News

D21 Strongly Urges Senate To Pass The DISCLOSE Act That Requires Public Disclosure Of Large Donors To Dark Money Groups

Democracy 21 today strongly urged the Senate to vote to invoke cloture and support enactment of S. 4822, the DISCLOSE Act, when it comes to the floor this week. The DISCLOSE Act would require 501(c)(4) dark money groups which spend money in federal elections to promptly disclose donors who have given $10,000 or more during […]

Former Republican Officials, Including Top Federal Prosecutors And DOJ Officials, Support Government’s Request For A Partial Stay In Mar-a-Lago Documents Case; Amicus Brief Filed In DOJ’s Emergency Appeal

The District Court in Florida erred in its decision granting a special master in the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit should allow the Government full access to the classified documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago for its criminal investigation, according to an amicus brief filed last night supporting the Government’s emergency motion. Further, […]

Trump & His Election Deniers Are Setting The Stage To Steal 2024

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | September 15, 2022 The damage former President Donald Trump has done to our democracy is catastrophic. The further damage he would do if ever returned to the presidency is incalculable. Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election being stolen, the culmination of more than 30,000 false and misleading statements during his […]

Eisen/Wertheimer: DOJ Focus On Classified Docs In Appeal Of Special Master Ruling Is Shrewd Move That Will Protect National Security

The DOJ strategy means “the most legally odious and dangerous aspects of the court’s order can be immediately challenged and hopefully quickly overturned.” On Thursday, the Justice Department announced it would appeal Judge Aileen Cannon’s order blocking criminal investigators from using the classified documents seized last month from former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago […]

Judge’s Special Master Decision Is Dead Wrong; Raises Serious Concerns About Future Role Of Trump-Appointed Judges

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | September 8, 2022 In 2018, Chief Justice John Roberts said, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” This proved to be true following the 2020 presidential election, when judges appointed by Democratic and Republican Presidents, including Trump appointees, acted at a historic moment to […]

Eisen/Wertheimer Op-Ed: Judge Cannon’s Flawed Special Master Ruling And The “Weighty Decision” Facing DOJ Regarding An Appeal

Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon granted former President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to review the documents seized at the court-approved search of Mar-a-Lago last month.  This, Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.) and Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer write today in Slate, “was in some ways not a surprise. … though, we […]

Trump’s Request For A Special Master In Mar-a-Lago Case Is “Unprecedented” And “Manifestly Frivolous”, Former Republican Officials, Including Federal Prosecutors And DOJ Officials, Write In Amicus Brief Filed In Florida Case

Regardless of one’s political views, it is clear that there is no legal support for former President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to oversee a review of the evidence seized by the Justice Department in its court-appointed search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, according to an amicus brief filed on Tuesday in the U.S. […]

The Billionaires’ And Millionaires’ Democracy

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | August 25, 2022 Our nation’s capital today floats on an ocean of influence money provided to elect favored candidates and/or to seek results in Washington. Case in point: Peter Thiel is a multibillionaire venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal and was Facebook’s first outside investor. Peter Thiel symbolizes today’s campaign finance […]

The Anatomy Of A Bald-Faced Liar

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | August 18, 2022 Truth is an alien concept to former President Donald Trump. As the old saying goes, “He lies when the truth will serve.” During Trump’s presidency, he made 30,573 false or misleading claims – a stunning average of 21 per day – according to The Washington Post. Trump is a bald-faced […]

Trump’s “Big Lie” Continues To Damage Our Democracy

Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | August 11, 2022 We don’t know if former President Donald Trump ever studied Joseph Goebbels, but he certainly does practice Goebbels’ methods. Goebbels was Germany’s Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945. The concept of “The Big Lie” has been attributed to him as has this definition of it: […]