Press Releases Archive

Wertheimer Op-Ed: “The Return Of The King”

By: Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21 This week, Chief Justice John Roberts and his band of five other Republican-appointed Supreme Court Justices restored the king to the top of our government. Our nation’s Founders fought a revolution to help ensure our nation would be forever free from the clutches of an unrestrained monarch. The Founders […]

SCOTUS Immunity Decision Is Shameful And Destructive Of The Rule Of Law

Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer “Our democracy has been dangerously harmed by its misguided decision.” When the Supreme Court, last December, following a federal district court decision in United States v. Trump, rejected the request of Special Counsel Jack Smith to consider former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim for direct review on an […]

From The Watergate Era’s “Suitcases Filled With Cash” To Today’s Billions In Secret Campaign Money

“If money is buying influence and results over government policies, then most Americans are shut out, because the campaign finance system is dominated by people who are putting up very large sums of money.” – D21 President Fred Wertheimer There’s a corner of the 1970s Watergate scandal with far-reaching impact, according to National Public Radio’s Planet Money in […]

D21 Endorses Government By The People Act, Which Would Create An Innovative Way To Finance Campaigns And Lessen The Big-Money Stranglehold On Elections

Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD), joined by Representatives Joe Neguse (D-CO), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), recently reintroduced the Government By The People Act, which would establish a small-donor campaign matching program for candidates running for the House of Representatives. Democracy 21 strongly endorses the Government By The People Act, essential legislation that would help […]

Trump, A Jury Of His Peers, And The Roberts Court

In an op-ed published Monday on Medium, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer discusses last week’s conviction in New York of former President Donald Trump on all 34 felony counts he faced, and how the Supreme Court could “take a lesson” from the New York jury, judge, and D.A.’s office. The Supreme Court’s current slow-walking of its […]

The Supreme Court Fails Country In Its Inexplicable Failure To Issue Timely Opinion On Trump Immunity

 Statement Of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer “There is no excuse for taking so long on a case that has such importance to the country.” On March 4, 2024, 25 days after hearing oral argument, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Trump v. Anderson. In that case, the Court ruled favorably for former President […]

D21 President Fred Wertheimer On Bipartisan Efforts In The Senate To Address The Problems Posed By AI

Democracy 21 applauds the bipartisan effort underway in the Senate to develop public policies to address the dangerous problems posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). This important effort is being led by Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), joined by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Todd Young (R-IN). Also providing important bipartisan leadership are […]

Jennifer Rubin In The Washington Post: Judge Cannon Plays “Catch And Kill” With Trump Classified Docs Case

Stacking the deck for Trump means endangering national security. Judge Aileen Cannon seems determined to kill the criminal Mar-a-Lago classified documents case facing former President Donald Trump, Jennifer Rubin writes in a column in The Washington Post.“Her latest delay,” Rubin writes, “follows a series of widely criticized moves revealing her inexperience. Among the most inexplicable: Demanding a debate on […]

E.J. Dionne Jr. In The Washington Post: “A Crisis Moment” – SCOTUS’s Republican Bias Hangs Over Trump Immunity Case

As members of the Supreme Court’s “6-3 conservative majority ponder how and when they will rule on Donald Trump’s absolute immunity claim, they should understand how much they have already done to paint themselves as instruments of the Republican Party and the political right. They have created a crisis moment,” columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. writes […]

What To Know About Trump’s Immunity Argument Before The Supreme Court

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Donald J. Trump v. United States regarding former President Trump’s request to be granted immunity from federal criminal prosecution for all official acts he took while President. This argument is crucial to the pending 2020 election interference criminal case brought by Special Counsel Jack […]