Press Releases Archive
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Kash Patel’s 51-49 confirmation today as FBI Director – nominated by President Trump and confirmed by all but two of the Republican Senators – is a dangerous threat to the nation and a disaster for the FBI. Patel is an outspoken enemy of the FBI he now leads, […]
Ahead of Friday’s Senate confirmation hearing on Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, 58 civil and human rights organizations, including Democracy 21, have urged the Senate to oppose Patel’s confirmation. Given the FBI’s vast authority, “the bureau’s leadership must be entrusted to someone who will uphold the U.S. Constitution, respect the rule of law, […]
Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer has been awarded the 2025 Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. The prestigious award is given annually by the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. The award honors “government and private citizens who significantly contribute to the practice and understanding of ethical behavior and […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer President Donald Trump’s pardons and commuting of sentences today of convicted criminals who carried out the January 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 are a national disgrace. The pardons and commutations are part of Trump’s continuing effort to rewrite history. Trump will fail. Historians write […]
In a Truth Social post on November 30, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Kash Patel to be the director of the FBI. Last week, current FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed by Trump in 2017 to a 10-year term, announced he would step down before Trump is sworn into office. Historian and journalist Garrett Graff […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer This past weekend, President-elect Donald Trump said in an NBC “Meet the Press” interview that “everybody” on the House January 6 Committee “should go to jail.” This is an example of Trump’s presidential revenge and retribution tour. It is the same kind of approach used by dictators like […]
Seventy national civil rights and pro-democracy organizations, including Democracy 21, sent a joint letter to Senators on December 4, urging them to uphold the Senate’s critical constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on presidential nominations to the executive and judicial branches. The letter comes as President-elect Donald Trump is urging incoming Republican Senate leadership to […]
“Another major factual revelation by Special Counsel Jack Smith, another attempt to discredit him without ever addressing the new facts,” Andrew Weissmann and Ryan Goodman write in an analysis published today on Just Security regarding the 2020 election interference/Jan. 6 case brought by Smith against former President Donald Trump. “But this time,” Weissmann and Goodman […]
Thirteen organizations from across the ideological spectrum, including Democracy 21, have urged Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to publicly reveal information about their top campaign fundraisers before Election Day. The coalition effort was organized by Issue One. Called “bundlers” for the bundles of campaign donation […]
In January 2021, two Democrats won Senate runoff elections in Georgia. This flipped the Senate and resulted in an unexpected “trifecta” – Democratic control of the White House, the House, and the Senate. While a Democratic trifecta this November would be difficult, it is possible, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer writes in an op-ed published today […]
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