Tag: Free Speech for People

Ex-Trump Advisor Purged from Federal Elections Board After Left-Wing Pressure Campaign, Emails Show

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Attorney Cleta Mitchell

A federal agency did not reappoint a former Trump advisor to an elections advisory board after a left-wing activist group threatened to launch a public criticism campaign, according to emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who is now the senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute, was appointed to the advisory board for the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) in November 2021. After months of badgering United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) officials to oust Mitchell from the EAC board of advisors, Free Speech for People president John Bonifaz threatened to launch a “public campaign” criticizing the agency if it did not drop Mitchell at the end of her two-year term, emails obtained by the DCNF via public records request show.

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Minnesota Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking to Remove Trump from 2024 Primary Ballot

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The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential primary ballot in the state.

The court found that state law permits parties to do as they wish in the primary election, writing that “winning the presidential nomination primary does not place the person on the general election ballot as a candidate for President of the United States.” However, the court did not address the question at the center of the case: whether Trump is eligible for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies public officials who took an oath to the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.

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State Election Officials Say They Will Defer to the Courts on Removing Trump from 2024 Ballot

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Top election officials in multiple states have said they would defer to the courts on the question of removing former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot.

Lawsuits to remove Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars certain government officials who took an oath to the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” from holding office, have been filed in a number of states, including Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota. Democratic and Republican secretaries of state in places where lawsuits have been filed say this is a question the courts need to weigh in on, according to multiple reports.

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Top Democrats Back ‘Dangerous’ Legal Theory to Block Americans from Voting for Trump

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Two top Democrats backed on Sunday the theory that former President Donald Trump could be disqualified from running under the 14th Amendment, Axios reported.

Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California and Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia backed the idea that Trump could be blocked from the 2024 ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which maintains that anyone who “engaged in insurrection” cannot hold elected office, according to Axios. Free Speech For People, a Democratic-aligned group, also sent letters to secretaries of state in key 2024 states last week claiming Trump should be removed from the ballot.

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Left-Leaning Groups Seek to Intervene in Challenge to New Minnesota Law That Restricts Corporate Speech

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A left-leaning elections reform organization is representing a local group hoping to intervene in a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce lawsuit that’s challenging a new state law it says unconstitutionally restricts political speech of businesses.

On Friday, the Massachusetts-based advocacy group Free Speech For People, on behalf of Clean Elections Minnesota, filed a motion requesting to intervene in the Chamber’s federal lawsuit that contends a new law governing corporate speech unconstitutionally restricts the political speech of its members’ businesses who have minimal investment from foreign-based individuals and entities.

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Gosar, Biggs and Finchem Respond to Lawsuit from ‘Random Members of the Public’ Trying to Remove Them from Ballot for ‘Insurrection’

Rachel Alexander

An organization calling itself “Free Speech for People” filed lawsuits against three prominent Arizona Republican officials, asserting that they are unqualified to hold office due to their connections to the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuits aim to stop Rep. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.) and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-03-Ariz.) from running for reelection, and State Rep. Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) from running for Arizona Secretary of State, claiming the three engaged in “insurrection” which is prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment. 

Jack Wilenchik, the attorney for Finchem, told The Arizona Sun Times, “The lawsuit is long on publicity but short on law. No convictions or congressional authority for suit.” He told Capitol Media, “We don’t allow random members of the public to accuse politicians of a crime and remove them from office.” He explained how it would open the floodgates for anyone to try and remove any elected official they disagreed with, from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton.

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