Protect Democracy

Protect Democracy is a nonprofit organization based in the United States.[1] A nonpartisan group, Protect Democracy seeks to check authoritarian attacks on U.S. democracy.[2][3][4]

The group states that it seeks to counter the politicization of independent institutions, the spreading of disinformation, the corruption of elections, and other anti-democratic tactics.[5] The group has released "The Authoritarian Playbook," a media guide for how to distinguish authoritarianism from other forms of politics.[6][7] It has also issued reports and policy proposals examining the links between anti-democratic extremism and the U.S. electoral system.[8][9]

According to Time Magazine, Protect Democracy is a “defender of America’s system of government against the threat of authoritarianism.”[10]

Leadership

In 2016, Protect Democracy was co-founded by Ian Bassin, Justin Florence, and Emily Loeb, who served as lawyers in the White House Counsel’s Office under former President Barack Obama.[11] The co-founders worked with Harvard University political scientist Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, who joined the group’s Board of Advisors.[12][13][14]

Bassin, a former White House associate counsel, serves as the executive director of Protect Democracy.[15]

Along with the University of Chicago's Center for Effective Government, Protect Democracy experts have hosted two “Rethinking Our Democracy” series in The Washington Post, proposing institutional reforms to strengthen American democracy.[16][17]

Activities

Protect Democracy advocates for maintaining a strong separation between the White House and the Justice Department.[18] In 2020, the group collected letters from hundreds of DOJ alumni, calling for former Attorney General William Barr to step down.[19][20] The DOJ alumni also claimed the Mueller report presented enough evidence to charge former President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice.[21]

Protect Democracy has criticized both Democrats and Republicans over resisting congressional oversight.[22][23] In 2021, the group represented 66 former members of Congress, including two dozen Republicans, challenging Trump’s efforts to block the January 6th Select Committee from accessing his presidential records.[24] During the 2020 election, Bassin urged then-candidate Joe Biden to reverse course after declaring he would defy a subpoena if called to testify in Trump’s first impeachment.[25] Biden eventually backed off his comments.[26]

In 2019, Protect Democracy convened the nonpartisan "National Task Force on Election Crises," a cross-ideological group of more than 50 experts on elections, security, public health, and other areas.[27][28][29] The Task Force issued analyses and reports, holding press briefings on how the electoral system is supposed to work for the purpose of building resiliency against efforts to subvert the electoral process.[30][31][32]

In 2021, along with the States United Democracy Center and Law Forward, Protect Democracy issued an initial report on state legislative attempts that threaten to subvert elections.[33][34] It has subsequently released updates to the report.[35][36][37]

Protect Democracy developed the software VoteShield, which uses publicly available data to track changes to voter rolls, identifying potentially suspicious irregularities.[38][39] The group also launched "Law for Truth," which uses defamation law to impose accountability on those who spread election disinformation.[40][41] Law for Truth has brought lawsuits on behalf of election workers in Georgia and a postmaster in Pennsylvania, who suffered online and offline threats to their safety due to false media stories about their alleged involvement in election fraud.[42][43][44]

Following the January 6th Capitol riots, Protect Democracy represented Capitol Police officers suing Trump under the Klan Act for his role in inciting the crowd.[45][46] In February 2022, the Court denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case.[47] Protect Democracy also represented Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman in a case against former Trump aides and allies, accusing them of intimidating and retaliating against him for testifying against Trump during his first impeachment.[48][49]

Protect Democracy has challenged Republican and Democratic officials over claims that they were misusing their offices to improperly interfere in elections. In 2018, Protect Democracy sued then-Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, seeking his recusal from overseeing a recount in an election in which he was also a candidate.[50][51] The group also filed a lawsuit against then-Florida Governor Rick Scott, claiming the Constitution sets limits on an elected official’s ability to exercise governmental powers over their own election.[52][53] Protect Democracy later challenged Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, for appearing to use his governmental position to advance his own candidacy for governor.[54][55]

References
  1. Dovere, Edward-Isaac. "Obama lawyers form 'worst-case scenario' group to tackle Trump". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  2. "Opinion | What authoritarians do: Attack the apolitical administration of justice". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  3. "Analysis | Big government vastly expanded presidential power. Republicans use it to sabotage the administrative state". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  4. Phillips, Savannah Behrmann and Kristine. "More than 2,000 ex-DOJ employees call for Attorney General Barr's resignation". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  5. Bassin, Ian; Florence, Justin (2020-11-27). "Op-Ed: To stamp out Trumpism, the U.S. needs to deal with these six things". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  6. Hounshell, Blake (2022-06-10). "How Journalists Wrestle With Covering Threats to Democracy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  7. 'Authoritarian Playbook' author discusses the media's role - CNN Video, retrieved 2022-09-19
  8. "Election reforms needed to fend off authoritarianism, per new report". The Fulcrum. 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  9. "How did we get here, where are we headed, and what can be done? Protect Democracy's New Report It's Alaska's moment on Tuesday". www.uniteamerica.org. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  10. "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  11. "Emily Loeb, Jenner Partner and Co-Founder of Protect Democracy, Joins Biden DOJ". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  12. "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  13. Ziblatt, Steven Levitsky and Daniel (2021-07-09). "The Biggest Threat to Democracy Is the GOP Stealing the Next Election". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  14. "How Democracies Die: US Democracy Three Years After Trump's Election". CornellCast. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  15. "What Might Accountability For President Trump Look Like?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  16. "Analysis | Big government vastly expanded presidential power. Republicans use it to sabotage the administrative state". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  17. "Rethinking Our Democracy". Center for Effective Government. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  18. "Opinion | What authoritarians do: Attack the apolitical administration of justice". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  19. Benner, Katie (2020-02-16). "Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  20. "More than 2,000 former DOJ officials call on Attorney General William Barr to resign". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  21. Dugyala, Rishika. "Former Justice employees urge Barr to resign". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  22. "Transcript: All In with Chris Hayes, 10/19/21". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  23. Williamson, Elizabeth (2021-01-11). "Beyond Impeachment, a Push for Ethics Laws That Do Not Depend on Shame". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  24. Cheney, Kyle. "Former lawmakers urge court to reject Trump effort to stymie Jan. 6 committee". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  25. Nadeau, Barbie Latza (2019-12-28). "Biden Says He Would Defy Impeachment Subpoena—Then Tries to 'Clarify'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  26. Aleem, Zeeshan (2019-12-28). "Joe Biden explains why he said he'd defy a subpoena to testify in the Senate impeachment trial". Vox. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  27. Epstein, Reid J.; Corasaniti, Nick (2021-10-06). "Why Democrats See 3 Governor's Races as a Sea Wall for Fair Elections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  28. Epstein, Reid J. (2020-05-24). "Trump Sows Doubt on Voting. It Keeps Some People Up at Night". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  29. "The election could be contested and last for weeks after Nov. 3. Here's what experts think journalists should know". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  30. "Opinion | Before 2024, we had better fix the election law failings we saw last year". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  31. "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  32. Burns, Alexander (2021-01-24). "How Democrats Planned for Doomsday". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  33. Corasaniti, Nick; Epstein, Reid J. (2021-06-19). "How Republican States Are Expanding Their Power Over Elections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  34. Berman, Ari. "14 GOP-controlled states have passed laws to impede free elections". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  35. Brownstein, Analysis by Ronald. "Analysis: Election deniers want to control the 2024 election. And they're getting closer". CNN. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  36. Jackson, David. "Voter 'subversion': Trump Republicans push laws to make it easier to change elections, per report". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  37. "33 state legislatures have introduced bills that would interfere in election administration, new report says". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  38. "Nonprofit's Free App Flags Suspicious Changes to Voter Rolls". GovTech. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  39. "Securing the Midterms: Smarter Tools Watch Over Voter Records". GovTech. 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  40. "Could libel lawsuits squash misinformation?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  41. Kroll, Andy (2021-12-24). "Election Workers Sue Giuliani for Peddling B.S. About Them". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  42. Epstein, Reid J. (2021-12-02). "Two Election Workers Targeted by Pro-Trump Media Sue for Defamation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  43. "2 Georgia poll workers sue Giuliani, OAN over election conspiracy theories". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  44. Hasen, Rick. ""Protect Democracy Joins Defamation Suit Against Project Veritas: Right-Wing Group Maliciously Lied About a PA Postmaster In the Aftermath of 2020 Election" | Election Law Blog". Retrieved 2022-09-21.
  45. Cheney, Kyle. "Police officer lawsuits pile up against Trump over Jan. 6". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  46. "Another U.S. Capitol Police officer sues Trump for damages from Jan. 6". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  47. Sneed, Katelyn Polantz,Marshall Cohen,Tierney (2022-02-18). "Judge says Trump could be culpable for January 6 and says lawsuits against the former President can proceed | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  48. "Opinion | Why Alexander Vindman's Trump White House lawsuit matters". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  49. "Trump's Son Sued by Ukraine Whistleblower for Retaliation (3)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  50. Rodriguez, Jesus. "Lawsuit seeks to bar Kemp from counting votes in Georgia governor's race". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  51. "Midterms 2018: Voters Ask a Federal Judge to Bar Brian Kemp from Counting Ballots in Georgia". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  52. Holden, Dominic. "Republican Gov. Rick Scott Was Just Sued Over His Role In The Florida Recount". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  53. "Opinion | Judge slams Rick Scott for attacking elections". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  54. Wilson, Reid (2019-09-18). "Mississippi AG investigates his rival in governor's race". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  55. Kistler, Jessica Marsden and Cameron O. "Jim Hood's investigation into Tate Reeves violates basic tenet of fairness: Column". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
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