Democracy Defenders Fund

Me knowing I still have time to submit to The Future of Democracy Prize

Good news! We’re giving you two more weeks to empty your drafts and share your vision for U.S. democracy. You could win $1,000 honorarium and publication in a national anthology. FINAL DEADLINE: MAY 15. democracydefendersfund.org/future-prize

Take a U.S. service member who profited $400K on the capture of Maduro or the more than $2B wagers on the Iran War. When government decisions become financial contracts, it opens the door to corruption. npr.org/2026/04/23/nx-…

BREAKING: Bipartisan ethics lawyers urge the CFTC to ban prediction markets tied to government actions. These kinds of bets pose significant risks, including national security threats and insider trading. The CFTC must act. democracydefendersfund.org/prs/04.30.26-pr

@NormEisen Full statements regarding today’s Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais 👇 democracydefendersfund.org/prs/04.29.26-pr

Today, SCOTUS gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—erasing one of the most powerful tools protecting Black and brown voters from discriminatory maps and election practices. “A dark day for our country” — @NormEisen “Devastating and profoundly ahistorical” — Susan Corke

The law is clear: threats against civilian populations are prohibited. We're not letting this go unanswered. democracydefendersfund.org/prs/04.27.26-pr

BREAKING: We're demanding answers from the DOD about targeting decisions made during the Iran War — and asking the Inspector General to investigate whether those decisions violated DOD policy.

Earlier this year, we launched What We’ve Learned So Far, an analysis and summary of the limited tranche of files released and providing insight into what the DOJ had not yet produced: democracydefendersfund.org/epstein-files

The DOJ’s own watchdog launched an audit into failed handling the Epstein files, including redactions and post-release concerns (like revealing names of survivors who were supposed to be protected). Pressure is working.

7 days left to submit to The Future of Democracy Prize! Share your vision about where democracy goes from here—and you could win $1,000 and publication in a national anthology. Written and artistic ideas welcome. Deadline to submit: April 30! Learn more:democracydefendersfund.org/future-prize

We stand by SPLC. Read the full statement from bipartisan WH ethics officials, @NormEisen @RWPUSA and Virginia Canter here: democracydefendersfund.org/prs/04.22.26-pr

Trump’s DOJ indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center—a legendary civil rights organization—for paying informants to expose hate groups and prevent violence. The DOJ and FBI used to work with SPLC on countering extremism. Now they’re prosecuting them for it.

When civil rights groups like SPLC are targeted and intimidated, we are all less safe. It's no surprise that a President who has offered clemency to Proud Boys and Oath Keepers would now go after nonprofits that monitor such dangerous extremist groups. theusconstitution.org/news/cac-relea…

Blanche now controls the release of records that could implicate his own conduct. That is a clear and unacceptable conflict of interest. Read our Executive Chair Amb. Norman Eisen’s full statement: democracydefendersfund.org/prs/04.21.26-pr

Acting AG Todd Blanche must recuse himself from the Epstein investigation immediately. It has been over 150 days since the Epstein Files Transparency Act became law. And DOJ is still withholding millions of pages.

This administration is trying to control who votes, how they vote, and whether their vote is counted. Our Deputy Director of Litigation Pooja Chaudhuri joined @DeanObeidallah to talk about what's at stake and how DDF is fighting back in court.

“The First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press means nothing if private concentrations of power can achieve the same suppressive effect as government censorship.” Journalist @katiephang testifies about how the Paramount-WMD merger poses a grave risk to press freedom.

Accountability works — and this is proof. Federal election officials have a duty to remain impartial, and DDF will keep holding them to that standard. Read the full article here: democracydocket.com/news-alerts/ch…

In Oct 2025, EAC Commissioner McCormick claimed Democrats "need the votes" of "illegal citizens." In December, DDF filed a Hatch Act complaint — now @DemocracyDocket reports McCormick's conduct is being investigated. Our Senior Policy Counsel Jonathan Barry-Blocker weighed in: