MEDIA CENTER
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DDF FILES LAWSUIT OVER ADMINISTRATION’S REFUSAL TO RELEASE DOCUMENTS ON GOLD CARD VISA PROGRAM
Press Release | April 13, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund, in cooperation with Colombo & Hurd and public interest law firm, Free Information Group, filed a lawsuit today against the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, State, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, challenging the agencies’ failure to release documents relating to the Trump Administration’s Gold Card Program.
OVER 1,000 STARS & FILM/TV PROFESSIONALS LAUNCH OPPOSITION TO PARAMOUNT-WARNER MERGER
Press Release | April 13, 2026
Today, over 1,000 professionals across the film and television industry released an open letter declaring their opposition to the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The signatories include actors, filmmakers, documentarians, writers, and other professionals. They call out the economic, creative, and societal damage this merger would cause and declare support for action by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, fellow state attorneys general, and others to investigate and block this transaction.
TRADERS MADE MILLIONS ON SUSPICIOUSLY TIMED BETS ON VENEZUELA AND IRAN EVENTS. THIS WARRANTS AN INVESTIGATION.
Press Release | April 10, 2026
A pattern of suspiciously timed trades in futures and event-contract markets tied to major U.S. foreign actions and policy decisions has netted anonymous investors millions and warrants an immediate Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigation, Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) said in a letter filed today.
PLATKIN LLP AND DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND URGE SEC TO INVESTIGATE ALT5 SIGMA CORPORATION OVER POTENTIAL SECURITIES VIOLATIONS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Press Release | April 9, 2026
Platkin LLP, a mission-driven law firm founded by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin joined Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF), a nonpartisan watchdog organization that fights corruption and abuses of power, in urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to open an investigation into ALT5 Sigma Corporation (“ALTS”) over potential violations of federal securities laws. The letter to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins lays out serious compliance failures, governance breakdowns, and troubling financial ties between ALTS and World Liberty Financial (WLF), a crypto venture linked to President Donald Trump, his family, and his close associates.
STATEMENT ON CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT ORDER HALTING SHERIFF BIANCO'S BALLOT SEIZURE PROBE
Statement | April 8, 2026
Following is a statement by Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, regarding the California Supreme Court's order directing Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to pause his probe into the election ballots he seized earlier this year.
BIPARTISAN GROUP OF FORMER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE THIRD CIRCUIT TO DISMISS CHARGES AGAINST REP. LAMONICA MCIVER
Press Release | April 6, 2026
A bipartisan group of former members of Congress today filed an amicus brief urging an appeals court to dismiss the indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., arguing that the charges stem from constitutionally protected legislative oversight.
129 FORMER JUDGES CALL ON BLANCHE TO WITHDRAW BONDI RULE SHIELDING DOJ PROSECUTORS FROM ETHICS OVERSIGHT
Press Release | April 6, 2026
A bipartisan coalition of 129 former federal and state judges along with Democracy Defenders Fund and Lawyers Defending American Democracy today called on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to withdraw a proposed Department of Justice rule that would give his office unprecedented power to override state ethics investigations for DOJ attorneys.
SEVEN MONTHS LATER, ETHICS OFFICE STILL HASN'T SIGNED OFF ON TRUMP ENVOY STEVE WITKOFF'S FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES
Press Release | April 3, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund on Thursday obtained United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s public financial disclosure report from the Office of Government Ethics. The report remains uncertified more than seven months after Witkoff filed the report, a red flag that at a minimum suggests unresolved conflicts of interest.
SECOND UNLAWFUL ANTI-VOTER EXECUTIVE ORDER CHALLENGED BY VOTING RIGHTS COALITION
Press Release | April 2, 2026
Campaign Legal Center and Democracy Defenders Fund sued the Executive Office of the President — alongside members of the president’s Cabinet and select federal agencies — on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Secure Families Initiative and Arizona Students’ Association. The complaint asserts that the most recent executive order on elections unconstitutionally violates the separation of powers and exceeds the president’s legal authority by attempting to limit access to mail-in voting and threatening the freedom to vote for millions of Americans.
SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS WRAP IN LANDMARK CHALLENGE TO TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER
Press Release | April 1, 2026
The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in Trump v. Barbara, a nationwide class action brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and the Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of children who would be denied citizenship under an executive order issued by President Trump.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND, LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE SUE DHS AND ICE OVER REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION APPS
Press Release | April 1, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, with assistance from public interest law firm Free Information Group, filed a lawsuit today against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for violating the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to release records about their use of invasive facial recognition mobile apps known as Mobile Fortify and Mobile Identify. The groups requested information showing how the apps are used, what data they collect, and what the government does with that information. The agencies ignored legal deadlines and failed to produce a single record.
COURT DELAYS THE REINSTATING OF VOICE OF AMERICA STAFF WHILE THE CASE PROCEEDS
Press Release | March 31, 2026
A federal court granted the Trump-Vance administration’s request to pause the effects of its order requiring the U.S. Agency for Global Media to bring Voice of America (VOA) staff back to work, allowing employees to remain on administrative leave for now, while the case proceeds
STATEMENT FROM NORM EISEN, JUAN PROANO, AND DANIELLE LANG IN RESPONSE TO ELECTION EXECUTIVE ORDER
Statement | March 31, 2026
Following is a statement by Norman Eisen, executive chair at Democracy Defenders Fund, Juan Proaño, chief executive officer, and Danielle Lang, vice president of voting rights & rule of law at Campaign Legal Center, in response to a White House executive order that would interfere in elections by creating federal lists of citizens and requiring the postal service to send ballots only to those on the lists.
DDF FILES LAWSUITS OVER WITHHELD RECORDS IN TOM HOMAN CORRUPTION PROBE
Press Release | March 30, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund, in cooperation with public interest law firm, Free Information Group, filed two lawsuits today against the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security challenging the agencies’ failure to release records related to allegations that Tom Homan accepted a bribe.
DEPORTED LAST YEAR TO A SALVADORAN PRISON IN DEFIANCE OF A COURT ORDER, ADRIAN RENGEL FILES SUIT SEEKING JUSTICE
Press Release | March 24, 2026
Neiyerver Adrián León Rengel, a Venezuelan national, was unlawfully detained, repeatedly denied due process, falsely imprisoned, and ultimately removed from the United States and sent to one of the world’s harshest prisons in El Salvador last year. Today, he filed a federal lawsuit describing a sweeping, dangerous pattern of misconduct by the Trump administration. He is seeking dat least $1.3 million in damages and is represented by Democracy Defenders Fund and Mariziani, Stevens & Gonzalez PLLC.
VOTING RIGHTS GROUPS MOVE TO INTERVENE IN DOJ LAWSUIT TO PROTECT OKLAHOMA VOTERS’ PRIVATE DATA
Press Release | March 23, 2026
Today, the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma, League of United Latin American Citizens, and Laiba Fatima, filed a motion to intervene in United States of America v. Ziriax, to defend Oklahoma voters from the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) attempts to force disclosure of private voter data.
VOICE OF AMERICA EMPLOYEES AND COALITION OF PRESS FREEDOM ORGANIZATIONS FILE NEW FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST USAGM AND KARI LAKE TO STOP ILLEGAL PRESS CENSORSHIP
Press Release | March 23, 2026
Today, following major federal court victories ordering the full reinstatement of the Voice of America and its oversight agency the United States Agency for Global Media, four VOA employees and three leading press freedom organizations filed a new federal lawsuit to stop ongoing censorship and prevent its future illegal use on news reporting at VOA. This new suit differs from the pending lawsuits to restore VOA insofar as its exclusive goal is to stop the Trump administration from making VOA little more than a propaganda outlet.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MUST DEMAND BONDI AND BLANCHE EXPLAIN DOJ’S CONTINUED FAILURE TO RELEASE ALL EPSTEIN FILES
Statement | March 18, 2026
Ahead of Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s appearance at today’s closed-door hearing with the House Committee on Oversight, Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, made the following statement.
BIPARTISAN COALITION OF 149 FORMER FEDERAL AND STATE JUDGES FILES BRIEF SUPPORTING ANTHROPIC’S SUIT AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Press Release | March 18, 2026
Nearly 150 former federal and state judges today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit supporting Anthropic’s legal challenge to the Department of Defense’s decision to designate the company as a “supply chain risk.”
ETHICS COMPLAINT TARGETS BORIS EPSHTEYN’S ALLEGED ROLE IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CAMPAIGN TO PRESSURE LAW FIRMS
Press Release | March 16, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and a coalition of law professors and retired judges have asked the Attorney Grievance Committee of the Supreme Court of the State of New York to investigate whether Boris Epshteyn violated the New York Rules of Professional Conduct while purportedly leading the Trump administration’s efforts to intimidate and silence major national law firms. The administration's efforts included intimidating and coercing lawyers and law firms through a series of punitive executive orders and memoranda issued against individual law firms, which led nine law firms to enter into settlement agreements with the administration to avoid these executive orders or to have them rescinded.
HOW POLITICAL INFLUENCE PROPELLED THE TRUMP FAMILY'S CRYPTO EMPIRE TO THE TOP AND DISRUPTED MARKETS
Press Release | March 11, 2026
A comprehensive new analysis, Political Capital: How the Trump Family’s Crypto Ventures Are Distorting the Market, from Democracy Defenders Fund and Lee A. Reiners, a lecturing fellow at Duke University, exposes how World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and its stablecoin, USD1, have disrupted the crypto market by leveraging a combination of political influence, foreign cash, and deregulatory actions.
PLATKIN LLP AND DDF SEEK REFUNDS OF UNLAWFUL IEEPA TARIFFS ON BEHALF OF SMALL BUSINESS
Press Release | March 11, 2026
Platkin LLP, a mission-driven law firm founded by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, and Democracy Defenders Fund, a nonpartisan watchdog organization that fights corruption and abuses of power, jointly filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the United States government over the collection of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND & PUBLIC CITIZEN DEMAND RESIGNATION OF COMMERCE SECRETARY HOWARD LUTNICK
Press Release | March 10, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund and Public Citizen today demanded the resignation of Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick following growing controversies concerning his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prior fraud allegations raised in an FBI whistleblower complaint regarding financial misconduct at Cantor Fitzgerald and potential ethical violations since he has taken office.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND SEEKS DOJ RECORDS ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S LEGAL BASIS FOR IRAN STRIKES
Press Release | March 9, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Legal Counsel seeking the release of any opinions related to the administration’s legal authority for the use of military force in Iran. The request comes following the administration’s unilateral initiation of major combat operations in Iran—resulting in the deaths of seven U.S. service members—despite Congress having the exclusive power to declare war.