BREAKING: Free Speech For People Sues Federal Election Commission for Failing to Investigate Trump and Trump Campaign’s Role in McDougal Hush Money Payoff Posted on June 14, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Challenging Corruption Washington, D.C.—Free Speech For People has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission for failing to investigate a $150,000 “hush money” payment made in 2016 to Karen McDougal, one of President Trump’s former mistresses, under federal campaign finance law. The investigation is necessary because, even after federal prosecutors have investigated some of the parties involved,Read More
Abusing the Pardon Power: From Joe Arpaio to the Latest Revelations About Trump’s Lawyer Posted on June 13, 2019 Challenging Corruption The connection between disgraced former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn may not be immediately obvious. But we predicted it in 2017. The New York Times recently reported that Special Counsel Mueller’s team uncovered a voicemail from Trump’s lawyer, John Dowd, to Flynn’s lawyer. The message isRead More
#ImpeachTrump: Act to Defend Democracy on June 15 Posted on June 7, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Impeachment We hope you can join us next Saturday, June 15, for a national day of action to demand an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. This is your opportunity to get involved directly in the fight to hold the president accountable to the law! As more members of Congress join the call for an impeachment inquiry,Read More
Free Speech For People and National Election Defense Coalition to U.S. Election Assistance Commission: Don’t Let Voting Machine Vendors Use Obsolete Standards Posted on June 7, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Election Protection Free Speech For People and the National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC) submitted a public comment to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission regarding the Commission’s proposed new voting system guidelines. These guidelines were last updated in 2005. Unfortunately, the Commission’s past practice has been that, after guidelines have been updated, voting machine vendors can still testRead More
BREAKING: New Hampshire Becomes the 20th State to Call for a Constitutional Amendment Overturning Citizens United Posted on June 6, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Democracy Amendments Today, the New Hampshire Senate voted to pass HB 504, a bill calling for an amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, which allowed unlimited money from wealthy and corporate donors to flood elections. The state Senate vote follows the March 19 approval of HB 504 by the state House ofRead More
Vote for Free Speech For People to receive a share of $150,000 from CREDO Mobile! Posted on June 3, 2019 (June 18, 2020) FSFP Updates Free Speech For People is honored to be selected to participate in the CREDO Donations Program for the month of June. Each month, CREDO selects three organizations to be featured by the donations program. CREDO Action members vote throughout the month to determine how to allocate $150,000 to the three organizations. Your vote for FreeRead More
Victory: Corporate Challenge to Contribution Ban Fails as U.S. Supreme Court Lets Massachusetts Decision Stand Posted on June 3, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Defending Key Reforms We recently celebrated a victory as the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear 1A Auto, Inc. v. Sullivan, a challenge to a Massachusetts state law banning corporate contributions to political candidates. Free Speech For People worked with Common Cause Massachusetts on an amicus brief in the state supreme court. The corporate challenge Massachusetts has prohibitedRead More
Our Case to End Super PACs Advances to the Federal Appeals Court Posted on May 30, 2019 (June 12, 2019) Today, we filed an early brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, the case that could end super PACs. The goal of the Lieu litigation is to give the D.C. Circuit, or the Supreme Court, the opportunity to overturn the D.C. Circuit’s 2010 SpeechNow decisionRead More
Court of Appeals Upholds Law Banning Political Spending in Local Elections by Foreign Nationals Posted on May 30, 2019 A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a challenge to a federal law banning political spending by foreign nationals in local elections. This law had been upheld by the Supreme Court with respect to federal elections, but this is the first decision applying it to state or localRead More
FSFP Welcomes Our New Summer Legal Advocacy Program Interns! Posted on May 29, 2019 (May 29, 2019) Free Speech For People is pleased to announce our summer 2019 Legal Advocacy Program interns! We appreciate the talent, time, and commitment to defending our democracy the new Legal Advocacy Program interns bring to the Free Speech For People team. Learn more about our new Legal Advocacy Program interns below! Justine Morris is a risingRead More