reputational damage and distress" as a result of the dossier, but a judge in London pitched the lawsuit in February 2024. 

The dossier first became public in 2017 when BuzzFeed News published it. The Justice Department’s inspector general lambasted the agency and the FBI in 2019 for using the document to make a case in securing surveillance applications against former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page, as part of the agency’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

Still, the inspector general determined that no political bias motivated the surveillance of Page or the launching of Russia investigations. 

Requests for comment by Perkins Coie were not immediately answered. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom came under fire Thursday over comments he made about transgender inclusion in women’s and girls sports on the debut episode of his podcast.

Newsom was asked by guest Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative who founded Turning Point USA, about the issue on the "This is Gavin Newsom" podcast.

"The young man who's about to win the state championship in the long jump in female sports, that shouldn't happen," Kirk said. "You, as the governor, should step out and say no. Would you do something like that? Would you say no men in female sports?"

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"I think it’s an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair," Newsom told Kirk. "I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you."

Kirk further pressed Newsom on whether he would condemn the recent victory of a transgender track athlete with a more than 40-foot jump at Jurupa Valley High School in Southern California. Newsom didn't directly address the win but said "it's a fairness issue."

"So, that's easy to call out the unfairness of that," he said. "There's also a humility and a grace. … These poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression. And the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well.

"So, both things I can hold in my hand. How can we address this issue with the kind of decency that I think, you know, is inherent in you but not always expressed on the issue?"

Newsom, who agreed the issue was something the Democratic Party gets "crushed on," faced criticism from conservatives and liberals for his comments.

While Newsom said he agreed with Kirk on there being a "fairness" issue when it came to trans inclusion in women’s sports, California has resisted President Donald Trump’s "No Men in Women’s Sports" executive order that bars biological males from girls and women’s sports.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said last month it would continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls sports, citing state law.

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"The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records," a CIF statement said at the time.

Fox News Digital reacted out to the CIF for its reaction to Newsom’s latest comments.

Riley Gaines, the former NCAA athlete who hosts OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast and has championed fairness in women’s sports, was among the conservatives who spoke out.

Prominent LGBTQ advocates also took swipes at Newsom.

"Gavin Newsom knows that the trans youth in sports issue is a ridiculous, rightwing propaganda effort. He knows this is powered by anti-trans hatred, not reason," Charlotte Clymer wrote on X. "And yet, he still chose to endorse attacks on trans youth to bolster his national profile for a 2028 presidential run.

"He chose to treat trans youth as disposable bargaining chips in his effort to pander to anti-trans conservatives. He has decided that trans youth, one of the most vulnerable groups in the country, are fair game. And he did so in an interview with Charlie Kirk, who has spent his career dehumanizing trans people for sport. It is difficult to overstate how thoroughly cynical, self-serving, and cruel this is."

California Assemblymember Chris Ward and Sen. Caroline Menjivar also released a joint statement. They are the chair and vice chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.

"Sometimes Gavin Newsom goes for the Profile in Courage, sometimes not. We woke up profoundly sickened and frustrated by these remarks," they said, via KCRA-TV. "All students deserve the academic and health benefits of sports activity, and until Donald Trump began obsessing about it, playing on a team consistent with one’s gender has not been a problem since the standard was passed in 2013."

Earlier this week, Senate Democrats blocked the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act from breaking a filibuster. The bill received 51 votes but needed 60 to clear a procedural hurdle.

Fox News' Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

• Trump says he wants his Cabinet to lead his federal overhaul, not Elon Musk.
• Musk has had broad authority to reshape the government, but Trump now appears to be tightening his leash.
• Lawmakers and judges express concern over DOGE's rapid cuts and unclear leadership.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he wants his Cabinet to lead the overhaul of the federal government, not DOGE's de facto leader, Elon Musk.

"I had a meeting, I said I want the Cabinet members to go first, keep all the people you want, everybody you need," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It would be better if they were there for two years instead of two weeks, because in two years they'll know the people better. I want them to do the best job they can."

Trump appears to be trimming Musk's mandate after essentially allowing the White House DOGE office unrestrained authority to reshape the federal government. Musk has frequently bragged about all the things he's done as the unofficial leader of DOGE to gut the federal workforce, like offering millions of staffers a buyout, and to reduce government spending, like "feeding USAID into the "wood chipper."

It doesn't mean Trump is upset with Musk. Trump told reporters the billionaire is doing "an amazing job" and rejected the idea that the DOGE office was moving too quickly. At the same time, Trump still wanted his Cabinet to assert more power when it comes to cutting staff.

Although DOGE was originally Musk's idea, now that the task force has an official administrator, Trump is distancing the billionaire from it, at least in some public channels.

"We say the 'scalpel' rather than the 'hatchet,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level."

Lawyers suing the DOGE office noted Trump's comments during his address to Congress on Tuesday when he twice called Musk the "head" of DOGE. A White House official had previously declared in court that Musk is not leading the DOGE office.

Members of Congress, including some Republicans, have expressed unease with the extent and speed of DOGE's cuts. Some of those lawmakers had received an earful from their constituents when they returned home. Federal judges have also taken issue with some of the DOGE-linked cuts.

Multiple times Justice Department lawyers haven't been able to answer who leads the DOGE office or whether that command structure had changed. These questions still remained after the White House named Amy Gleason as acting administrator of the DOGE office. Trump has blurred that line repeatedly by saying Musk leads DOGE, even though the world's richest man isn't a DOGE office employee.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• Instagram has a new app to rival TikTok's editing app CapCut.
• The "Edits" app launches on March 31, and some creators already have access.
• A new tag will appear for videos that are edited in the app.

Instagram's battle with TikTok has entered the video editing realm.

In January, the Meta-owned platform announced it would launch "Edits," a separate app for editing videos, this year. It's a clear move to compete with TikTok parent ByteDance's own editing app, CapCut, which could also stop operating in the US due to a divest-or-ban law.

This week, Instagram began adding a label to some videos with a "Made with Edits" tag on posts. When you click on the tag, it prompts you to pre-download the Edits app, which is slated to launch on March 31. On TikTok, videos edited in CapCut using templates have a similar tag directing users to CapCut.

If a video is edited in the Edits app and someone posts the video to Instagram from Edits, the tag will appear.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri, Instagram's top executive, posted reels with this tag this week. The "Made with Edits" label will soon appear on more videos as Instagram onboards creators who have been given early access to test the app. One talent manager told BI that one of their creator clients already had access.

Reels made in Edits will also be optimized for higher-resolution video — up to 2K resolution. (Last month, some users spotted this language in the Instagram app when posting reels: "Reels made with Edits are optimized for high-quality playback on Instagram.")

You may be asking: Will this affect how reels perform or are ranked on Instagram?

As of now, Instagram is not giving preferential ranking to reels with the "Made with Edits" tag, the company confirmed to BI.

• Sam Bankman-Fried's crisis PR rep didn't know about his interview with Tucker Carlson.
• The rep, Mark Botnick, resigned from the role on Thursday.
• The crypto scammer is reportedly seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump.

Tucker Carlson's jailhouse interview with Sam Bankman-Fried came as a surprise to everyone — including the crypto scammer's crisis manager.

Mark Botnick, who had represented Bankman-Fried since the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022, resigned from his role on Thursday after learning of the interview.

He told Business Insider that he had no involvement in planning the interview with Carlson, which was posted to social media outlets on Thursday afternoon — Bankman-Fried's 33rd birthday.

"As of today, I no longer represent SBF," Botnick told BI.

Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty in 2023 of an $11 billion fraud and money-laundering scheme through his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.

Botnick is a seasoned public relations operative, having worked on several political campaigns for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He represented Bankman-Fried through the turbulent waves of his criminal case, including when he violated the terms of his bail and was jailed ahead of his trial due to witness tampering.

In recent weeks, Bankman-Fried has gone off-script. He posted messages on X offering advice on the Trump administration's efforts to fire federal employees. Botnick told BI that he was not involved in those X posts and is unsure who posted them on his behalf.

Bankman-Fried's conversations with journalists have gotten him in trouble before. His interviews with The Financial Times, Bloomberg News, and Vox were cited in his criminal trial as evidence of how he misled FTX investors and customers.

Botnick referred additional questions about Bankman-Fried to his criminal appeals attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, who didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

A representative for the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Bankman-Fried is incarcerated, declined to comment on his interview with Carlson. A representative for Carlson's media company didn't respond to a request for comment.

The former crypto mogul — who once had an on-paper net worth of over $26 billion — has been fishing for a pardon from President Donald Trump, Bloomberg News reported.

Trump and Bankman-Fried may have some perceived enemies in common, although Bankman-Fried didn't raise the issue with Carlson, a staunch Trump ally.

The federal judge who oversaw Bankman-Fried's trial and sentenced him, Lewis Kaplan, also oversaw two cases that the writer E. Jean Carroll successfully brought against Trump. Danielle Sassoon, the lead prosecutor in Bankman-Fried's criminal case, resigned as the acting head of the US Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York after refusing a demand from a Trump-appointed Justice Department official to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Carlson raised the question of a potential pardon in the interview.

"If you are not pardoned, how old will you be when you get out?" he asked Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried said he'll be in his late 40s.

During FTX's collapse, in 2022, Bankman-Fried had considered an interview with Carlson, a Fox News host at the time, to "come out as a republican" and rail "against the woke agenda" as a way to restore his reputation, he wrote in a Google Document that became public as part of his criminal case.

"Note: these are all random probably bad ideas that aren't vetted," Bankman-Fried wrote at the top of the document.