MEDIA CENTER
For general media and press inquiries, please reach out to us at press@democracydefenders.org
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND: TODD BLANCHE MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO REVIEW COMPLAINTS AGAINST HIMSELF
Press Release | June 16, 2026
Today, Democracy Defenders Fund called for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's recusal from the development of a proposed DOJ rule that would give the attorney general expanded power to review state bar ethics complaints against current or former DOJ lawyers, including those made against Blanche himself.
BLOCK THE MERGER COALITION: “THIS MERGER IS NOT A DONE DEAL, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK TO MAKE SURE IT NEVER IS.”
Statement | June 12, 2026
Following the news that Trump’s Department of Justice has approved the Ellisons’ bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, despite the economic, societal, and democratic harms the Paramount Skydance-WBD merger poses, the Block the Merger coalition released the following statement.
NORM EISEN: HOUSE OVERSIGHT INQUIRY INTO DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND IS A “POLITICAL ATTACK MASQUERADING AS AN INVESTIGATION”
Statement | June 11, 2026
The following is a statement from Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, in response to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s inquiry into DDF:
U.K. COMPETITION AND MARKETS AUTHORITY LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION OF PARAMOUNT-WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY MERGER FOLLOWING DDF COMMENT
Press Release | June 10, 2026
The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority has launched a Phase I investigation into the pending Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger following a comment filed with the CMA by Democracy Defenders Fund.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND URGES CFTC TO INVESTIGATE POLYMARKET VIOLATIONS OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT TO PREVENT FRAUD AND INSIDER TRADING
Press Release | June 9, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund is calling on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to begin a formal investigation into whether Polymarket.com has violated its obligations under an existing settlement agreement with the agency and whether its conduct violates the Commodity Exchange Act.
NORM EISEN: TODD BLANCHE IS UNFIT TO SERVE AS ATTORNEY GENERAL
Statement | June 9, 2026
Following is a statement from Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, regarding Trump’s nomination of his former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to serve as attorney general:
DDF URGES U.K. COMPETITION AND MARKETS AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE PARAMOUNT-WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY MERGER OVER HARM TO INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MARKET, FREE PRESS
Press Release | June 3, 2026
Today, Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) filed a comment with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) calling for an in-depth Phase II investigation into the pending Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The merger raises public interest concerns like a threat to free expression and media pluralism that the U.K. Secretary of State needs to investigate.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND SUES FBI FOR RECORDS ON KASH PATEL’S TAXPAYER-FUNDED OLYMPICS TRIP
Press Release | June 3, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund sued the FBI after the agency failed to release records about FBI Director Kash Patel’s February 2026 trip to Italy and the Winter Olympics. The records could shed light on whether Patel used taxpayer resources for personal travel.
“THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING”: GROUPS OPPOSING MERGER WARN 60 MINUTES FIRINGS MARK WHAT’S TO COME FOR CNN IF MERGER APPROVED
Press Release | June 2, 2026
Last week, David Ellison and Bari Weiss escalated their efforts to remake CBS to President Trump’s liking, firing 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, executive producer Tanya Simon, correspondent Cecilia Vega, and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich. The actions have received widespread criticism, including from 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, who accused Weiss of “murdering” the program. The escalation comes as over 200 journalists, academics, and filmmakers signed a letter highlighting the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger’s threat to free speech and independent journalism, and an opposition campaign among the film and entertainment industry grew to over 5,500 strong.
FORMER DOJ PROSECUTORS URGE COURT TO BLOCK ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND TIED TO JANUARY 6 INSURRECTION CASES
Press Release | June 2, 2026
Two former DOJ prosecutors filed a lawsuit yesterday, asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to halt the creation of the nearly $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. The plaintiffs, Michael Gordon and Michael Romano, are represented by Democracy Defenders Fund; Platkin LLP; Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom LLP; and the Washington Litigation Group and are former prosecutors in the DOJ’s Capitol Siege Section.The lawsuit argues that the Anti-Weaponization Fund violates multiple laws and constitutional provisions, including the First Amendment, the Appointments Clause, the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, and the separation of powers.
ELECTION OFFICIALS AND EXPERTS WARN SUPREME COURT THAT ALABAMA’S EMERGENCY MAP CHANGE WOULD CREATE A ‘LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE’
Press Release | June 1, 2026
A bipartisan coalition of current and former election officials and experts filed an amicus brief today urging the Supreme Court to deny Alabama’s request to upend the current election by allowing them to change congressional maps. The coalition warns that Alabama election officials would face unprecedented and extraordinary challenges in administering the election if forced to implement a different map. Such a move will almost certainly lead to widespread confusion, substantial mistakes in voter reassignments and votes of eligible voters not being counted.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND AND WASHINGTON BALTIMORE NEWS GUILD TO ARBITRATE WRONGFUL TERMINATION OF WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST KAREN ATTIAH
Press Release | June 1, 2026
The Washington Baltimore News Guild and Democracy Defenders Fund will proceed to arbitration on June 4 challenging the wrongful termination of Karen Attiah, former global opinions editor and columnist at The Washington Post. Attiah served the Post for 11 years with an unblemished disciplinary record. Under the Post Guild Collective Bargaining Agreement, bypassing progressive discipline requires proof of “gross misconduct” — a threshold management cannot meet.
DOL'S PROPOSED 401(K) CRYPTO RULE COULD BE A BOON FOR THE PRESIDENT AND A HUGE RISK FOR EVERYDAY PEOPLE’S RETIREMENT SAVINGS
Press Release | May 29, 2026
A proposed Department of Labor rule would put ordinary people's retirement security at risk by loosening investor standards and establishing a so-called “safe harbor” for retirement plan managers (ERISA plan fiduciaries) to invest in volatile digital assets, a decision tainted by the president’s deep financial ties to the crypto industry, Democracy Defenders Fund said today.
ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST PAM BONDI ALLEGES PATTERN OF SERIOUS MISCONDUCT AND WIDESPREAD VIOLATIONS OF DUTIES AS ATTORNEY GENERAL
Press Release | May 27, 2026
A comprehensive ethics complaint filed today against former Attorney General Pamela Bondi reveals her longstanding pattern of misconduct, threatening the rule of law and administration of justice. According to the complaint filed by Peggy A. Quince, retired Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, and joined by Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Lawyers for the Rule of Law and over 100 scholars and retired judges, Bondi’s actions violated the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct and fostered an environment of lawlessness inside the Department of Justice.
NEW DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND BRIEF: TRUMP’S LAWFARE AND WEAPONIZATION FUND IS A “DEEPLY DISTURBING AND ABNORMAL” ABUSE OF POWER
Press Release | May 20, 2026
Democracy Defenders Fund today published an issue brief warning that the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” established by President Trump and the DOJ–tied to his $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns–would be an unprecedented abuse of power and a violation of the Emoluments Clause. Worse, it would allow the president to funnel taxpayer dollars to his loyalists.
UAW JOINS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S “GOLD CARD” VISA PROGRAM
Press Release | May 19, 2026
The United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) joined a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s “Gold Card” visa program. The union joins the American Association of University Professors and six high-skilled visa applicants as plaintiffs in the case. The lawsuit argues that the administration is unlawfully selling priority access to visas Congress reserved for highly skilled workers, researchers, scientists, and other accomplished applicants. Democracy Defenders Fund represents the plaintiffs along with Public Citizen and Colombo and Hurd.
TRUMP’S SO-CALLED ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND IS A WEAPONIZATION OF EXECUTIVE POWER
Statement | May 18, 2026
President Trump and his family sued the IRS in January 2026 for $10 billion over the leak of Trump’s tax returns in 2020, during his first term in office. A judge raised questions about the legality of the suit, and now Trump’s DOJ has announced it will settle the case with him by creating a $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that would be used to compensate his allies who claim they were unfairly investigated during the Biden administration. Following is a statement by Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, regarding the settlement:
DDF: TIME TO BAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM PREDICTION MARKET WAGERS
Press Release | May 14, 2026
Amid escalating news reports that federal employees and anonymous traders are earning substantial sums making bets tied to anticipated government actions, Democracy Defenders Fund today petitioned the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to prohibit federal officers and employees from participating in prediction markets tied to official government actions.
DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND: THE IRS IS NOT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PERSONAL ATM
Press Release | May 13, 2026
Late Tuesday, news outlets reported that the Department of Justice is engaged in settlement talks over President Trump’s $10 billion claim against the IRS, increasing the probability that taxpayers will finance a substantial payout to the president and his family. The development comes just weeks after a federal judge signaled constitutional concerns with the case, questioning whether a president can sue the federal government while simultaneously serving as head of the executive branch that oversees it. The settlement may also result in the IRS dropping its audits of President Trump, his family members and businesses even though the underlying lawsuit was based on leaks by a government contractor. Following are statements from Democracy Defenders Fund:
174 FORMER JUDGES URGE D.C. CIRCUIT TO PROTECT JUDICIAL AUTHORITY AFTER HALTED CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS
Press Release | May 12, 2026
A bipartisan and international coalition of 174 former federal and state judges, with support from Democracy Defenders Fund, filed an amicus brief today urging the D.C. Circuit to reverse a panel decision to halt Chief Judge Boasberg’s criminal contempt proceedings after the Trump administration defied court orders.
PARAMOUNT-WBD MERGER OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN TOPS 5K NAMES AS CA AG BONTA SAYS MERGER “NOT A DONE DEAL”
Press Release | May 11, 2026
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.
VOTING RIGHTS GROUPS SUE TO STOP FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL MAP
Press Release | May 5, 2026
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.
EMERGENCY STAY SOUGHT IN LEGAL BATTLE OVER PUBLIC ACCESS TO EAST POTOMAC GOLF COURSE
Press Release | May 3, 2026
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.
BIPARTISAN ETHICS LAWYERS CALL FOR BAN ON PREDICTION MARKETS ON GOVERNMENT ACTIONS, CITING CORRUPTION, MANIPULATION, AND NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS
Press Release | April 30, 2026
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.