We, the undersigned conservatives, stand united against unconstitutional violations of privacy and free speech perpetrated by Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz throughout their respective political careers against Americans who speak out in favor of conservative principles. We reject efforts to silence speech and weaponize the government against conservative advocacy groups and their donors. To that end, we recommit our support for the robust nonprofit donor privacy protections and First Amendment principles affirmed in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions, NAACP v. Alabama and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) v. Bonta, as a bulwark against future transgressions from a potential Harris-Walz Administration.
The freedom to privately join with like-minded Americans in groups that promote shared beliefs has been vital to the success of the conservative movement. In today’s era of cancel culture, biased media, political violence, and growing political divides, these rights are even more essential. To safeguard free speech against the political establishment, every citizen must be free to privately support ideas and causes they believe in.
Though each signatory is dedicated to a unique individual mission, we are united in the belief that free speech and personal privacy are keystone conservative values. These rights empower conservative organizations to effectively advance their missions with confidence that their members and supporters are protected from elected officials who might misuse the levers of government to target and censor political and ideological opponents. Recent history has demonstrated a concerted effort from Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to weaponize government power to silence conservatives. Examples abound, including the following:
- As California Attorney General, Kamala Harris carelessly exposed the confidential donor lists of thousands of nonprofits to the public on a government website, after threatening fines and demanding groups turn over their highly sensitive information for no clear law enforcement purpose. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately determined that her actions violated the First Amendment. Nonetheless, Harris’s scheme set a precedent for other autocratic Democrat state officials to follow, with the New York attorney general similarly leaking the donor list of a conservative nonprofit to progressive activists, and the California Department of Justice exposing applicants for concealed carry permits.
- Furthermore, Kamala Harris used her office as attorney general to silence a pro-life journalist working undercover to expose Planned Parenthood’s selling of human fetuses. Rather than direct an investigation into allegations against Planned Parenthood, Attorney General Harris criminally charged the pro-life journalist for exposing the scheme.
- During the Biden-Harris Administration, a politically-motivated leaker stole and exposed confidential tax returns belonging to thousands of Americans, including President Donald Trump. The Biden-Harris Department of Justice charged the leaker with only one felony count, shocking the judge who heard the case.
- In 2022, Vice President Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the irresponsibly-named Inflation Reduction Act. The law authorized the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents to surveil Americans’ financial records. Within nine months of the law’s enactment, the IRS instituted a practice of unannounced field visits where IRS agents visit an unsuspecting taxpayer’s home. Journalist Matt Taibbi, a critic of the Administration, was among the victims. In another incident, an IRS agent used a fake name to enter an individual’s home under false pretenses, then threatened the homeowner when asked to leave.
- As part of a Biden-Harris agenda to ostensibly tackle threats from “domestic terrorists,” the FBI placed Catholic churches on a domestic extremism watchlist. The FBI field office in Richmond, Virginia interviewed a priest and choir director and placed a parishioner under investigation. The Biden-Harris FBI specifically targeted Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists.
- As Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz signed into law one of the country’s most extreme nonprofit donor disclosure mandates, modeled after Congressional Democrats’ H.R. 1 abomination. The law empowers an unaccountable board of government bureaucrats to require any nonprofit in Minnesota that speaks on public issues to disclose their donors at the agency’s discretion.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Walz established a hotline for radical activists to report citizens for defying his draconian shutdowns. The hotline modeled reporting mechanisms established by Communist governments in the Soviet Union and China to place “enemies of the state” on a government watchlist.
The left’s attempts to intimidate conservative Americans are growing increasingly brazen. These examples demonstrate a blatant disregard for the civil liberties of their political opponents and suggest that a Harris-Walz Administration will gleefully weaponize the powers of the state against their critics.
In this environment, nonprofit donor disclosure mandates are designed specifically to place a target on the backs of conservative organizations and their members and supporters. If allowed to stand, these policies will create a chilling effect on free speech that will silence conservative voices and vacate the marketplace of ideas, allowing progressive orthodoxy to dominate.
We reject this dystopian future. We will not be cowed into silence. We will fight every attempt to infringe upon our liberties from any corner of the establishment, left or right. We will continue to speak our minds, organize our communities, and hold our leaders accountable.
All Americans have the right to freely support ideas and causes they believe in without fear of retribution, harassment, and intimidation from a weaponized government or radical activists. We call for protecting privacy in charitable giving by committing to and upholding the principles of freedom of association, nonprofit donor privacy, and freedom of speech.
- Freedom of Association: We value the freedom to associate with like-minded individuals without unnecessary government interference. NAACP v. Alabama established and AFPF v. Bonta reaffirmed the right of Americans to join advocacy groups and support causes they believe in, free from invasive disclosure mandates.
- Privacy Protection: We cherish the right to control our personal information and shield it from unwarranted government intrusion. In AFPF, the Supreme Court struck down then-Attorney General Harris’s scheme to compel disclosure of the identity of nonprofit members and supporters, safeguarding an individual’s right to privacy and freedom from harassment or intimidation.
- Individual Expression: We champion the right of individuals to speak their minds without fear of government reprisal. The chilling effect of nonprofit donor disclosure diktats stifles dissent and limits Americans’ ability to hold their elected officials accountable.
Together, we commit to protect the legacy of free speech and personal privacy for generations to come.
Sincerely,
Lawson R. Bader
DonorsTrust / Donors Capital Fund, President & CEO
The Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell
Former State Treasurer, Ohio
Wendy Damron
Palmetto Promise Institute, President & CEO
Brian Hawkins
People United for Privacy, Senior Director of External Affairs
Thomas H. Jones
American Accountability Foundation Action, President
Andrew Langer
Institute for Liberty, President
Steven M. Mairella
Young Americans for Liberty, General Counsel
Jenny Beth Martin
Tea Party Patriots Action, Honorary Chairman
Nicole Neily
Parents Defending Education Action, Executive Director
Lisa B. Nelson
ALEC Action, Chief Executive Officer
Grover Norquist
Americans for Tax Reform, President
Ron Pearson
Pearson and Pipkin, Inc., President
Thomas Pyle
Institute for Energy Research, President
Terry Schilling
American Principles Project, President
Jon Schweppe
American Principles Project, Policy Director
Kris Ullman
Eagle Forum, President
Media Contact: Kate Brown, (202) 213-7051, [email protected]