MEDIA CENTER

The opposition campaign launched last month against the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is now over 5,000 members strong as California Attorney General Rob Bonta says “red flags are everywhere” regarding the transaction. The groundswell of support, including thousands of film and entertainment industry union members, more than 75 Oscar winners and nominees, and a hundred of the most influential actors and directors, proves that this merger is not a done deal. Jason Alexander, Tim Robbins, W. Kamau Bell, and Lucy Fisher are among some of the most recent notable names to sign on to the letter opposing the merger and supporting action by state attorneys general to stop it.

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Florida, and the League of United Latin American Citizens, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and Democracy Defenders Fund, filed a lawsuit today in the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County to stop the new Florida Congressional map. The lawsuit argues the new map specifically violates the Fair Districts Amendments, which prohibit the state legislature from drawing maps that favor one political party. 

The DC Preservation League and two local residents are seeking an emergency court intervention to stop the Trump-Vance administration from irreparably destroying a priceless piece of American history as it seeks to convert a public recreation space into an exclusive, high-end golf course. Democracy Forward, Lowell & Associates and Democracy Defenders Fund represent the plaintiffs.

Legal ethics experts submitted a formal comment to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission today, urging the agency to take decisive action to restrict prediction markets tied to official government actions. The letter, addressed to the CFTC in response to the Commission’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on prediction markets, calls for a clear prohibition on event contracts linked to federal government decisions, along with stronger safeguards against manipulation and abuse, citing risks of insider trading, market manipulation and corruption.

Following are statements from Democracy Defenders Fund regarding today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais.

Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) today filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records related to possible illegal targeting decisions made during the Iran War and separately asked the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General to investigate potential violations of Department of Defense policies related to these decisions.

In three separate filings to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) this year, Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) called for an audit of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) handling of the Epstein files release for over-redacting and withholding responsive documents, limiting the scope of its review, modifying documents after release without notice or accountability, and failing to adhere to its legal obligations for transparency around the release. The following is a statement by Chris Swartz, senior ethics counsel for DDF, regarding the Office of Inspector General's decision to conduct an audit regarding the DOJ's release of the Epstein files:

A list of more than 4,000 signees that includes thousands of film and entertainment industry union members, more than 75 Oscar winners and nominees, and a hundred of the most influential actors and directors are making it known: the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is not a done deal. The opposition campaign, which quadrupled in size ahead of today’s Warner Bros. shareholder vote, shows that the “growing push to kill WarnerMount is very real.”

Following is a statement by Norman L. Eisen, former special counsel to President Barack Obama; Richard W. Painter, former associate counsel to President George W. Bush, and Virginia Canter, former associate counsel to Presidents Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton:

Following is a statement by Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, on the continued failure of the Trump administration’s Department of Justice to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In recent weeks, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has made clear he does not intend to comply with the legislation signed into law five months ago.

DDF filed a complaint calling on Department of Homeland Security ethics officials to take corrective action to address Secretary Markwayne Mullin's potential violations of federal ethics and financial disclosure laws.

Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's recent termination should not negate oversight into how the department may have squandered up to $220 million in taxpayer dollars on sole-source advertising contracts riddled with potential conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and possible violations of federal ethics and procurement laws, Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) said today.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A New York federal district court judge has ordered the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to release the names of the DOGE agents involved in the illegal disclosure of personnel records.

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.

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 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.

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