Impeach Donald Trump Now Sign Up Information

Friend,

Ten years ago today, the Supreme Court reversed a century of legal precedent that barred corporate money in our elections. And, the Court extended into the political process the dangerous fiction that corporations are people with constitutional rights.

The consequences have been severe. Since the Citizens United decision, we have seen an explosion of new spending in our elections by big money and corporate interests, drowning out the voices of American voters. Meanwhile, corporations are continually pushing to expand even further the fabricated doctrine of corporate constitutional rights. McDonald’s tried to reverse a living wage law in Seattle, claiming that it violated their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law. Monsanto challenged a Vermont GMO labeling law on the assertion that they have a First Amendment right not to speak. And ExxonMobil is trying to claim a First Amendment right to block state investigations into whether they committed consumer and securities fraud by hiding for decades scientific evidence that global warming is real and escalated by burning fossil fuels.

Corporations are seeking to capture the Constitution to rig elections and boost their bottom-line. Free Speech For People was founded on the day of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in January 2010 to fight back.

We have worked for a decade to lift up the promise of a democracy in which all people can participate equally and meaningfully in the political process. We have sought to uphold and defend our core democratic principles and our Constitution -- beginning with the plain facts that corporations are not people and money is not speech.

Through innovative and bold legal action, we have sought to end the big money dominance of our elections and to advance political equality for all. By pressing for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution, taking on super PACs in court, challenging foreign-corporate money in our elections, confronting corruption in the White House, fighting for election security, and much more, Free Speech For People is helping to lead the movement to reclaim our democracy for we, the people.

We couldn’t have done it without you. Your contributions have helped us to catalyze the movement for a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, fight back against fictitious claims of corporate constitutional rights, pursue cutting-edge litigation, advocate for landmark legislation, and challenge the most corrupt White House in history. Your ongoing support to Free Speech For People today will allow us to defend our democracy in 2020 and beyond, and ensure that all people have an equal voice and an equal vote.

Free Speech For People will continue the fight for our democracy in the next decade and beyond. Will you join us?

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling marked a serious attack on our democracy, but we can save it. And, with your support, we will. Thank you for all that you do for this fight. We truly appreciate your support of Free Speech For People, and together, we will defend our democracy and our Constitution.

Thanks for all you do,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

In December, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. As our Senators prepare to vote on whether or not to convict and remove President Trump from office for his high crimes, we are taking to the streets and making our voices heard.

Join By The People and pledge to attend (or host) a Remove Trump mobilization TOMORROW, January 31st at 5:30 PM local time before the final Senate vote.

Can’t find an event near you? Sign the Mass Mobilization Pledge, and you’ll be notified when a rally is announced in your community.

With every passing day, Donald Trump does more to demonstrate he deserves removal. Congressional resistance to upholding the Constitution has given Trump a pass to recklessly threaten war with Iran, defy subpoena requests, and continue to act as if he is above the law. Removing Trump from office is necessary to protect our democracy, confront abuse of power and the public trust, and set a precedent for how we, the people, and our elected representatives will deal with future strongmen.

A movement is how we impeached Trump, and a movement is the only way we can remove him. Once again, the mainstream conversation says it is impossible to remove Trump -- but we know that if we harness the collective power of the American people through sustained mobilization, we have the potential to change history.

Join us on the streets tomorrow and sign the Mass Mobilization Pledge! Together, we will stand up at this critical moment in history to defend our Constitution and our democracy.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

We are reaching the conclusion of opening arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial, but Senate Republicans are stonewalling the public's demand to subpoena necessary witnesses and documents.

Why? Mitch McConnell is conducting a cover-up, not a trial.

As Free Speech For People President John Bonifaz stated on KPFA last week, “The Constitution requires that the Senate hold a trial. A trial consists of calling witnesses, demanding documents. It doesn’t consist of opening arguments and then that’s it, that’s not what a trial is.”

Call your Senator and demand a full and fair impeachment trial today.

The case documenting Donald Trump’s abuse of power was overwhelming before the Senate impeachment trial started. In the last two weeks, we have seen yet even more evidence that Donald Trump has subverted our Constitution and must be removed from office.  Lev Parnas’ submitted documents and his interview with Rachel Maddow assert that Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch were a clear quid pro quo from the outset, and that former national security adviser John Bolton was a “key witness” to these high crimes. The New York Times then reported that Bolton’s unpublished manuscript describes Trump telling Bolton of his plan to continue freezing aid to Ukraine until officials in the country investigated the Bidens.

“[Our Senators] must not be complicit with this cover-up and with the criminal enterprise operating out of the Oval Office,” John recently told Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman. “They must conduct themselves according to that oath [to do impartial justice].”

By refusing to hold a comprehensive trial, Senate Republicans are effectively saying that the Constitution’s impeachment clause no longer has any effect. By failing to hold President Trump accountable, the Senate is stating that he and every president after him are above the law. That is a dangerous threat to the future of our republic.

Call your Senator today and demand they obey their oath and defend the Constitution.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

P.S. Even if your Senator supports removing Donald Trump, they still need to hear from you.  Applying political pressure is crucial as we call for a full and fair trial.

Friend,

Ten years ago today, the Supreme Court reversed a century of legal precedent that barred corporate money in our elections. And, the Court extended into the political process the dangerous fiction that corporations are people with constitutional rights.

The consequences have been severe. Since the Citizens United decision, we have seen an explosion of new spending in our elections by big money and corporate interests, drowning out the voices of American voters. Meanwhile, corporations are continually pushing to expand even further the fabricated doctrine of corporate constitutional rights. McDonald’s tried to reverse a living wage law in Seattle, claiming that it violated their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law. Monsanto challenged a Vermont GMO labeling law on the assertion that they have a First Amendment right not to speak. And ExxonMobil is trying to claim a First Amendment right to block state investigations into whether they committed consumer and securities fraud by hiding for decades scientific evidence that global warming is real and escalated by burning fossil fuels.

Corporations are seeking to capture the Constitution to rig elections and boost their bottom-line. Free Speech For People was founded on the day of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in January 2010 to fight back.

We have worked for a decade to lift up the promise of a democracy in which all people can participate equally and meaningfully in the political process. We have sought to uphold and defend our core democratic principles and our Constitution -- beginning with the plain facts that corporations are not people and money is not speech.

Through innovative and bold legal action, we have sought to end the big money dominance of our elections and to advance political equality for all. By pressing for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution, taking on super PACs in court, challenging foreign-corporate money in our elections, confronting corruption in the White House, fighting for election security, and much more, Free Speech For People is helping to lead the movement to reclaim our democracy for we, the people.

We couldn’t have done it without you. Your contributions have helped us to catalyze the movement for a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, fight back against fictitious claims of corporate constitutional rights, pursue cutting-edge litigation, advocate for landmark legislation, and challenge the most corrupt White House in history. Your ongoing support to Free Speech For People today will allow us to defend our democracy in 2020 and beyond, and ensure that all people have an equal voice and an equal vote.

Free Speech For People will continue the fight for our democracy in the next decade and beyond. Will you join us?

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling marked a serious attack on our democracy, but we can save it. And, with your support, we will. Thank you for all that you do for this fight. We truly appreciate your support of Free Speech For People, and together, we will defend our democracy and our Constitution.

Thanks for all you do,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

BREAKING: Trump’s enablers in Congress led by Mitch McConnell have voted to block all witnesses in the Senate impeachment “trial.” But without witnesses and without any demand for documents, this is not a trial. It’s a cover-up.

This Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will mobilize at over 150 rallies across the country with a simple demand: Reject The Cover-Up.

That means holding accountable every member of Congress who votes to cover-up Trump’s wrongdoing. It means making sure the 2020 election is free and fair -- and that Trump can’t take further action to interfere with it. And it means mobilizing like we never have before -- to defend our democracy and make sure something like this can never happen again.

It's up to each of us to speak up for what's right -- please find an event near you or host your own.

Together, we’ll march to demand:

Accountability -- Trump and the Members of Congress who voted to cover up his crimes will be held accountable by their constituents.

Democracy -- Now more than ever, we need to ensure a free and fair election in 2020, which means real election security reform and an end to voter suppression.

Reform -- Just as we did after Watergate, we demand structural reforms to end the corruption and abuses of power that allowed Donald Trump’s criminal behavior in the first place.

It’s up to us to mobilize like never before -- and ensure that this dark moment in our nation’s history is followed by an unprecedented level of civic action. You have a critical part to play in making sure we leave a better democracy for the next generation. Please sign up for an event near you and join us this Wednesday.

Thanks for all you do,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

As Iowans and New Hampshirites prepare to cast the first votes of the 2020 election, concern is mounting over whether our election infrastructure is secure enough to achieve accurate results.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee presented evidence in July that Russian interference in our elections was discovered in all 50 states in 2016, and that it is already underway for 2020.

Free Speech For People is is fighting for free and fair elections with secure, verifiable, and reliable voting technology. We started our election security program last year with litigation in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and as 2020 gets underway, we want to ensure that every vote is accurately recorded.

Can you chip in to help us protect our elections in 2020?

We have an ambitious agenda ahead of us for securing our elections:

• Implement hand-marked paper ballots in Pennsylvania elections: We are advancing our lawsuit regarding the state’s use of insecure and unreliable voting machines. We are seeking urgent relief from the state court to replace the insecure voting machines currently used in Philadelphia and other counties, and we plan to bring a similar case challenging the use of insecure ballot-marking devices and direct recording electronic voting machines in another key swing state before the general election.
  
  
• Provide expert advice and guidance to the Election Assistance Commission concerning false advertising by voting machine vendors: In January 2020, we joined the National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC) in sending a letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) detailing false claims that wireless modems included in ES&S’s DS200 voting system had been federally certified. The EAC has begun an investigation to review the false claims raised in our letter, and we are leveraging this further to press states to suspend the use of wireless modems before the 2020 elections.
  
  
• Further expose collusion between some election officials and voting systems vendors:  We've teamed up with the National Election Defense Coalition to sue Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson for access to public records on the security and reliability of voting machines. We aim to reach a resolution in this case this year to further expose the cozy relationship between certain unscrupulous election officials and voting systems vendors, resulting in insecure voting systems.

The window of time available to transition to paper ballots prior to the upcoming 2020 election is closing fast, making this work more urgent than ever. To succeed in passing these reforms in time for such a critical election cycle, we need the help of supporters like you. Could you chip in to help us fight for election security during the 2020 election?

Thanks for everything you do,

Ron Fein (Legal Director, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

Big News! The Seattle City Council just passed a law banning foreign-influenced corporations like Amazon from spending money to influence local elections.

Will you chip in to help us take on foreign corporate election spending across the country?

Led by Councilmember M. Lorena González, the new ordinance prohibits corporations like Amazon, Facebook, Raytheon, and Bank of America from spending money in Seattle elections because they have more than 1 percent ownership by a single foreign national or more than five percent ownership by multiple foreign nationals.

Free Speech For People is proud to have worked closely with Councilmember González and Fix Democracy First to help draft this legislation. The ordinance builds on Free Speech For People’s work developing similar legislation in St. Petersburg, Florida, which passed in November 2017.

And we’re proud to work with you! Your support for Free Speech For People allows us to retain a hardworking team of lawyers to draft this legislation, provide expert testimony in Seattle, and build public support for this key reform.

This isn’t the end of the road. We’ve helped develop similar legislation to combat foreign corporate money in elections in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York City. To pass these bills and to defend them against any court challenges brought by the big money interests, we need your help. Will you chip in to help us take on foreign corporate election spending across the country?

The Seattle ordinance has the potential to change the national conversation on campaign finance. If Seattle can curb the influence of a Goliath like Amazon, Americans across the country can fight the tide of foreign corporate money in our elections and restore democracy for we, the people.

You can play a role in ending the scourge of foreign corporate money in American politics. We can build on our victory in Seattle and St. Petersburg by working in Massachusetts, Maryland, New York City, and around the country.

Chip in today to help up put an end to foreign corporate money in our elections.

Thanks for all you do,

Ron Fein (Legal Director, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

The decision of 52 United States Senators to vote that President Donald Trump has not committed bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors is a grave dereliction of duty that not only emboldens an increasingly unrestrained and lawless president, but endangers the survival of our constitutional democracy.

In the short term, the president has learned that he can use his office, and our money, to extort a foreign government into investigating or harassing his own political opponents for the sake of boosting his re-election prospects. And Trump has shown that he exploits these opportunities whenever possible. The nation should prepare itself for more of the same—some of which may lie behind the shadows, as Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine almost did—and be ready to respond immediately.

But the long-term damage is even worse. The president’s defenders did not defend against the impeachment charges by arguing that the president was innocent of the acts of which he was accused. If the facts had been even ambiguous, let alone in his favor, he would have gladly encouraged his hand-picked chief of staff, national security advisor, and other staff to testify on his behalf. Instead, he blocked their testimony, with the complicity of his supporters in the Senate, because he knew that his own hand-picked advisors would incriminate him.

The worst part is that these Senators accepted the official defense presented by Trump’s legal defense team: “If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” This is a recipe for authoritarianism in service of the president’s own re-election efforts, and it will not be the end of Donald Trump’s impeachable misconduct.

We at Free Speech For People, with our allies, call on the House to take three immediate steps.

First, a committee of the House should subpoena John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and any other witnesses or documents previously contested by the White House—and litigate all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. The president was successful in obstructing congressional proceedings in the fall, when the House desired to move forward expeditiously given the urgency of the danger, but now there is no reason not to proceed to complete America’s knowledge of Trump’s misconduct in the Ukraine scandal.

Second, the House should re-open its impeachment inquiry. These two articles of impeachment were far from Trump’s only impeachable offenses to date. The re-opened impeachment inquiry should consider the full panoply of Trump’s misconduct, as we laid out, with our allies, in “Impeachment For The People” in November 2019.

Third, the House should create and staff a new standing committee for the defense of free and fair elections. This committee should be prepared to address, in real-time and through both legislative and judicial venues, further attempts by President Trump to interfere with or unlawfully influence the 2020 presidential election, suppress the vote, abuse his office for political purposes, take other unlawful measures to disrupt a free and fair election, or take action to retaliate against opponents or violate citizens’ constitutional rights in the days following the election.

This isn’t the end of our fight. We will continue to advocate for a democracy accountable to the people. We will continue to stand up to defend our Constitution. We will continue to build, with our partners all across the country, the movement to protect our republic. Thank you for standing with us as we continue to call for accountability for this lawless president’s abuse of power and the public trust.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

The decision of 52 United States Senators to vote that President Donald Trump has not committed bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors is a grave dereliction of duty that not only emboldens an increasingly unrestrained and lawless president, but endangers the survival of our constitutional democracy.

In the short term, the president has learned that he can use his office, and our money, to extort a foreign government into investigating or harassing his own political opponents for the sake of boosting his re-election prospects. And Trump has shown that he exploits these opportunities whenever possible. The nation should prepare itself for more of the same—some of which may lie behind the shadows, as Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine almost did—and be ready to respond immediately.

But the long-term damage is even worse. The president’s defenders did not defend against the impeachment charges by arguing that the president was innocent of the acts of which he was accused. If the facts had been even ambiguous, let alone in his favor, he would have gladly encouraged his hand-picked chief of staff, national security advisor, and other staff to testify on his behalf. Instead, he blocked their testimony, with the complicity of his supporters in the Senate, because he knew that his own hand-picked advisors would incriminate him.

The worst part is that these Senators accepted the official defense presented by Trump’s legal defense team: “If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” This is a recipe for authoritarianism in service of the president’s own re-election efforts, and it will not be the end of Donald Trump’s impeachable misconduct.

We at Free Speech For People, with our allies, call on the House to take three immediate steps.

First, a committee of the House should subpoena John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and any other witnesses or documents previously contested by the White House—and litigate all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. The president was successful in obstructing congressional proceedings in the fall, when the House desired to move forward expeditiously given the urgency of the danger, but now there is no reason not to proceed to complete America’s knowledge of Trump’s misconduct in the Ukraine scandal.

Second, the House should re-open its impeachment inquiry. These two articles of impeachment were far from Trump’s only impeachable offenses to date. The re-opened impeachment inquiry should consider the full panoply of Trump’s misconduct, as we laid out, with our allies, in “Impeachment For The People” in November 2019.

Third, the House should create and staff a new standing committee for the defense of free and fair elections. This committee should be prepared to address, in real-time and through both legislative and judicial venues, further attempts by President Trump to interfere with or unlawfully influence the 2020 presidential election, suppress the vote, abuse his office for political purposes, take other unlawful measures to disrupt a free and fair election, or take action to retaliate against opponents or violate citizens’ constitutional rights in the days following the election.

This isn’t the end of our fight. We will continue to advocate for a democracy accountable to the people. We will continue to stand up to defend our Constitution. We will continue to build, with our partners all across the country, the movement to protect our republic. Thank you for standing with us as we continue to call for accountability for this lawless president’s abuse of power and the public trust.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

When it comes to our elections, there’s no room for error.

Last month, Free Speech For People joined the National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC), the Pennsylvania-based Citizens for Better Elections (CBE), pro bono partner law firm Baker Hostetler, and individual Pennsylvania voters, to file a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar, alleging that the state’s use of ExpressVote XL voting machines by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) violates the state’s Election Code and the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Dauphin County Commissioners listened. They voted to reject purchasing this insecure voting system in light of the machine’s chronicled failures.  Now we are calling on the state to decertify the Expressvote XL and hope that other counties in Pennsylvania follow Dauphin County’s lead.

SIGN HERE: Tell Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary Kathy Boockvar they must decertify ES&S ExpressVote XL voting machines. Pennsylvanians deserve safe, secure, and reliable voting methods.

The ExpressVote XL is showing its true colors. Northampton County is demanding a refund from ES&S following a series of incidents that led to a unanimous “vote of no confidence” from election commissioners. The ExpressVote XL machines used in the county’s 2019 elections failed to recognize straight-ticket votes and initially showed a judicial candidate winning by a statistically impossible margin.

We are committed to free and fair elections with secure, verifiable, and reliable voting technology for every American. By employing ES&S ExpressVote XL voting machines, Pennsylvania places its voters at risk. Tell Governor Wolf and Secretary Boockvar the ExpressVote XL machines must be decertified before the April 2020 primary.

In solidarity,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

In December, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Now it’s up to the Senate to decide whether or not to convict and remove President Trump from office for his high crimes. And that means our Senators need to hear from us, the American people.

With our friends at By The People, we are issuing a call to action for Remove Trump mobilizations across the country, to take place when the Senate holds their final vote on whether or not to convict.

Can’t find an event near you? Sign the Mass Mobilization Pledge, and you’ll be notified when a rally is announced in your community.

With every passing day, Donald Trump does more to demonstrate he deserves removal. Congressional resistance to upholding the Constitution has given Trump a pass to recklessly threaten war with Iran, defy subpoena requests, and continue to act as if he is above the law. Removing Trump from office is necessary to protect our democracy, confront abuse of power and the public trust, and set a precedent for how we, the people, and our elected representatives will deal with future strongmen.

A movement is how we impeached Trump, and a movement is the only way we can remove him. Once again, the mainstream conversation says it is impossible to remove Trump -- but we know that if we harness the collective power of the American people through sustained mobilization, we have the potential to change history.

Join us on the streets and sign the Mass Mobilization Pledge! Together, we will stand up at this critical moment in history to defend our Constitution and our democracy.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

When the Senate acquitted President Trump on February 5, some believed that Trump had learned from the impeachment process. His behavior proves otherwise.

Since the conclusion of the Senate’s impeachment trial, Trump has ousted Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland from their positions in clear retaliation for testifying in the impeachment hearings, and Barr’s Department of Justice stepped in to reduce the recommended sentence for Trump ally Roger Stone following a tweet from the president calling the prosecutors’ sentencing “horrible and very unfair.”

This is the behavior of an autocrat or a tyrant. Since taking office, President Trump has repeatedly pressured the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute political adversaries. He is quick to accuse his political opponents and critics of treason. In the past, many of his efforts failed because officials ignored or declined to carry out his instructions. But most of those officials have since left the government, and Attorney General William Barr is willing, if not eager, to do Trump’s bidding.

Sign the Petition: Tell the House Judiciary Committee to open a new impeachment inquiry against Trump and Barr.

Barr, like President Trump, has abused his power to selectively investigate individuals seen to be political rivals of, or threats to, President Trump, and to protect President Trump, his allies, and his interests. Since assuming office just one year ago, the Attorney General has obstructed Congress and interfered with ongoing investigations and, now, appears to be interfering in ongoing court cases.

Congress should open an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Barr to consider whether to recommend articles of impeachment pertaining to the Attorney General’s abuses of power, and to consider whether the Attorney General’s actions, carried out at the behest of the president, implicate additional abuses of power by President Trump.

Tell the House Judiciary Committee to investigate Trump and Barr’s recurring and flagrant abuses of power.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein (Legal Director, Free Speech For People)

Hi Friend,

This is Oske from Free Speech For People. I wanted to make sure you saw Ron's message calling on the House Judiciary Committee to open a new impeachment inquiry into President Trump and Attorney General William Barr. Will you join us in holding Trump and Barr accountable for their abuses of power?

In solidarity,

Oske

Friend,

When the Senate acquitted President Trump on February 5, some believed that Trump had learned from the impeachment process. His behavior proves otherwise.

Since the conclusion of the Senate’s impeachment trial, Trump has ousted Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland from their positions in clear retaliation for testifying in the impeachment hearings, and Barr’s Department of Justice stepped in to reduce the recommended sentence for Trump ally Roger Stone following a tweet from the president calling the prosecutors’ sentencing “horrible and very unfair.”

This is the behavior of an autocrat or a tyrant. Since taking office, President Trump has repeatedly pressured the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute political adversaries. He is quick to accuse his political opponents and critics of treason. In the past, many of his efforts failed because officials ignored or declined to carry out his instructions. But most of those officials have since left the government, and Attorney General William Barr is willing, if not eager, to do Trump’s bidding.

Sign the Petition: Tell the House Judiciary Committee to open a new impeachment inquiry against Trump and Barr.

Barr, like President Trump, has abused his power to selectively investigate individuals seen to be political rivals of, or threats to, President Trump, and to protect President Trump, his allies, and his interests. Since assuming office just one year ago, the Attorney General has obstructed Congress and interfered with ongoing investigations and, now, appears to be interfering in ongoing court cases.

Congress should open an impeachment inquiry into Attorney General Barr to consider whether to recommend articles of impeachment pertaining to the Attorney General’s abuses of power, and to consider whether the Attorney General’s actions, carried out at the behest of the president, implicate additional abuses of power by President Trump.

Tell the House Judiciary Committee to investigate Trump and Barr’s recurring and flagrant abuses of power.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein (Legal Director, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

One of the major failings of the U.S. Senate’s sham impeachment trial was the vote to block hearing from any witnesses to Trump’s high crimes. Just days before that vote, The New York Times had reported that a forthcoming book from former national security advisor John Bolton provides accounts of Trump withholding Ukraine aid in exchange for investigations against the Bidens. Despite these revelations, John Bolton didn’t provide testimony. He wasn’t even asked.

Bolton is not off the hook. The American people deserve to hear the truth. Tell Congress it must subpoena John Bolton.

Among those calling for Bolton’s testimony is former national security advisor and U.N. ambassador Susan Rice. During an event with Bolton at Vanderbilt University on Wednesday, Rice called his failure to testify “shameful,” saying that even without a subpoena, it inherently violated the oath “to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

We are calling on the House to subpoena John Bolton — and litigate all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. Donald Trump and his accomplices in the Senate want to block any testimony under oath from John Bolton. But, the House still has the power and the duty to act.

Tell the House of Representatives: we need to hear from John Bolton.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Today, Mi Familia Vota, the Texas NAACP, and individual voter plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas challenging the state’s in-person election practices, arguing they are unsafe, high risk, and unequal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Free Speech For People, the law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, and the law firm of Lyons & Lyons represent the plaintiffs in this case against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Secretary of State Ruth Hughes.

The lawsuit alleges that the state’s reliance on repeat-touch voting machines, its insufficient number of polling places, its limited and inaccessible early voting locations, and its voter identification requirements will result in unsafe voting conditions and increased risk of coronavirus transmission, which in turn will result in voter suppression. The health risks and adverse impact of these policies will place an undue burden on the right to vote and disproportionately affect voters of color, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law, the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and Fifteenth Amendment, and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Voters should not have to risk their lives, health, or the health of their families in order to vote, and they should not have to choose disenfranchisement in order to protect themselves. During this pandemic, election policies that create unnecessary risk to the health and safety of voters are unconstitutional. Texas officials must ensure that in-person voting is safe and accessible, including for voters and communities that are most vulnerable to serious illness.

Free Speech For People is committed to fighting the threat of voter suppression in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the United States, but we need your support. Can you chip in to help us protect the right to vote for every American?

More than 3 million Americans have contracted COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Over 130,000 have died, and many others have experienced debilitating illness and permanent side effects. In Texas, cases are still trending upwards, and public health experts warn that the crisis will likely worsen in Texas without immediate and serious interventions. Moreover, public health experts warn that a second wave of COVID-19 is likely to occur in the fall, coinciding with the November 2020 general elections, and may be more severe than the first. Due to existing socioeconomic and healthcare disparities, Black and Latino citizens have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and are at higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness, resulting in higher rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death. 

Through this lawsuit, plaintiffs seek injunctive relief to secure safe, constitutional voting practices for Texas. Specifically, the complaint seeks:

• Suspension of Texas law that limits mobile early voting, to enable counties to bring early voting to rural and mobility-limited populations in a safe manner;
  
• Extension of the duration of early voting;
  
• Prohibition of any reduction in the number of polling places in Texas;
  
• The opening of additional polling places in counties where lines typically exceed 20 minutes;
  
• The option of voting on hand-marked paper ballots, while maintaining working machines that are thoroughly disinfected after each vote to protect voters who need to use these machines to vote; and
  
• Implementation of social distancing measures at all polling places.

Voters in Texas and across the country, regardless of their race, income, or location, have a right to vote without fear for their health or safety. Can you help us guarantee safe, accessible, and fair elections for the people of Texas?

Thank you for everything you do,

Courtney Hostetler

Senior Counsel, Free Speech For People

Friend,

100 years ago today, the Tennessee House of Representatives made history when it approved the passage of the 19th Amendment, cementing its ratification and ensuring that no person could be denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. It was a watershed moment for women’s rights in the United States, as well as the beginning of a new wave in the movement for the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.

Today, women are still fighting for the right to be free of discrimination based on their gender. The Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing equal rights to all people regardless of sex, met the threshold for ratification when Virginia approved it in January. Yet, it still is not enshrined in the Constitution as a result of an arbitrary deadline for ratification which expired in 1982.

In February, the US House of Representatives voted to remove the ratification deadline. Now, we must call on the US Senate to act. Call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 or 202-224-3091 (TTY) and urge them to support S.J. Res. 6 to remove the artificial deadline for ratification of the ERA and place it in the US Constitution.

The ERA, which advances bedrock equality principles, is tied directly to our work to fulfill the promise of political equality for all. That’s why we are proud to support the ERA and include it on our list of Democracy Amendments.

Call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 or 202-224-3091 (TTY) to urge them to support S.J. Res. 6. From the suffragists of 1920, to the women’s rights activists of today, political equality is sacred and must be extended to all.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Yesterday, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association and four of its top executives. In addition to charging the executives with diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty, the complaint seeks to dissolve the National Rifle Association entirely for abusing its status as a non-profit entity.

Free Speech For People applauds the New York Attorney General for taking this important action. The corrupt dealings of the NRA and its leaders, as reported by the New Yorker in April 2019, violate the privileges bestowed upon the organization by its New York corporate charter as a domestic not-for-profit corporation. Even an organization as powerful as the NRA must be held accountable when it breaks the law.  Will you join us in standing with the New York Attorney General?

Sign if you agree: The NRA must be dissolved for its financial mismanagement and self-dealing.

The act of dissolving a corporate charter is used sparingly, but it is hardly unusual; the previous Attorney General successfully resolved dissolution proceedings against The Donald J. Trump Foundation for transacting business illegally for years, including the extensive misuse of charitable assets and self-dealing. Other, lesser-known non-profit corporations have repeatedly been dissolved under this provision over the past few decades.

The National Rifle Association is not above the law. Sign our petition if you support Attorney General James’ lawsuit to dissolve the NRA.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein

Legal Director, Free Speech For People

Friend,

Last month, Attorney General William Barr made headlines once again for placing the president’s wishes above the well-being of the American people. The Justice Department announced it will be defending Donald Trump against a personal defamation lawsuit sparking from E. Jean Carroll’s sexual assault allegations against Trump. The DOJ supported this decision with an extraordinary claim that when Trump denied raping a woman in a dressing room and stated he would never have assaulted Carroll because “she’s not my type,” he was “acting in his official capacity as president.”

Barr has proven time and time again that he is utterly corrupt and unfit for his role as the nation’s highest law enforcement official. He has consistently attempted to hide, minimize, and justify the lawlessness of the president and his allies. He has attempted to silence opposition to the Trump administration by intimidation, as in the case of Roger Stone, and by force, as seen in Lafayette Square and the resignation of Geoffrey Berman, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York investigating Trump’s associates.

By deciding to act as Trump’s personal lawyer, Barr has frequently abused the power of his office. If left unchecked, the role of the attorney general will be forever damaged.

Sign if you agree: Congress must impeach and remove Attorney General Barr for abuse of power.

Congress cannot allow this pattern to continue. Attorney General Bill Barr must be impeached and removed for violating his oath of office. He threatens the rule of law and has consistently used his position to push his own and the president’s personal agendas. He does not serve the interests of the nation, and he must be held accountable.

Sign the petition: Demand Congress immediately impeach and remove Barr.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

In the midst of the public health crisis facing the nation, another threat is lurking on the horizon. Our elections are at risk from both foreign and domestic interference, and the United States remains woefully unprepared to address the vulnerabilities of our voting systems.

Free Speech For People is fighting for free and fair elections with secure, verifiable, and reliable voting technology. We started our election security program last year with litigation in Indiana and Pennsylvania, and we are working to ensure that every vote is accurately recorded in 2020 and beyond. Check out the pieces below to learn about the problems in our voting systems and how we can work together to address them.

TODAY ONLY:

Watch HBO’s Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America''s Elections free on YouTube

“In advance of the 2020 Presidential election, KILL CHAIN: THE CYBER WAR ON AMERICA’S ELECTIONS takes a deep dive into the weaknesses of today’s election technology, investigating the startling vulnerabilities in America’s voting systems and the alarming risks they pose to our democracy.”

Free Speech For People President John Bonifaz on Alyssa Milano’s podcast:

Sorry Not Sorry

Free Speech For People President John Bonifaz and Senior Advisor on Election Security Susan Greenhalgh join actress and activist Alyssa Milano to discuss the use of outdated and vulnerable electronic voting machines that do not provide an audit trail or voter-verifiable results.

As Alyssa said in a statement today announcing this episode: “This may be our most important episode of the podcast yet. You will be shocked. You will be pissed.”

Alyssa Milano: Sorry Not Sorry is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever else you get your podcasts.

This work is more urgent than ever before. The window of time available to address these issues is closing fast, and the added challenges raised by the coronavirus mean that 2020’s elections require that our voting systems are made safe, secure, and reliable through the use of voter-verifiable paper ballots.

Stay safe,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Since Election Night, Donald Trump and his allies have made fraudulent claims that Trump won the election – and they are continuing to undermine democracy by trying to block votes from being counted and spreading falsehoods about the election outcome.

But they’re not alone in this exercise. Two major law firms – Jones Day and Porter Wright – are helping to litigate Trump’s groundless claims. These firms are complicit in helping Trump bully and cheat in his desperate effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans, including millions of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous voters in this country. These lawyers took an oath to support the Constitution, but now they are violating it with these unethical actions.

Tomorrow, ShutDownDC will be marching to Porter Wright’s offices, starting from Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC. If you’re in the D.C. area, join them for this day of action. 

When: Friday, November 13, at 12:00 pm ET

Where: Black Lives Matter Plaza (at 16th and H NW)

RSVP here

Meanwhile, in New York, Rise and Resist will be visiting the law offices of Jones Day. If you’re in the NYC area, join them.

When: Friday, November 13, 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET

Where: 250 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10281

RSVP here

From coast to coast, the people are continuing to make their voices heard. In addition to visiting the offices of these firms, we will be making phone calls as part of a national campaign demanding that they stop attacking democracy, drop Trump as a client, and end these frivolous lawsuits.

If you can’t make it to actions in New York or D.C., call the offices of Jones Day and Porter Wright and tell them to end their complicity in these attacks on our democracy and our Constitution.

Jones Day: 1-202-879-3939

Porter Wright: 1-202-778-3000

We know from media sources that these law firms are feeling the heat, and we need to keep the pressure on. It’s going to take a multifaceted, multi-city effort, both in-person and online.

Let us know if you’re coming in person on Friday and whether you will participate in the call-in campaign. Together, we can protect our democracy from Trump’s last-ditch efforts to undermine this election.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Last month, we told you how the Election Assistance Commission censured ES&S, one of the nation’s largest vendors of electronic voting machines, for fraudulently marketing its voting machines with wireless modems as federally certified. This was a big victory for free and fair elections, but it was just the beginning.

ES&S is not the only company to misrepresent its machines. Many election jurisdictions have purchased voting systems with wireless modems under false information from the vendors, who claimed that the modems don''t connect to the internet. In reality, these modems directly connect election systems to the internet, exposing election infrastructure to cyber-attacks.

Sign the Petition: Remove vulnerable wireless modems from our voting machines.

We must take every precaution to protect our election systems and not expose them to hackers. Such vulnerabilities were made clear with evidence that Russian intelligence agents infiltrated local election networks in 2016, and campaigns to interfere in the 2020 election are already underway. We can report election results safely, securely, and quickly without wireless modems, relying on alternative methods that don’t needlessly expose the voting systems to cyber-attacks. Yet, some states are still sold on using these insecure devices.

Tell election officials to remove wireless modems from voting machines to secure our elections.

In solidarity,

Susan Greenhalgh

Senior Advisor on Election Security

Free Speech For People

Friend,

As we face this difficult moment and navigate the health crisis in our country and around the globe, we wish you and your family safety and good health.

As the nation grapples with the spread of COVID-19, there are new reports that at least two U.S. Senators, Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), sold millions of dollars worth of stock, apparently after receiving confidential briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, but just before public revelations of that information caused the stock market to crash. Senator Burr, meanwhile, penned an opinion article for Fox News assuring the public that the federal government was adequately prepared to manage the spread of the virus in the United States.

These new reports, if true, amount to a gut punch to Americans whose life savings and livelihoods are in danger as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If these allegations are correct and these Senators sold stock in response to confidential briefings, Free Speech For People calls upon them to immediately resign.

Sign here if you agree: Senators Burr and Loeffler should resign if the allegations of trading stocks based on confidential intelligence briefings are true.

There is no excuse for an elected representative to put the health of their stock portfolio above the health of the American people. We further call on the Department of Justice to investigate whether they or any other Members of Congress or employees of Congress violated the STOCK Act or other applicable law.

The conflicts of interest present in this story exist beyond the current state of emergency. Members of Congress have been shown to own stocks in some of the nation’s most controversial industries, including weapons manufacturing and fossil fuels. Congress should, therefore, also act promptly to pass legislation prohibiting Members of Congress from trading in public exchanges other than through blind trusts. It''s time for our elected officials to put the health and security of the American people above their pocketbooks.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

This month, the House of Representatives passed its second stimulus package, the Heroes Act, to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill includes $3.6 billion to secure our elections by expanding no-excuse absentee voting and mandating at least 15 days of early voting.

Fair and free elections are the cornerstone of democracy. In the midst of this pandemic, now more than ever, we must fight for our democracy.

The Heroes Act is the most comprehensive approach to date to making voting accessible during this pandemic, calling on all states both to expand access to mail-in voting and to ensure safe in-person voting. The bill passed the House on May 15th and is now under Senate consideration.

Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 or 202-224-3091 (TTY) and tell them to support the election provisions of the Heroes Act. Americans have the right to vote safely and securely, even in the midst of a public health crisis.

Time is running out to secure our elections. As we approach rescheduled primaries and the 2020 general election, we must ensure that people are not forced to choose between their health and their right to vote. Congress has an obligation to ensure that states have the guidance and the resources available to make these adjustments, and the Heroes Act helps to make that possible.

Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 or 202-224-3091 (TTY) and urge them to vote in favor of the Heroes Act. We deserve safe, secure, and accessible elections.

In solidarity,

John Bonifaz

President, Free Speech For People

Friend,

Following decades of advocacy and determination, the Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing equal rights to all people regardless of sex, is moving forward. On January 15, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, finally meeting the required number of states for ratification.

But there is one more hurdle in this decades-long fight before the ERA is placed in the Constitution. When the ERA was initially introduced in 1972, Congress placed a seven-year restriction on the timeframe for ratifying the amendment – a deadline that is not required by the Constitution. Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to remove the arbitrary ratification deadline. Now, we must call on the US Senate to act.

Stand for equality. Call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 or 202-224-3091 (TTY) and urge that they support S.J. Res. 6 to remove the artificial deadline for ratification of the ERA, ensuring that the ERA will finally be placed in the US Constitution.

Free Speech For People is a proud supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. Since our founding, we have pressed for the Democracy For All Amendment and the People’s Rights Amendment to reclaim our democracy and ensure every person can participate equally in our democracy. The ERA, which advances bedrock equality principles, is tied directly to our work to fulfill the promise of political equality for all.

This Women’s History Month, let’s win this victory for the Equal Rights Amendment and the basic promise of equality for all. Call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 or 202-224-3091 (TTY) to urge them to support S.J. Res. 6. It is time -- long past time -- for the ERA.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

BREAKING NEWS: Free Speech For People, on behalf of Mi Familia Vota and the Arizona Coalition for Change, has won its case before a federal judge in Arizona to extend the state’s voter registration deadline, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision, which extends the deadline to October 23, will allow thousands more voters in Arizona to register in time for the general election.

“[A] core tenet of democracy is to be ruled by a government that represents the population,” U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan wrote in his decision. “Due to COVID-19, a portion of the population is prevented from registering to vote, and thus the integrity of the election is undermined in a different way; that portion is going unrepresented. Extending the deadline would give more time for those voters to register and let their voices be heard through the democratic process.”

We are proud to defend the right to vote in the midst of this pandemic and beyond, and our victory in Arizona is just the beginning. Today, we argued our case before the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit challenging unsafe and unequal voting conditions in Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following Governor Abbott’s executive order limiting ballot drop boxes to one per county, victory in this case is critical.

Free Speech For People is committed to fighting to defend the right to vote throughout the United States in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we cannot do this work without your help. Can you chip in to help us ensure that every American can vote safely and securely this November?

Voters should not have to risk their lives, health, or the health of their families in order to vote, and they should not have to choose disenfranchisement in order to protect themselves. During this pandemic, restrictive voter registration deadlines and election policies that create unnecessary risk to the health and safety of voters result in unconstitutional burdens. Officials in Texas and across the country must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to safely register to vote before the November election, that absentee voting is free and fair for all, and that in-person voting is safe and accessible, including for voters and communities that are most vulnerable to serious illness.

Chip in today to help us defend safe, accessible, and fair elections for all Americans.

Thank you for everything you do,

Gillian Cassell-Stiga

Special Counsel, Free Speech For People

Friend,

We did it! Following public pressure from democracy advocates across the country, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, the law firm leading the Trump campaign’s efforts to challenge the presidential election results in Pennsylvania, has just withdrawn from its federal lawsuit. Meanwhile, the legal firm of Jones Day has said it will not take on any additional litigation on behalf of the Trump campaign.

These are major blows to Trump’s attempts to delegitimize the results of the 2020 election and undermine our democracy. But there’s still work to be done. Until every vote is counted and the results certified, we must continue to put pressure on Jones Day to drop their baseless case against mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania.

Call the offices of Jones Day at 1-202-879-3939 and tell them to end their complicity in these attacks on our democracy and our Constitution.

We will keep fighting to protect the vote and to ensure that President-Elect Biden makes a peaceful transition to the White House.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

We’re writing to you with exciting news:

Free Speech For People has joined forces with our partners at the National Election Defense Coalition and actress and activist Alyssa Milano (Charmed, Who’s the Boss?) to launch the Creative Arts Council, a network of creative artists with a shared interest in ensuring our elections are free, fair, and protected from cyber interference.

In addition to Alyssa Milano, members of the council currently include: Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, Glenn Close, Alan Cumming, Henry Winkler, Melissa Etheridge, Sterling K. Brown, Ron Perlman, Debra Messing, Patricia Arquette, Katey Sagal, Ken Olin, Yvette Nicole Brown, Frances Fisher, Rosie O’Donnell, and Danny Zuker.

Many states still use touchscreen voting systems that provide no paper ballots and cannot be audited. They are vulnerable to hacking even without an internet connection, and the states that do use paper ballots often do not audit the computerized ballot scanners that count the votes. Though the U.S. intelligence community has warned that our election systems are actively being targeted by hackers and our adversaries, some election officials continue to resist common-sense reforms.

The Creative Arts Council will be spreading the message, through social media and other means, that the only way to protect the elections from interference and increase voter confidence is with secure, hand-marked paper ballots, assistive paper ballot marking devices for voters that choose them, robust post-election audits capable of detecting and correcting manipulation, and guarantees that no voting systems are connected to the internet.

But we’ll need your help to make our message heard. Can you chip in to help us call for secure and reliable voting systems?

Our collaboration with the National Election Defense Coalition is paving the way to secure elections in every state. We’ve teamed up to sue Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson for access to public records on the security and reliability of voting machines. We are partnering with the NEDC and Citizens for Better Elections in Pennsylvania to challenge in court the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth for sanctioning the use of new voting machines with serious defects, in violation of Pennsylvania election law. And, we are exposing false claims made by voting machine manufacturers about their voting systems.

We are thrilled to have the support of Alyssa Milano and the members of the Creative Arts Council joining us in this fight for election security. With their public profiles, these artists will help us spotlight the significant vulnerabilities that still remain with computerized voting systems and press for reforms and contingency plans before the 2020 election.

As Alyssa told Variety Magazine in an article covering the launch of this council: “If we don’t have secure elections, we’re done. Because the country is so divided, it is essential that voters can trust the results of the election.”

Chip in today to help us ensure that our votes are properly recorded and that our elections are properly verified.

Thanks for all you do,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Hi Friend,

This is Susan from Free Speech For People. I wanted to make sure you saw Alyssa’s message announcing Own The Vote 2020, a new webinar series exploring ways to improve our election security and voter mobilization. Be sure to RSVP and join us for the first episode, “Wireless Modems in Voting Machines: Disaster in the Making,” tonight at 8:00 PM EDT.

The use of wireless modems makes our election systems more vulnerable by exposing them to online attacks, which is why Free Speech For People has been leading the fight to end this dangerous practice. We recently exposed the largest voting system vendor for falsely claiming that its voting machines with wireless modems are federally certified. Now we need your help to stop the use of modems before November. 

With less than two months before the general election, we must work together to ensure that our elections are secure from hacking and interference. I hope you’ll join us tonight for this critical discussion.

In solidarity,

Susan Greenhalgh

Senior Advisor on Election Security, Free Speech For People

Friend,

The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy.  And, now more than ever, we must fight to protect it. From insecure voting machines to information warfare, our elections are under attack and our ability to vote safely and securely in 2020 is going to depend on all of us.

That’s why I’m teaming up with Free Speech For People, Let America Vote Action Fund, Stand Up America, and When We All Vote to bring you Own The Vote 2020, a six-episode webinar series focused on election security and voter mobilization. I’ll be joined by experts in the election security field, celebrities, activists, and other notables to answer one major question:

How do we guarantee safe, accessible, and fair elections for every American?

This work is more urgent than ever before. The window of time available to address the faults in our election systems is closing fast, and the added challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic mean that 2020’s elections require voting systems that are safe, secure, and reliable. President Trump has actively and repeatedly attacked methods of voting, including voting by mail and expanding early voting, that are considered safer during this public health crisis than traditionally crowded election day gatherings. Further, while many election officials are working overtime to ensure a free and fair election in their states, some are doing everything in their power to keep Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote. That’s where we come in.

Own the Vote 2020 will broadcast on alternating Mondays September 7th. Participation is free and registration is required. For more information, visit OwnTheVote2020.com.

All voters deserve the right to make their voices heard. Democracy is on the line, and we all must stand up to defend it. Are you ready? Join us at Own the Vote 2020.

In solidarity,

Alyssa Milano

Hi Friend,

Oske here from Free Speech For People. I wanted to make sure you saw John''s message regarding our upcoming hearing in Pennsylvania next week. We''re doing everything we can to ensure that voters in Pennsylvania and across the country can safely participate in free and fair elections this year, and we won''t let the Trump campaign or anyone else stand in our way. But we need your help. Can you chip in to help us win our fight for safe, accessible, and fair elections in Pennsylvania?

Thanks for all you do,

Oske Buckley

Director of Administration and Finance, Free Speech For People

Friend,

Next week, our team will be in court for the voters of Pennsylvania, challenging dangerous election practices that threaten the health and safety of voters and undermine the constitutional right to vote. African American and Latino citizens, who have historically struggled for the right to participate equally in our democracy, have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, making the risks of voting in an overcrowded polling place particularly severe and disparate for these populations. That’s why Free Speech For People, on behalf of the Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP, has sued Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar to challenge numerous unsafe and unequal election practices that violate the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantees of free and fair elections and equal protection of the law.

But this case is bigger than Pennsylvania. Last month, the Trump campaign and the RNC filed a motion to intervene in this case. They, along with the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, seek to oppose the Pennsylvania NAACP in this case and to block the remedies requested to help ensure a safe and secure election in Pennsylvania this November.

We cannot allow that to happen. Free Speech For People is dedicated to ensuring that every American can participate in free and fair elections, even during a pandemic. Can you chip in to help us give every American an equal opportunity to cast their vote safely?

Public health experts, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania itself, project that the pandemic will persist at least until the end of 2020, and that this fall’s second wave of COVID-19 will be more dire than the first. Court intervention is thus necessary to ensure that this November’s election will be safe, free, and fair for all Pennsylvania voters. Our suit seeks to make voting safer by requiring a minimum number of polling places per population, expanding voting days, increasing access to vote by mail, and using hand-marked paper ballots for the general election.

Chip in today to help us guarantee safe, free, and fair elections in Pennsylvania and beyond.

Thanks for all you do,

John Bonifaz

President, Free Speech For People

Friend,

This is shaping up to be the most unique election of our lifetime. As the COVID-19 pandemic enters a second wave around the country, citizens are preparing to vote on the very future of our democracy. Some have chosen to avoid the risk of exposure by voting by mail. Others may choose to vote in-person, whether by preference or necessity.  Not all voters can vote by mail according to their State regulations, and some voters may prefer to vote in person, may not have received their absentee ballot, or may need assistive technology to vote.

So what’s the safest way to vote when you’re voting in-person? Join me TONIGHT for an Own The Vote 2020 webinar with actress and activist Alyssa Milano and other experts to explore what in-person voting options are available, what your rights are when voting in-person, and what you might expect when voting in-person this year.

So You Want to Vote In-Person?

How to do so safely in the time of COVID-19

TONIGHT, October 19, 2020 at 8:00 ET

RSVP HERE

We all have the right to vote safely, securely, and easily this fall. I hope you’ll join us to learn how we can make that possible.

In solidarity,

Courtney Hostetler

Senior Counsel, Free Speech For People

Friend,

All of us at Free Speech For People are heartbroken and outraged by the recent police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. We send our deepest condolences to their families.  

We stand together with all Americans who are denouncing the police brutality that led to their deaths, and the racism that causes far too many cases like theirs—and like those of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed for jogging while black, and Christian Cooper, who was targeted for police harassment by a white woman who was annoyed at being asked to leash her dog. 

We stand together with all Americans who are protesting in the streets against the policies, practices, and people that perpetuate racism and violence. 

We stand together with all Americans who are outraged by over-militarized police (and in some cases military) responses to these protests.

We stand together with the journalists who are trying to bring the news of these protests to the public around the world. 

We stand together with all Americans who are calling for an end to institutional racism in our government, including in our police departments. 

And we denounce in the strongest possible terms the rising militarism and fascism of Donald Trump and his administration that is enflaming an incendiary situation and promoting more police brutality across the land.

It is no secret that, while most police officers strive to serve and protect their fellow citizens, there are also those in law enforcement who do not belong there and who abuse their power to cause harm to Black people and other people of color. These elements of law enforcement have been emboldened by the rhetoric of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and by his current administration. They heard Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants, about protesters, about countless other groups. They witnessed his incitement of violence at his campaign rallies against those who dared to stand up to challenge his racist and hateful statements. They heard when he encouraged police to be “rough” with “thugs” that they arrest, specifically advocating that police not take care to avoid causing head injuries to arrested people. They heard when he told the nation to “study” an urban legend about General Pershing committing war crimes against Muslim prisoners of war, not as a cautionary tale but as a model for the future. They heard when he said that racist and abusive former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, convicted of criminal contempt of court for willfully disobeying a court order to stop illegal detentions, was “convicted for doing his job.” And they hear now when he repeats the segregationist threat that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

Soon after the election in November 2016, we issued a statement calling upon then-President-elect Trump and all public officials “to completely and totally repudiate all elements of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected group status, and all forms of authoritarian governance that threaten the constitutional rights of all Americans.” We renewed that call in August 2017 after Trump failed to condemn the neo-Nazi terror attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, and again in June 2018 after Trump began his policy of breaking up families and imprisoning migrant children in mass orphanages indefinitely while their parents are left unaware of their whereabouts.

It has long been clear that Donald Trump—the man who ordered a peaceful protest to be cleared with tear gas so that he could pose for a photo in front of a church—has no respect for the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or the right to freedom of speech. To Trump, nothing in America or the Constitution matters unless it serves his own ends. After he deliberately sabotaged public health by preventing the United States from taking decisive action against the COVID-19 pandemic for the sole purpose of trying to help his own political prospects, over 100,000 Americans have died in just three months. Now, the fire and fury of Trump’s “American carnage” is being unleashed upon our cities. 

We stand in solidarity with those who mourn, and with all those committed to the movement to demand justice, equality, and democracy for all.

– Free Speech For People

Friend,

As you know, Free Speech For People was founded on the day of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC more than a decade ago, and we have been a leader ever since of the movement for constitutional amendments to overturn that ruling and reclaim our democracy.  We were among the first advocates for the People’s Rights Amendment and the Democracy For All Amendment -- both of which we helped to draft, and we have been staunch advocates in the push to finally get the Equal Rights Amendment over the finish line. 

Today, we are proud to announce our support for a series of Democracy Amendments, including a new amendment we have recently drafted -- the Free and Fair Elections Amendment -- to end the big money dominance of our elections and our government.

Here are the Democracy Amendments:

• The Free and Fair Elections Amendment: prohibits corporate spending in our elections, establishes strict contribution and spending limits, and requires the enactment of a national system of public campaign financing;
  
  
• The People’s Rights Amendment: overturns the fabricated doctrine of corporate constitutional rights and restores the promise of American self-government of, by, and for the people;
  
  
• The Right to Vote Amendment: establishes the fundamental right to vote for all Americans of legal voting age and prohibits any form of discriminatory exclusion from that right;
  
  
• The Presidential Popular Vote Amendment: abolishes the electoral college and replaces it with a national popular vote for president and vice president; and
  
  
• The Equal Rights Amendment: guarantees equal rights to all people regardless of sex.
  

If you agree that it’s time to reclaim American democracy and support these amendments, share them on Facebook and Twitter.

For further details on the Democracy Amendments and to read the full amendments, see this webpage on our new website.

Thank you for supporting Free Speech For People as we continue our work across the country to protect and preserve our democracy and our Constitution.

In Solidarity,

Ben Clements

Chair, Free Speech For People

Friend,

BREAKING NEWS: On behalf of Latino civic engagement organization Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and several voters, Free Speech For People on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against President Trump and members of the administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit, which names President Trump, Attorney General Bill Barr, and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, is based on the defendants’ violent suppression of public protests opposing police brutality, the encouragement of white supremacist “vigilantes,” threats to send “sheriffs” and other law enforcement to the polls, the undermining of mail-in voting, and the rejection of the peaceful transfer of power. 

We argue that these actions constitute illegal voter intimidation under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, as well as unconstitutional suppression of speech and votes under the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. The complaint and a motion simultaneously filed with the court seek a preliminary injunction restraining Trump and the other defendants from continuing to engage in this unconstitutional and illegal intimidation.

President Trump and his administration have intimidated voters by violently suppressing peaceful protests, encouraging vigilante violence, discrediting voting by mail, sabotaging mail delivery to undermine voting, threatening to send law enforcement to polling places, and refusing to recognize the legitimacy of election results if Trump is not declared the winner. It is imperative that the court protect every American’s fundamental right to vote by blocking President Trump’s attempts to prevent a free and fair election.

Read the full complaint here.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein

Legal Director, Free Speech For People

Friend,

This week, Senate Republicans are determined to rush confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett in their bid to fill the Supreme Court vacancy just weeks before the November election and with voting in some states already underway. This from the same Republican Party which refused to even entertain a hearing for President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in March 2016, claiming that eight months was too close to the 2016 election.

To stop this shameless effort, Free Speech For People, along with Be A Hero Fund, Demand Progress, Equal Justice Society, and Women’s March, have launched the Emergency Coalition to Block Trump’s SCOTUS Nomination. We declare that any Trump nomination to the Supreme Court this year would be illegitimate and must be stopped. Senators must take every available step to block Judge Barrett’s confirmation from going forward between now and the swearing-in of the next president and Senate.

Call your Senators at (202) 899-8938 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY) and demand that they use all of their procedural power to reject this assault on our democracy.

It’s not enough to vote “no.” Senators need to put up a blockade. Even the Senate “minority” (which now represents millions more Americans than the Senate “majority”) has procedures available to delay and block the confirmation vote. And a recent poll showed that sixty-two percent of American adults want the winner of the next election to pick Justice Ginsburg''s replacement. Confirming Judge Barrett now, with the election just weeks away, is an illegitimate power grab and an attack on our democracy.

Call your Senators at (202) 899-8938 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY) and demand that they do everything in their power to block Supreme Court confirmation proceedings before the election, including stopping all Senate business, if necessary.

Together, we can fight back and protect the integrity of our nation’s highest court and our democracy.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

At 11:00 PM on Super Tuesday, three hours after the polls were set to close, voters in Los Angeles County were still waiting to cast their ballots. People were forced to wait in line for hours to vote, and the long lines turned away many voters who could not afford to wait.

Many of the complaints about electoral proceedings in Los Angeles County last Tuesday pertained to the county’s use of new voting machines that failed to perform as intended. The machines, designed specifically for the county at a price of $280 million, were meant to significantly improve electoral systems. Instead, about 20 percent of the machines failed to work and network errors prevented poll workers from accessing electronic registration records.

These machine failures are hardly unprecedented, even for LA County’s unique technology. A December report from the California Secretary of State found that hackers could easily infect the Los Angeles machines with malware. In Pennsylvania’s Northampton County, statistically impossible election results from ES&S ExpressVote XL machines in 2019 led to a “vote of no confidence” from the county’s election commissioners and a demand for a refund.

Free Speech For People is working to prevent scenarios like those in Los Angeles and Northampton Counties by fighting for secure, verifiable, and reliable voting systems. Can you chip in to help us secure our elections ahead of the November election?

We are fighting to ensure that every voice is heard and every vote is accurately counted this election cycle. We have sued Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson for access to public records on the security and reliability of voting machines. We are working with Citizens for Better Elections in Pennsylvania to challenge in court the state’s use of voting machines with serious defects, in violation of Pennsylvania election law. And, we are exposing false claims made by voting machine manufacturers about the security of their products.

Time is running out to ensure that everyone has the chance to cast a secure and accurate vote in this election. With your help, we can stop disenfranchisement by flawed election technology from becoming an even greater threat.

Chip in today to help us ensure that every vote is secure, accurate, and verifiable.

Thanks for all you do,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Dear Friend,

Today, Free Speech For People advanced two critical initiatives to defend our democracy and to protect voters during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

• Presenting our case to abolish super PACs before the U.S. Supreme Court: Free Speech For People has filed a petition for review before the U.S. Supreme Court in our case to abolish super PACs, Lieu v. Federal Election Commission. In March 2010, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, in the case of SpeechNow.org v. FEC, unleashed super PACs into our political process. Over the past ten years, big money forces have used super PACs to influence elections; overwhelm the voices of everyday people; defeat public interest laws; and foster political inequality.

With our pathbreaking case, we are presenting for the first time to the Supreme Court the opportunity to end super PAC spending in US elections and restore democracy to the people. 

Click here to learn more about this filing and our case to abolish super PACs!

• Filing a lawsuit on behalf of the Pennsylvania NAACP to challenge unsafe election rules during a pandemic: Free Speech For People and the law firm Dechert LLP have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP challenging a broad range of Pennsylvania election practices as unsafe and resulting in unequal access to the ballot during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  Our lawsuit alleges that the state’s insufficient current election practices will result in unsafe voting conditions and abridgment of the right to vote, with particular adverse impacts for voters of color, including African American and Latinx citizens who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantees of free and fair elections and equal protection of the law. Our suit seeks immediate injunctive relief, including requiring a minimum number of polling places per population, expansion of voting days, increased access to vote by mail, and use of hand-marked paper ballots for the general election.
  
  Click here to learn more about our new case to protect Pennsylvania voters!

Because of supporters like you, we are able to carry out this work across the country. Your ongoing support of Free Speech For People makes possible our continued fight to end big money in our elections and to ensure that all voters can safely and securely access the ballot at this critical moment for our democracy. Thank you for standing with us. But the fight is far from over. Can you chip in to help support our work?

Together, we will reclaim our democracy for we, the people.

Thanks for all you do,

Ron Fein

Legal Director, Free Speech For People

Friend,

We hear stories in the news every day about the risks to our election systems. From rampant voter suppression and disenfranchisement through the closing of polling places, to ongoing efforts to thwart voting by mail, the fight for the right to vote remains as important as ever. Yet there is one major threat to our elections that has not received enough attention: the presence of vulnerable wireless modems in voting machines used across the country.

One of the major takeaways from the 2016 election was evidence that Russian intelligence agents infiltrated local election networks in 2016, and campaigns to interfere in the 2020 election are already underway. Many election jurisdictions have purchased voting systems with wireless modems under false information from the vendors, who claimed that the modems don''t connect to the internet. In reality, these modems directly connect election systems to the internet, exposing election infrastructure to remote cyber-attacks. With one of our nation’s most critical elections on the horizon, we must do all we can to protect our election systems from hackers and interference.

Free Speech For People is committed to ensuring that every vote cast is secure, accurate, and reliable. We brought this issue to the attention of the Election Assistance Commission in January in a letter that detailed evidence showing that ES&S, the nation’s largest voting machine manufacturer, was deceptively marketing its voting machines. Last month, in response to our letter, the EAC censured ES&S for fraudulently marketing its machines with wireless modems as federally certified.

Free Speech For People will continue to fight to secure our elections, but we need your help. Can you chip in to help us protect our elections from cyber-attacks?

Thanks for all you do,

John Bonifaz

President, Free Speech For People

Friend,

On June 26, in the wake of Trump’s criminal mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes demanded that Trump resign immediately for the health and security of the country.

“As coronavirus cases race back up, the president ignored warnings from his public health experts,” Hayes told his audience on All In With Chris Hayes. “That resulted in tens of thousands of preventable deaths. And we’re looking at tens of thousands more.”

Shockingly, three and a half years into the most corrupt and recklessly incompetent presidency in our history, Hayes is one of the few members of the mainstream media to call for Trump’s resignation. Throughout the corruption, incompetence, lawlessness, and malfeasance that have defined Trump’s presidency, a paltry number of editorial boards and mainstream media columnists and commentators have called on Trump to resign, and an unacceptably small number explicitly endorsed impeachment and removal even when the House was conducting its impeachment investigation.

Sign here to urge publishers, columnists, television commentators, and editorial boards to demand Trump’s resignation.

Mainstream media, by its design, is meant to hold public officials accountable. This was the case during the height of the Watergate scandal and during the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Yet the news media has consistently failed to make that demand in the face of Trump’s persistent failure to put the country’s interests above his narcissistic personal and political interests -- even after his catastrophic response to the pandemic, resulting in the deaths of over 130,000 Americans.

Silence does not protect the American people. It only makes matters worse.

Tell the media establishment: Demand that Trump resign immediately for his failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

BREAKING NEWS: Free Speech For People is challenging President Trump’s pardon of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as “self-dealing” and unconstitutional.

Free Speech For People filed a motion on December 1, 2020, requesting permission to file an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Flynn has twice pleaded guilty and was awaiting sentencing for lying to investigators in an effort to protect Trump. The proposed amicus brief lays out a four-part argument as to why the court should declare Trump’s pardon of Flynn invalid under the US Constitution. The president’s “Executive Grant of Clemency” purports to pardon Flynn for a broad range of vaguely-described misconduct, including not only the felony charges of making false statements to federal investigators in January of 2017, but also other unspecified offenses, such as “any and all possible offenses arising out of facts and circumstances … in any manner related to the investigation of the Special Counsel.”

“The President’s constitutional power to pardon is broad, but it is not absolute,” the proposed amicus brief reads. “The original public meaning of the Faithful Execution Clauses [of the Constitution] is that they limit the President’s power by requiring him to exercise it in good faith in the public interest—not corruptly in his self-interest.”

Help us amplify this filing! Share this on Facebook and Twitter today!

The brief argues that the Court should examine the substantial evidence indicating that “the ‘Executive Grant of Clemency’ issued by President Trump to the defendant was not made in good faith for the public interest, but rather for reasons of self-dealing, self-protection, or other bad faith personal purposes, and therefore violated the Faithful Execution Clauses.” Citing public statements of Trump and the White House, as well as Trump’s history of abusing the pardon power to insulate himself from the testimony of his co-conspirators and his retaliation against co-conspirators who testify truthfully, the brief argues that this is yet another example of Trump seeking to reward a co-conspirator for protecting him and to assure his continued protection from any future investigation or prosecution.

As legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner argued on “Justice Matters” yesterday, “[Bill Barr is] in league with Mike Flynn, the criminal who has pled guilty. There is nobody making these arguments, representing the voice of the American people in this criminal prosecution. That is one of the reasons Free Speech For People is trying to provide this brief to Judge Sullivan.”

The public should hear these arguments as to why Trump’s pardon of Flynn is invalid and unconstitutional.  Share this on Facebook and Twitter today!

Free Speech For People is requesting that the Court inquire further into the extent to which the President’s grant of clemency was made in his own narrow self-interest, rather than any plausible conception of the public interest. If so, it argues the Court should deny the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the case and instead continue with sentencing.

Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan will decide whether to allow the amicus brief.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein

Legal Director, Free Speech For People

Friend,

Last month, we told you how the Election Assistance Commission censured ES&S, one of the nation’s largest vendors of electronic voting machines, for fraudulently marketing its voting machines with wireless modems as federally certified. This was a big victory for free and fair elections, but it was just the beginning.

ES&S is not the only company to misrepresent its machines. Many election jurisdictions have purchased voting systems with wireless modems under false information from the vendors, who claimed that the modems don''t connect to the internet. In reality, these modems directly connect election systems to the internet, exposing election infrastructure to cyber-attacks.

Sign the Petition: Remove vulnerable wireless modems from our voting machines.

We must take every precaution to protect our election systems and not expose them to hackers. Such vulnerabilities were made clear with evidence that Russian intelligence agents infiltrated local election networks in 2016, and campaigns to interfere in the 2020 election are already underway. We can report election results safely, securely, and quickly without wireless modems, relying on alternative methods that don’t needlessly expose the voting systems to cyber-attacks. Yet, some states are still sold on using these insecure devices.

Tell election officials to remove wireless modems from voting machines to secure our elections.

In solidarity,

Susan Greenhalgh

Senior Advisor on Election Security

Free Speech For People

Friend,

For the past ten years, Free Speech For People has been fighting every day to protect our democracy and our Constitution, to take on corruption and big money in politics, to ensure free and fair elections, and to lift up the promise of political equality for all. Now more than ever, this work is critical in the face of direct attacks on the fundamental right to vote and our democratic process.

But there’s an easy way to give us a boost in this crucial time: just by casting a single vote in an online election, you can help Free Speech For People receive tens of thousands of dollars to fight back.

It’s easy and free for you – and will make a huge impact on our ability to fight for our democracy.

Learn more about our efforts in this short video:

Every month, CREDO Mobile, the phone carrier with a conscience, donates a portion of its revenue to three progressive nonprofits and holds a vote to determine each group’s share of the funding—a total of $150,000. This month, we’re on the ballot.

Vote for Free Speech For People in CREDO’s donation election by clicking here.

This vote costs nothing to you and helps us to expand our legal and legislative efforts to abolish super PACs, end foreign-corporate money in elections, press for the Democracy Amendments to the Constitution, protect the right to vote and the integrity of our elections, and defend our democracy. With CREDO Mobile’s support, we’ll have more resources for the fight.

So please, cast your vote today. 

Sincerely,

Free Speech For People

P.S. Already voted? Share this email with three friends and ask them to vote!

Friend,

2020 has put our democracy to the test like never before. Voters increasingly took to voting by mail in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to discredit and destabilize vote-by-mail. Americans made their voices heard in record numbers in November’s election, and when Trump sought to thwart the will of the people with fraudulent claims of voter fraud and frivolous legal challenges, we continued our resistance and demanded that Trump and his enablers in government and the legal profession be held accountable.

Free Speech For People has been there every step of the way. We’ve done everything in our power to ensure that our democracy works for we, the people this year and beyond, but we couldn’t do it without you.

This Giving Tuesday, will you help Free Speech For People continue the fight for our democracy?

We have spent much of the last year focused on protecting and expanding voting rights in the wake of the coronavirus and President Trump’s reckless abuse of power. For example:

• Expanding voter registration: We filed a lawsuit to extend the voter registration deadline in Arizona, where voter registration efforts were hindered by the virus. We successfully extended the voter registration period by 10 days, resulting in 35,000 newly registered voters.
  

• Holding voting machine vendors accountable: We, in conjunction with the National Election Defense Coalition, issued a letter in January to the Election Assistance Commission that detailed evidence indicating ES&S was deceptively marketing its voting machines with wireless modems as federally certified. In August, the EAC officially censured ES&S as a result.
  

• Combatting voter intimidation: We filed a federal lawsuit in October against Tennessee-based private mercenary contractor Atlas Aegis and its chairman for illegal voter intimidation in Minnesota, arguing that the defendants’ plan to hire and deploy armed ex-soldiers to polling sites in the state constituted illegal voter intimidation under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. One week later, the federal district court ruled in our favor, stopping Atlas Aegis in its tracks before Election Day.
  

• Making voting safe during the pandemic: Following the onset of COVID-19, we launched new litigation across the country to protect the health and safety of voters casting a ballot in person, and we published a safe-voting guide, with infectious disease expert and FSFP Board member Joia Mukherjee and former Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.
  

To learn more about these and other 2020 accomplishments, please see our End of Year Report.

These successes were made possible by democracy champions like you. The COVID-19 crisis laid bare the critical and urgent need we now face to repair, rebuild, and improve our democratic processes. Free Speech For People is ready to lead the fight. With your continued support, we will work every day to ensure all people have an equal voice and an equal vote in our democracy.

Your gift today – at this critical moment – will help us continue to make real, lasting change to reclaim our democracy.

Thank you for everything you do,

Ben Clements

Board Chair, Free Speech For People

Friend,

We’re just months away from one of the most anticipated elections of our generation -- but nationwide, potential new voters are having trouble getting registered.

To protect public health during the COVID-19 crisis, many voter registration hotspots -- like DMVs and town clerks’ offices -- have been closed for months. And canvassing efforts on college campuses, at concerts, and on streets have been completely shut down.

So how can states combat this threat to our voting rights? By offering online voter registration.

Tell states without online voter registration: enact this crucial reform so voters can get on the rolls and make themselves heard in November amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

Online voter registration is a proven and secure way to modernize our voter registration systems. Letting eligible Americans register to vote (or update their registration) from home is convenient, safe, and cost-effective.

But this crucial option still isn’t available in several states, impacting tens of millions of Americans.

Experts say the loss of in-person registration opportunities this year will especially keep students, people of color, and naturalized immigrants from the polls. Online voter registration can help -- but states must act NOW to have this option ready for November.

Add your name to tell state officials: it’s time to modernize our election systems with online voter registration.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

We have less than 90 days to ensure every American has safe and equal access to a ballot on Election Day.  

Our team of lawyers are fighting around the clock to file lawsuits to block rigid mail-in-ballot procedures, dramatic reductions in in-person polling places, and the use of touchscreen ballot-marking devices that are not only susceptible to hacking, but also disease vectors.  

Last week, we filed legal briefs in support of motions for preliminary injunction in our North Carolina and Pennsylvania cases in an effort to protect voters before the general election and guarantee free and fair elections for all. 

With less than three months until the 2020 general election, we need to ensure that voters will not have to choose between their health and their right to vote. Can you chip in to help us ensure safe and secure elections for everyone?

Thank you for everything you do,

Courtney Hostetler

Counsel, Free Speech For People

Thank you for all you do,

John Bonifaz

President, Free Speech For People

Hi Friend,

There''s still time to RSVP for our Facebook Live panel discussion of the HBO documentary Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America''s Elections, tonight at 8:00 PM ET on our Facebook page. We''ll be joined by an impressive group of computer security experts and election security advocates to explore how we can protect our voting systems before the November election and in the years to come. Kill Chain is available to view free on YouTube through May 25th.

Will you join us?

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

In the midst of our nation’s public health crisis, another threat is lurking on the horizon. Our elections are at risk from both foreign and domestic interference, and the United States remains woefully unprepared to address the vulnerabilities of our voting systems.

Please join us for a Facebook Live panel discussion of the HBO documentary Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America''s Elections, now available free to view on YouTube through May 25.

Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America''s Elections uncovers previously unreported weaknesses in today’s election technology, exposing just how fragile our election systems can be. Our panel will dive into new information, share the backstories and previously unrevealed details not in the film, and also talk about solutions to secure our elections for 2020 and beyond.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 6 at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT

WHERE: Facebook Live - Free Speech For People

RSVP HERE

Hosts: Free Speech For People and Electronic Frontier Foundation

Moderator: John Bonifaz, Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People

Introductions by actor and activist Alyssa Milano and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

Panel: 

• Simon Ardizzone and Sarah Teale, Kill Chain Producers/Directors
• Harri Hursti, prominent computer security expert
• Jeff Moss, Founder of DEF CON
• Courtney Hostetler, Counsel at Free Speech For People
• Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Election security activist Marilyn Marks, University of California-Berkeley Professor Philip Stark, and others featured in the film will also participate in the discussion.

Now more than ever, it is critical that we address the flaws in our election security. The window of time available to address these issues is rapidly closing, and the added challenges presented by the pandemic mean that it’s even more essential that we act together to protect our right to vote. We hope you’ll join us on May 6!

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

MAJOR NEWS: Sixteen states, led by Washington State, filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court last week, urging the nation’s highest court to review our landmark case seeking to end super PACs in US elections. Six U.S. Senators, led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, filed a separate brief in support of Supreme Court review of the case. The case, Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, brought on behalf of Members of Congress and congressional candidates, directly challenges the 2010 federal appeals court ruling in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, which led directly to the creation of super PACs. 

The states joining the amicus brief include: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington State, as well as the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Senators joining the amicus brief include: Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Senator Thomas Udall of New Mexico, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Over the past ten years, big money forces have used super PACs to influence elections, further corrupt our political process, overwhelm the voices of everyday people, defeat public interest laws, and foster political inequality. With our pathbreaking case, we are presenting for the first time to the Supreme Court the opportunity to end super PACs in US elections and help restore democracy to the people. To read the amicus briefs, and for more information about the case, visit freespeechforpeople.org/lieu.

Share on Facebook and Twitter if you agree: It’s time to abolish super PACs.

Super PACs weren’t created by Congress, or the U.S. Supreme Court—they were created by a lower court decision, based on faulty assumptions, that has never been reviewed or revisited. We look forward to giving the Supreme Court the opportunity to reverse the SpeechNow decision so we can rebuild our democracy. We’re grateful for the support of these friends of the Court who recognize the importance of this case. And we are thankful for you, because your support for Free Speech For People makes possible our continued fight to end big money in our elections at this critical moment for our democracy. Thank you for standing with us.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of disastrous. He has placed his personal and political interests above the interests of the American people. He has repeatedly lied about the nature of the threat and dangerously undermined health and government officials who have sought to protect us. Through his reckless incompetence and indifference, Trump has made the United States the world leader -- by a very large margin -- in COVID-19 cases and deaths. His continued presence in the Oval Office will lead to countless more infections and preventable deaths.

We must not allow that to happen. We are calling on Donald Trump to resign immediately from the Office of the President of the United States.

ADD YOUR NAME: Donald Trump must resign for his reckless response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump has proven that he is a threat to our republic, to our Constitution, and to our health and safety as a people. His suggested treatments of chloroquine and injecting disinfectants have led to additional illnesses and even death. He is denying shortages of tests and personal protective equipment, and he is distributing lifesaving supplies to states based on whether their governors are “appreciative” of his efforts. He has even said that the deaths of up to 100,000 Americans would be a “sign of success.”

In the midst of the largest public health crisis in over a century, Trump is utterly and dangerously unfit for the responsibilities of the presidency. He must resign now.

SIGN HERE: Tell Donald Trump he must resign immediately.

In solidarity,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy.  And, now more than ever, we must fight to protect it. From insecure voting machines to information warfare, our elections are under attack and our ability to vote safely and securely in 2020 is going to depend on all of us.

That’s why I’m teaming up with Free Speech For People, Let America Vote Action Fund, Stand Up America, and When We All Vote to bring you Own The Vote 2020, a six-episode webinar series focused on election security and voter mobilization. I’ll be joined by experts in the election security field, celebrities, activists, and other notables to answer one major question:

How do we guarantee safe, accessible, and fair elections for every American?

This work is more urgent than ever before. The window of time available to address the faults in our election systems is closing fast, and the added challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic mean that 2020’s elections require voting systems that are safe, secure, and reliable. President Trump has actively and repeatedly attacked methods of voting, including voting by mail and expanding early voting, that are considered safer during this public health crisis than traditionally crowded election day gatherings. Further, while many election officials are working overtime to ensure a free and fair election in their states, some are doing everything in their power to keep Americans from exercising their constitutional right to vote. That’s where we come in.

Own the Vote 2020 will broadcast on alternating Mondays beginning September 7th. Participation is free and registration is required. For more information, visit OwnTheVote2020.com.

All voters deserve the right to make their voices heard. Democracy is on the line, and we all must stand up to defend it. Are you ready? Join us at Own the Vote 2020.

In solidarity,

Alyssa Milano

Friend,

In addition to our letter to the House Judiciary Committee last Friday, Free Speech For People has just filed an urgent motion before the federal district court in U.S. v. Stone on behalf of constitutional law Professors Jed Shugerman and Ethan Leib of Fordham Law School. The motion seeks permission to submit an amicus brief arguing that the court should not automatically accept the executive grant of clemency, but rather should consider whether it may be unconstitutional.

President Trump commuted Mr. Stone’s forty-month prison sentence last Friday. Stone’s convictions stemmed from his efforts to impede Congress’s investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 presidential elections, crimes that Stone carried out in order to protect President Trump. As the sentencing judge, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, explained in her closing remarks, Mr. Stone “was prosecuted for covering up for the president.” 

“When the Framers added the phrase “faithful execution” to the Constitution, for the president to ‘take Care that the laws be faithfully executed’ and for the presidential oath, they were drawing on a long English tradition of this phrase signifying limited powers on behalf of the public interest, and rejecting the unlimited prerogatives of kings,” says Shugerman. “These republican limits are similar to fiduciary duties against self-dealing. Thus, pardons and commutations that are in self-interest and against the public interest are unfaithful execution of the office and are constitutionally invalid.”

“The pardon power is not above constitutional scrutiny and is not some absolute royal prerogative,” says Leib. “The President took an oath to “faithfully execute” his office and that can limit his ability to pardon himself, his co-conspirators, or his friends and family–when that power is not exercised in the public interest.”

This case isn’t over. The Supreme Court has acknowledged that the pardon power is not unlimited, and the Constitution requires the President to exercise that power loyally and carefully in the public interest rather than in his own self-interest. The judge should hear what Professors Leib and Shugerman have to say before taking any further action with respect to Roger Stone.

Read the motion here.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein

Legal Director, Free Speech For People

Friend,

Every day, we are watching our democratic norms challenged under the Trump administration. From the early days of his candidacy, Trump has routinely ignored our country’s laws, institutions, and values, and he has even questioned the legitimacy of election results.

This morning, Trump proposed the unthinkable: delay the 2020 election until he deems it “safe.” The Constitution does not grant the president authority to change election dates. Only Congress has that power, and they have never used it. But that doesn’t mean Trump won’t do everything he can to pressure allies across the country to do his bidding.

Friend,

Last night, President Trump once again abused his pardon power by commuting the prison sentence of his longtime ally, Roger Stone. Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison after he was convicted of seven felony counts, including obstructing a congressional investigation and witness intimidation. The convictions stemmed from Stone’s efforts to impede Congress’s investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 presidential elections, crimes that Stone carried out in order to protect President Trump. As the sentencing judge, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, explained in her closing remarks, Mr. Stone “was prosecuted for covering up for the president.”

Now, just days before Stone was scheduled to begin his sentence, Trump has ensured that his political fixer will not face a single day in jail. This is unacceptable.

Sign the Petition: Tell the House Judiciary Committee to open a new impeachment inquiry against President Trump for his abuse of the pardon power to keep the convicted felon Roger Stone out of jail and to preserve the cover-up.

Today, Free Speech For People issued a letter to Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Vice Chairwoman Mary Gay Scanlon of the House Judiciary Committee, urging the Committee to convene an impeachment inquiry against President Trump for this high crime and determine whether to recommend new articles of impeachment. You can read the full letter here.

The power to pardon is not absolute; it should only be exercised in a manner consistent with other parts of the Constitution. And the Founders, who recognized the possibility of its abuse, looked to impeachment as the answer for this abuse. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the House of Representatives to hold President Trump accountable and uphold our Constitution.

Sign if you agree: The House Judiciary Committee must protect our democracy and hold Trump accountable for his corrupt abuse of the pardon power.

In solidarity,

John Bonifaz

President, Free Speech For People

Friend,

In the midst of the public health crisis now facing the nation, our dedicated team at Free Speech For People is continuing the fight for free and fair elections and a democracy that works for everyone.

On March 17, we joined, with a coalition of over 100 voting rights organizations and led by the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, in issuing a letter calling on Congress and state election officials to implement new policies to protect voting rights and public safety during the primary elections and in response to COVID-19. The policy recommendations noted in the March 17 letter include: increasing access to voter registration, by providing online registration and same-day registration; expanding early in-person voting; allowing voting by mail; implementing protective measures at polling locations to keep the public safe while voting; and providing voter education and combating misinformation. You can read the entire letter here.

Meanwhile, Free Speech For People applauds Senators Amy Klobuchar and Ron Wyden and their colleagues for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by proposing reasonable, appropriate, and commonsense provisions to ensure the United States will be able to hold free and fair elections while protecting voters, poll workers, and election officials during this crisis. The U.S. election structure is facing unprecedented challenges and extraordinary difficulties. While Free Speech For People shares concerns with other civil rights organizations and election security experts that vote-by-mail introduces new equal access issues, security vulnerabilities, and election administration challenges, under these extraordinary circumstances, the provisions in the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020 (NDEBA) offer a reasonable and effective path to ensure the United States can continue to carry out our constitutional and fundamental democratic commitment to government by the people, determined by free and fair elections. These provisions include requiring that all states also implement early voting to help ensure that voters who seek to or need to vote in person can do so in a safe and accessible way. We support the passage of the National Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020 and call on Congress to pass this bill without delay so that our state and local election officials can immediately begin plans to implement its vital provisions for the November 2020 general election.

Join us today in urging that Congress pass this important legislation to protect our elections. Call your Representative and your Senators today at (202) 224-3121 and urge their support of the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020!

Thank you for your continued support. We hope you and your families stay safe and healthy during these difficult times.

In solidarity,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

The chaos surrounding Georgia’s recent primary election demonstrates yet again why we need state officials to make critical changes to our election infrastructure to ensure all voters can safely cast a ballot during this pandemic. That includes facilitating safer voting methods like vote by mail.

Tell the U.S. Senate to properly fund vote by mail ahead of the 2020 general election.

All voters should have the opportunity to vote by mail, or to complete their ballots at home and drop them off at a drive-through or walk-through dropoff location. Voters should be able to request mail-in ballots up to the day before the election, to increase the likelihood that individuals who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or have been exposed to the novel coronavirus do not vote in person, and to ensure that individuals who wish to reduce their exposure to infection can do so.

Vote by mail has the added benefit of increasing participation. States that have enacted vote by mail saw a 15 percent higher median turnout during the 2018 primary. Many states are taking steps to implement and expand vote by mail in response to COVID-19, but unless it is adopted on the federal level, voters in many states will be disenfranchised by having to choose between their health and their right to vote.

Sign if you agree: The Senate must properly fund vote by mail and protect the right to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Six months from now, voters will elect their leaders for federal, state, and local levels of government, including the next president and several key Senate and House seats. Yet millions of Americans face a very real threat that their votes will not be properly counted. We face threats both here and from abroad in the form of vulnerable election technologies, foreign interference, and ongoing changes needed to ensure a safe and secure election in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Free Speech For People is working hard to ensure that all voters have the chance to make their voices heard this election season. Access to safe, secure, and verifiable elections is critical, but we need your help to make them possible. On this Giving Tuesday, can you chip in to help us secure elections across the nation?

Here are a few of the obstacles between us and freely practicing our right to vote this year:

• Faulty voting technology: The use of electronic voting machines in states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina is fraught with liabilities. Such touchscreen voting systems fail to provide a voter-verified, reliable, physical ballot necessary to conduct an effective post-election audit to ensure accurate election results. They are vulnerable to hacking and to malfunctions, leading to long lines that further disenfranchise voters. Though the U.S. intelligence community has warned that our election systems are actively being targeted by hackers and our adversaries, some election officials continue to resist common-sense reforms.
  

• Ongoing foreign interference: Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee have already proven that Russian interference in the 2016 election took place in all fifty states. Efforts by foreign actors are already underway to try to undermine elections in 2020 in even more brazen ways, including weaponizing coronavirus disinformation and impersonating American candidates and organizations.
  

• Health risks: Dozens or hundreds of voters will touch each electronic voting machine in states where such machines are used, making them vectors for spreading the coronavirus. But the process of sanitizing each machine between uses will delay voting, creating lines and delays that will force people to remain in public and in crowds, where the virus may transmit between voters. Lack of access to no-excuse absentee ballots will also increase the risk of infection as voters are forced to vote in person in large public areas. As we saw in Wisconsin last month, this amounts to voter suppression as we force individuals to choose between their health and their right to vote.

Guaranteeing every American an equal voice and an equal vote is essential to maintain a healthy democracy, and that’s why Free Speech For People is working hard to ensure safe, secure, and reliable elections for all. But we couldn’t do it without you. Your continued support to Free Speech For People today will allow us to defend our democracy in 2020 and beyond.

Time is running out. Your gift today – at this critical moment – will help us to secure our elections before November 3rd.

Thank you for everything you do,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

As the country continues to battle the COVID-19 crisis, Attorney General William Barr is continuing to abuse his power to protect Donald Trump.

Under Barr’s direction, the Justice Department is seeking to drop the criminal case against former national security adviser and Trump ally Michael Flynn, even though Flynn has already pleaded guilty twice and was scheduled to be sentenced by the court.

Flynn admitted in court in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. That is a serious federal crime.

Sign the petition: Attorney General Barr must resign immediately for prioritizing Trump’s interests over those of the nation.

Barr believes he is immune from criticism or accountability as long as he continues to do Trump’s bidding.  Asked in an interview with CBS how history will judge his actions, Barr asserted, “History is written by the winners, so it largely depends on who’s writing the history.”

The effort to clear Flynn of wrongdoing is just the latest in an ongoing pattern of abuse of power. As the nation’s highest law enforcement official, Barr has consistently attempted to hide, minimize, and justify the lawlessness of the president and his allies. If left unchecked, the role of the attorney general will be forever damaged.

Sign if you agree: Attorney General Barr must resign for his recurring and flagrant abuses of power.

In solidarity,

Ben Clements, Board Chair

Free Speech For People

Hi Friend,

Oske here from Free Speech For People. As Giving Tuesday draws to a close, I wanted to make sure you saw John’s message from earlier today. Please consider donating to Free Speech For People to help us ensure safe, secure, and reliable elections for every voter this year. Thank you for everything you do.

Best wishes,

Oske

Friend,

Six months from now, voters will elect their leaders for federal, state, and local levels of government, including the next president and several key Senate and House seats. Yet millions of Americans face a very real threat that their votes will not be properly counted. We face threats both here and from abroad in the form of vulnerable election technologies, foreign interference, and ongoing changes needed to ensure a safe and secure election in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Free Speech For People is working hard to ensure that all voters have the chance to make their voices heard this election season. Access to safe, secure, and verifiable elections is critical, but we need your help to make them possible. On this Giving Tuesday, can you chip in to help us secure elections across the nation?

Here are a few of the obstacles between us and freely practicing our right to vote this year:

• Faulty voting technology: The use of electronic voting machines in states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina is fraught with liabilities. Such touchscreen voting systems fail to provide a voter-verified, reliable, physical ballot necessary to conduct an effective post-election audit to ensure accurate election results. They are vulnerable to hacking and to malfunctions, leading to long lines that further disenfranchise voters. Though the U.S. intelligence community has warned that our election systems are actively being targeted by hackers and our adversaries, some election officials continue to resist common-sense reforms.
  

• Ongoing foreign interference: Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee have already proven that Russian interference in the 2016 election took place in all fifty states. Efforts by foreign actors are already underway to try to undermine elections in 2020 in even more brazen ways, including weaponizing coronavirus disinformation and impersonating American candidates and organizations.
  

• Health risks: Dozens or hundreds of voters will touch each electronic voting machine in states where such machines are used, making them vectors for spreading the coronavirus. But the process of sanitizing each machine between uses will delay voting, creating lines and delays that will force people to remain in public and in crowds, where the virus may transmit between voters. Lack of access to no-excuse absentee ballots will also increase the risk of infection as voters are forced to vote in person in large public areas. As we saw in Wisconsin last month, this amounts to voter suppression as we force individuals to choose between their health and their right to vote.

Guaranteeing every American an equal voice and an equal vote is essential to maintain a healthy democracy, and that’s why Free Speech For People is working hard to ensure safe, secure, and reliable elections for all. But we couldn’t do it without you. Your continued support to Free Speech For People today will allow us to defend our democracy in 2020 and beyond.

Time is running out. Your gift today – at this critical moment – will help us to secure our elections before November 3rd.

Thank you for everything you do,

John Bonifaz (President, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

As we adjust to our new normal, the U.S. Postal Service has become one of our most essential services during the COVID-19 crisis. It is the means by which millions of Americans can access staples like face masks and disinfectants. It is delivering social security checks, tax refunds, and coronavirus stimulus checks to those who rely on these funds to survive. It will also play a major role in the 2020 elections, as states move to adopt mail-in voting for upcoming primaries and the general election on November 3.

But the Postal Service’s ability to continue meeting vital needs across the country is in jeopardy. Due to the pandemic, mail revenues are down by at least 30%, creating a grave and rapidly deteriorating financial situation for the USPS and more than 600,000 postal workers. Yet the federal government is doing little to save it. President Trump has even threatened to veto stimulus bills that include relief for the USPS and argued that it should quadruple its shipping fees.

Tell President Trump and Congress: Support the U.S. Postal Service in COVID-19 relief funding.

The USPS is the nation’s only universal delivery and communications network, connecting 160 million homes and businesses in every corner of the country. Its services are among the few explicitly outlined in the Constitution due to the critical importance of interstate communications. With the 2020 election just six months away, a well-functioning Postal Service is necessary to ensure that mail-in voting is an option for all Americans.

The Postal Service needs both urgent and ongoing support from the Federal Government, or Americans everywhere will suffer from the loss of postal services. In the context of our democracy, people must not be forced to choose between their health and their right to vote.

Tell President Trump and your Members of Congress to support the U.S. Postal Service, especially during the ongoing public health crisis.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

It has become increasingly clear that President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis is not merely incompetent, but actively making the problem worse. His behavior has increasingly become reckless, erratic, and injurious to public health.

The president’s failures of management are not merely those of a president who is neglecting to take necessary action. By all accounts, his mismanagement has actively made the problem far worse. Furthermore, this is not due to simple incompetence, but rather to deliberate sabotaging of public health efforts for political purposes.

The problem is not merely that he minimized the severity of the disease, for example, by stating on February 26 that “you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” Nor is the problem merely that he has actively spread misinformation and disinformation for months, including just recently advocating an untested method of treatment which led to the death of an Arizona man.

The problem is that he has prevented the United States from taking decisive action for the sole reason of trying to help his own political prospects. In late February, the Trump Administration, for reasons unexplained at the time, refused to accept World Health Organization coronavirus test kits. As we now know, the reason is that “the president had made clear – the lower the numbers on coronavirus, the better for the president, the better for his potential reelection this fall.” Trump is now blatantly ignoring the advice of medical professionals urging social distancing, stating that he wants the economy “opened up and raring to go by Easter” at the risk of thousands of lives. It has become clear that where the economy is concerned, Trump sees human lives as expendable.

Because of his active obstruction of emergency public health efforts, thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of people will die unnecessarily. The issue here is not mere “maladministration,” but rather actively sabotaging government crisis response efforts in the hope of improving his reelection prospects.

Sign the Petition: Trump must step aside for the safety of the American people.

Reckless or wanton endangerment with the potential for many thousands of deaths constitutes an abuse of power. Reckless endangerment takes place when the conduct occurs, regardless of whether the death or grievous bodily harm actually results. By analogy, military service-members may be charged with “reckless endangerment” for engaging in conduct that is “reckless or wanton,” “likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm to another person,” and “of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.” While the president is of course not directly subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the gravity of President Trump’s reckless or wanton conduct poses a grave danger to American lives. And it brings discredit upon the dedicated men and women who are trying to save lives, not suppressing the number of reported cases to help the president’s polling.

We now issue three calls:

1. We call upon President Trump (along with Vice President Pence) to undergo weekly testing, under the direction or with the observation of the attending physician of the U.S. Congress. If Trump tests positive, he should quarantine himself outside of Washington, D.C.
   

2. In light of President Trump’s demonstrated inability to handle the serious responsibilities required at this moment in time, we call upon him to voluntarily step aside for at least eight weeks, by notifying the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives “that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” in accordance with section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
   

3. Finally, if he does not take these actions for the good of the country, we call upon the House of Representatives to open an expedited impeachment inquiry to investigate President Trump for reckless and wanton endangerment by deliberately sabotaging public health for political purposes.

Sign if you agree: President Trump has been reckless in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and must step aside.

In solidarity,

Ron Fein (Legal Director, Free Speech For People)

Friend,

BREAKING NEWS: Free Speech For People Exposes Fraudulent Marketing Practices by Nation’s Largest Voting System Vendor, Spurring Rebuke by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Holding the voting system vendors accountable for false and deceptive practices is a major area of focus in our Election Security Project at Free Speech For People. Today, we are celebrating a significant victory because the nation’s largest voting machine vendor, ES&S, has been censured for falsely advertising its voting machines with wireless modems as federally certified. 

We, in conjunction with the National Election Defense Coalition, brought this issue to the attention of the EAC in January in a letter that detailed evidence indicating ES&S was deceptively marketing its voting machines. 

ES&S has sold these voting machines with wireless modems to states across the country, including Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Wireless modems directly connect the voting systems to the Internet, making them more vulnerable to remote hacking. In today’s election security threat environment, it’s plainly foolish to use this technology. So we are doing all we can to expose it and stop it. 

We will be using this victory to do more to press states to disable and remove the modems from their voting machines. Stay tuned. 

You can read more about the EAC’s unprecedented action in this story by Politico.  

You can read the EAC’s letter in response to the call for this investigation here.

While we are very pleased the EAC took action to rebuke ES&S for its false claims, this is just a part of a larger pattern of deception from the voting system vendors that operate with little to no oversight and without meaningful regulation. We’re going to change that. 

Our election infrastructure is still under attack by adversaries of democracy, both domestic and abroad. Free Speech For People will continue to fight to secure our elections, because our democracy depends on it.

Onward,

Susan Greenhalgh

Senior Advisor on Election Security, Free Speech For People

Friend,

More and more states are rescheduling their presidential primaries and moving to vote-by-mail. However, Americans in several states still face barriers to voting -- barriers now compounded by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend social distancing and state and local officials are passing stay at home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19. In order to preserve public health and voting rights, state officials must also minimize obstacles to casting ballots from the safety of homes and shelters.

Add your name: State officials must expand access to absentee ballots amidst this public health crisis.

In most states, voters can request an absentee ballot without needing to present a reason they cannot vote in-person. But there are still 15 states that require voters to justify why they need an absentee ballot. As some states plan to ramp up their vote-by-mail programs, state officials must act quickly to provide voters with the option to cast no-excuse absentee ballots in both upcoming primaries and the general election, in addition to providing voters who need or choose to cast their ballots in person to do so in a safe and secure manner.

Amidst a global pandemic, voters should be encouraged by state officials to vote remotely where possible, to slow the spread of the coronavirus. We must provide all options for voters to cast their ballots safely and securely, including the option of no-excuse absentee voting.

Sign if you agree: Voters should have access to absentee ballots, no questions asked.

In solidarity,

Free Speech For People

Friend,

Yesterday, Donald Trump took his attack on American democracy into new unprecedented territory. Trump tweeted his desire to delay the presidential election until he deemed it “safe.” The Constitution does not permit the president to make this decision, but that doesn’t mean Trump won’t do everything he can to try to pressure political allies across the country to do his bidding.

This is the latest in an ever-growing wave of corruption from the White House. Just three weeks ago, Trump abused the presidential pardon power to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone. Free Speech For People was quick to respond by calling on the House Judiciary Committee to open a new impeachment investigation against President Trump and by filing an urgent motion to submit an amicus brief in U.S. v. Stone on why the commutation of Stone’s prison sentence is unconstitutional.

We are working around the clock to defend our democracy and our Constitution.

Can you help us fight for justice in the face of corruption from the Trump administration by donating today?

Free Speech For People has also been fighting in the courts to ensure a safe and secure election this November. We have filed lawsuits in North Carolina, Texas and Pennsylvania to challenge dangerous election practices that threaten the health and safety of voters and undermine the constitutional right to vote. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted African American and Latino citizens and our lawsuits seek court intervention to discontinue unsafe election practices that will have particular adverse impacts for voters of color.

One of those lawsuits did not sit well with the President. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee recently filed a motion seeking to block our push for a safe and secure election in Pennsylvania. We will be opposing that motion. Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, and the fundamental rights of all voters to cast their ballots safely and securely must be protected.

We could not do this work without you. Thanks to your support, we are engaged in this fight across the country. But it is not over yet. Please chip in to help us uphold our democracy and our Constitution.

If you''ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

With gratitude,

John Bonifaz

President, Free Speech For People