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]

According to Time Magazine, Protect Democracy is a “defender of America’s system of government against the threat of authoritarianism.”[4] The group includes progressives, moderates, and conservatives who have worked for Democratic and Republican elected officials.[5][6]

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.[7] The co-founders worked with Harvard University political scientist Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, who joined the group’s Board of Advisors.[8][9][10]

Bassin, a former White House associate counsel, serves as the executive director of Protect Democracy.[11]

Activities

Protect Democracy advocates for maintaining a strong separation between the White House and the Justice Department.[12] In 2020, Protect Democracy collected letters from hundreds of DOJ alumni, calling for former Attorney General William Barr to step down.[13][14] The group also claimed the Mueller report presented enough evidence to charge former President Donald Trump with obstruction of justice.[15]

Protect Democracy has criticized both Democrats and Republicans over resisting congressional oversight.[16][17] 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.[18] 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.[19] Biden eventually backed off his comments.[20]

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.[21][22][23] 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.[24][25][26]

Protect Democracy developed the software VoteShield, which uses publicly available data to track changes to voter rolls, identifying potentially suspicious irregularities.[27][28] The group also launched "Law for Truth," which uses defamation law to impose accountability on those who spread election disinformation.[29][30] Law for Truth has brought lawsuits on behalf of election workers in Georgia, who suffered online and offline threats to their safety due to false media stories about their alleged involvement in election fraud.[31][32]

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. "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  5. "Opinion | Here's how we'll recover from Trump". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  6. 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.
  7. "Emily Loeb, Jenner Partner and Co-Founder of Protect Democracy, Joins Biden DOJ". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  8. "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  9. 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.
  10. "How Democracies Die: US Democracy Three Years After Trump's Election". CornellCast. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  11. "What Might Accountability For President Trump Look Like?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  12. "Opinion | What authoritarians do: Attack the apolitical administration of justice". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  13. 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.
  14. "More than 2,000 former DOJ officials call on Attorney General William Barr to resign". ABC News. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  15. Dugyala, Rishika. "Former Justice employees urge Barr to resign". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  16. "Transcript: All In with Chris Hayes, 10/19/21". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  17. 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.
  18. Cheney, Kyle. "Former lawmakers urge court to reject Trump effort to stymie Jan. 6 committee". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  19. Nadeau, Barbie Latza (2019-12-28). "Biden Says He Would Defy Impeachment Subpoena—Then Tries to 'Clarify'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. "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.
  24. "Opinion | Before 2024, we had better fix the election law failings we saw last year". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  25. "Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration". Time. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  26. Burns, Alexander (2021-01-24). "How Democrats Planned for Doomsday". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  27. "Nonprofit's Free App Flags Suspicious Changes to Voter Rolls". GovTech. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  28. "Securing the Midterms: Smarter Tools Watch Over Voter Records". GovTech. 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  29. "Could libel lawsuits squash misinformation?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  30. Kroll, Andy; Kroll, Andy (2021-12-24). "Election Workers Sue Giuliani for Peddling B.S. About Them". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  31. 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.
  32. "2 Georgia poll workers sue Giuliani, OAN over election conspiracy theories". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
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