The National Lawyers Guild expressed pride in its long history of "defending those who challenge fascism" on Thursday as it responded to a demand by a Republican congressman who called on US Department of Justice to investigate the nearly 90-year-old legal advocacy group's alleged ties to "antifa"—which the federal government has acknowledged is not an organization—and accused it of "perpetrating violence."
The NLG said that Rep. Lance Gooden's (R-Texas) letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi was a "clear act of 'jawboning,'" in which "a member of Congress uses their position to chill the First Amendment rights of others and has no legitimate legislative purpose."
Gooden wrote to Bondi, copying FBI Director Kash Patel and Internal Revenue Service CEO Frank Bisignano, last week, saying the NLG and its network of nonprofit social welfare groups "maintain close ties with left-wing extremists and domestic terrorist organizations like Antifa."
The congressman suggested that the group's original goal of "fighting fascist oppression" when it was founded in 1937 was a worthy one—yet took issue with the NLG for "openly aligning itself" with antifa, which former FBI Director Christopher Wray said during the first Trump administration is an "ideology" rather than a "group or an organization."
"Antifa" is a portmanteau of "anti-fascist," and has no organizational structure or leaders. Anti-fascist ideologies are embraced by autonomous groups and individuals, including many who have protested against President Donald Trump's anti-immigration, anti-First Amendment agenda.
"Anti-fascists are those that refuse to stay silent as [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents disappear people off the streets," said the NLG in a recent post on Bluesky. "Anti-fascists are the Stop Cop City protesters, defending their communities from the expansion of police training grounds."
"We all know that this is not the first time the NLG has faced political attacks from the US government."
Gooden noted that Trump recently signed an executive order designating antifa as a "domestic terrorist organization"—a legal designation that doesn't exist in the US—and called on the DOJ to take "stringent action in accordance with President Trump’s terrorist designation," including potential "disbarment of the NLG’s member attorneys, revocation of 501 status and benefits, and bringing criminal charges as the administration deems necessary and appropriate."
The NLG pointed out that it is not the first progressive rights organization to be targeted by the Republican Party.
"Over the past couple of years, several left-leaning organizations have been targeted in similar letters, particularly groups that have been standing up against the genocide in Palestine. Essentially, a member of the US Congress or Senate will issue an incendiary letter against an organization and call for specific government agencies to investigate and, in some cases, issue criminal charges," said the group. "The NLG is taking this development seriously."
The threat against NLG comes as the Trump administration has levied multiple threats against left-wing organizers—both with his executive order and National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which mandates a government strategy "to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts.”
The guild's local chapters in Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Washington, DC have supported local movements as legal advocates since Trump began attempting to deploy federal immigration agents and the National Guard to the cities with the aim of carrying out his deportation campaign and stopping protests against his anti-immigration agenda.
Last week, the group expressed solidarity with the Prairieland Defendants, who held a noise demonstration outside Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas. The Trump administration has indicted the protesters, marking the first use of the president's terrorist designation of "antifa" to bring criminal charges against a group.
"We all know that this is not the first time the NLG has faced political attacks from the US government. Since our founding in 1937, NLG members have been at the frontlines of defending those who challenge fascism and have been the target of state repression. This is a history we are proud of," said the group.
The group's statement came new polling from Reuters/Ipsos showed that 55% of US adults believe the president is wrongly using federal law enforcement to "go after his enemies," including officials like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey as well as groups he disagrees with.
It also comes amid reporting that the FBI has begun questioning individual protesters about their involvement in anti-ICE demonstrations, according to journalist Ken Klippenstein.
"Under the domestic counterterrorism cases of the Trump administration, no crime needs to be actually committed for authorities to open an investigation," wrote Klippenstein. "In fact, NSPM-7 explicitly calls for a preemptive approach where law enforcement intervene in things 'before they result in violent political acts.' Attorney General Pam Bondi cited NSPM-7 in her own directive, ordering the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies to crack down on anti-ICE 'terrorism,' citing protests in front of ICE facilities specifically."
The NLG has provided legal advocacy at protests at ICE facilities in Chicago and Portland, documenting the actions of police and federal agents.
"The NLG will continue to speak out," said the group, "in support of activists and movements most targeted by state repression."
