MEDIA CENTER
For general media and press inquiries, please reach out to us at press@democracydefenders.org
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.
COALITION OF UNIONS, PRESS FREEDOM ORGANIZATIONS, EDITORS AND JOURNALISTS WIN MAJOR VICTORY AS JUDGE RULES KARI LAKE’S USAGM APPOINTMENT ILLEGAL, CANCELS MASS FIRINGS AT VOA
Press Release | March 8, 2026
In a major victory for federal workers, this weekend, D.C. federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Kari Lake had illegally served as Acting CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the agency overseeing Voice of America (VOA). The Court, granting a motion for summary judgment filed by labor unions, Press Freedom Organizations, editors and journalists, ruled that the actions taken by Lake since March of 2025 are legally void. That includes the August 29, 2025 reduction in force (RIF) eliminating the jobs of hundreds of Voice of America (VOA) employees. That RIF had previously been suspended by Judge Lamberth pending rulings by the Court, and thus all the employees targeted by the RIF have remained employed.
MORE THAN TWO DOZEN ADVOCACY GROUPS CALL FOR STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL TO BLOCK PARAMOUNT-WARNER BROS. MERGER
Press Release | March 6, 2026
More than two dozen advocacy groups representing millions of Americans are calling on state attorneys general to immediately investigate and use appropriate legal authorities to block Paramount Skydance Corp.’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
BIPARTISAN GROUP OF MORE THAN 180 FORMER FEDERAL AND STATE JUDGES EXPRESS CONCERN THAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS DEFINING THE COURT’S FAVORABLE EMERGENCY ORDERS AS SETTLED LAW
Press Release | March 5, 2026
A bipartisan coalition of more than 180 former federal and state judges has filed an amicus brief today warning that the government is trying to transform the Supreme Court's emergency orders into settled law, a move that the former jurists say threatens the independence of lower courts and the rule of law.
FIRED PARDON ATTORNEY ASKS COURT TO REJECT DOJ’S BID TO END LAWSUIT
Press Release | March 3, 2026
Elizabeth G. Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney who sued the Department of Justice last year for unlawfully withholding records related to her abrupt dismissal, today asked a federal court to reject DOJ’s motion for summary judgment and instead to order full compliance with federal transparency laws. Ms. Oyer is represented by Democracy Defenders Fund and Jeffrey S. Gutman, PLLC.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND DEMANDS INVESTIGATION INTO APPOINTMENT OF JARED KUSHNER AS SPECIAL ENVOY FOR PEACE
Press Release | March 3, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) today requested that the U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General investigate the appointment of Jared Kushner as Special Envoy for Peace and any actions he has taken in that role. The complaint alleges that Kushner’s appointment likely violates the anti-nepotism statute and creates grave and unprecedented conflicts of interest given that Kushner’s company, Affinity Partners, has received billions of dollars in investments from countries in the Middle East.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND FILES FOIA REQUEST ON KASH PATEL’S TAXPAYER-FUNDED OLYMPICS TRIP
Press Release | February 27, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund today filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records related to FBI Director Kash Patel’s February 2026 trip to Italy, including his attendance at the Winter Olympics.
PLATKIN LLP AND DDF DEMAND INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP FAMILY PROFITING NEARLY $200 MILLION OFF ABRUPT ADMINISTRATION POLICY REVERSAL
Press Release | February 23, 2026
Platkin LLP and Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) today sent a formal letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce demanding an immediate investigation into whether the Trump Administration approved the export of advanced AI chips to G42, a state-backed UAE company, in exchange for a $500 million investment in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.
LEGAL GROUPS REPRESENTING PLAINTIFFS FILE SUPREME COURT BRIEF SUPPORTING CORE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
Press Release | February 19, 2026
Legal organizations representing a class of all babies who would be subject to President Trump’s harmful, unconstitutional, and unlawful executive order restricting birthright citizenship filed their Supreme Court merits brief today outlining the myriad reasons the court should strike down the order once and for all.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND SUES FBI OVER REFUSAL TO RELEASE HOMAN INVESTIGATION RECORDS
Press Release | February 17, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the agency’s refusal to release records regarding its abruptly concluded investigation of Tom Homan’s alleged pay-to-play corruption. DDF sought all records related to the investigation, including original and unedited audio recordings, video footage, and photographs taken or collected in connection with his communications with FBI agents concerning promises to provide government contracts. As the administration’s “Border Czar,” Homan oversees policies affecting millions of people and billions in federal spending.
NEW DDF COMPLAINT: DOJ'S ATTEMPT TO SEIZE VOTER ROLLS IN MINNESOTA IS AN ABUSE OF POWER
Press Release | February 13, 2026
Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Department of Justice (DOJ) officials may have engaged in misconduct and abused their authority when the department sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz demanding that Minnesota provide access to its statewide voter rolls, Democracy Defenders Fund said today in a complaint filed with DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
LEGAL CHALLENGE BROUGHT AGAINST EFFORT BY TRUMP-VANCE ADMINISTRATION TO STYMIE PUBLIC ACCESS TO EAST POTOMAC PARK, CREATE EXCLUSIVE GOLF COURSE FOR PRESIDENT
Press Release | February 13, 2026
The DC Preservation League and two local residents are taking legal action to protect East Potomac Park and its golf course, challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful and possibly hazardous dumping at the park as part of an effort to convert the public recreation space into an exclusive, high-end golf course. East Potomac Park is seen as a model for public golf courses in America, and is still the most used public golf course in Washington, D.C. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward Foundation, Lowell & Associates, and Democracy Defenders Fund.
DOJ CLAIMS FULL COMPLIANCE WITH EPSTEIN TRANSPARENCY ACT WHILE LIMITING ITS REVIEW OF RECORD
Press Release | February 6, 2026
The Department of Justice continues to violate the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) by overredacting information, withholding documents, and apparently now narrowing its document search while publicly claiming full compliance, Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) said today.
JUDGE CLEARS WAY FOR MUSK DEPOSITION OVER DISMANTLING OF USAID
Press Release | February 5, 2026
A federal court in Maryland denied efforts to prevent Elon Musk and others from being deposed by attorneys in the class action lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The case, which was the first asserting Musk’s actions violate the United States Constitution’s Appointments Clause, will now continue, including proceeding with discovery.