SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
September, 24 2008, 10:47am EDT
Contact:
Bryan Fisher or Linda Paris, (202) 675-2312 or
media@dcaclu.org
ACLU Commends House Oversight Hearing on Department of Justice's Plan for 2008 Election
Today
the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the
House Judiciary Committee and the Elections Subcommittee of the House
Administration Committee are scheduled to hold a joint hearing,
entitled "Federal, State and Local Efforts to Prepare for the
2008 Election." As part of this hearing, Grace Chung Becker, Acting
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice, will testify. Recently, Attorney General Mukasey told voting
rights advocates that there was no greater priority in the next two
months for DOJ than to en
WASHINGTON
Today
the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the
House Judiciary Committee and the Elections Subcommittee of the House
Administration Committee are scheduled to hold a joint hearing,
entitled "Federal, State and Local Efforts to Prepare for the
2008 Election." As part of this hearing, Grace Chung Becker, Acting
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice, will testify. Recently, Attorney General Mukasey told voting
rights advocates that there was no greater priority in the next two
months for DOJ than to ensure a smooth election in November. To keep
this promise and to protect the fundamental right to vote, DOJ must be
prepared prior to Election Day with a comprehensive plan. The ACLU,
therefore, applauds this congressional oversight of DOJ's preparations
for the 2008 elections.
The following can be attributed to Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Legislative Counsel:
"Today's
hearing is critical to restoring public confidence in the 2008
election. In recent years, the Department of Justice has shifted the
focus of the Voting Section from its traditional role of protecting the
voting rights of minorities to partisan enforcement of election
laws. As examples of this change, this administration has litigated on
behalf of white voters in Noxubee, Mississippi, deemphasized minority
voter suppression and dilution cases, and supported restrictive voter
ID laws, which disproportionately impact minority, elderly, and
low-income voters. In addition, the 2004 election raised problems
unchecked by federal election officials, such as improper voter purges
and misuse of provisional ballots.
"Members
of Congress should question the Department of Justice about reports
that it has selectively enforced our nation's voting rights laws and
placed undue focus on questionable allegations of voter fraud. In this
ground-breaking election, the Voting Section should return to its
historic role of expanding access to the polls for all voters
regardless of race, national origin, language proficiency or
disability. Our democracy depends on the broadest possible base of
voter participation."
For more information, go to: https://www.aclu.org/votingrights/gen/36895leg20080923.html
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
(212) 549-2666LATEST NEWS
GOP Spends Big Against Working-Class Progressive Leading Democratic Primary in PA
"I think they're afraid of a working-class person," said firefighters union president Bob Brooks after a Republican PAC dumped $1 million to blunt his momentum in the Democratic Primary for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District.
May 19, 2026
Republicans are pulling out all the stops to prevent a working-class populist from snatching the Democratic nomination in the heart of Pennsylvania coal country on Tuesday and earning the right to challenge one of the GOP's most vulnerable incumbents, Congressman Ryan Mackenzie.
In the waning days of the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district, a deceptively named Republican-aligned political action committee (PAC) called Lead Left—created just weeks before—dumped $1 million into the race to run ads against Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter from Bethlehem and president of the largest firefighters' union in Pennsylvania.
Even in the GOP wave of 2024, the freshman congressman barely edged out the former Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, by about 4,000 votes. With Republicans' approval ratings collapsing nationwide, his seat in the Lehigh Valley has become one of the juiciest targets for Democrats in November.
“I think they’re afraid of a working-class person,” Brooks said of Republicans’ decision to spend against him in the primary during a speech in Allentown on Sunday. “I think they’ve been voting against us for years, and they’re gonna continue to do that. They don’t want to see a working-class guy run against their boy in the general."
"I've worked every job this side of the Mississippi—most of them two, three jobs at a time," said Brooks, who worked as a bartender, dishwasher, snowplow driver, landscaper, and many other jobs before the age of 30, according to his campaign website. "Ryan Mackenzie's never had one. He's gone from Harvard to the state House, straight to Washington. It's about time he fills out an application."
Brooks—who advocates a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All, a repeal of Citizens United, an increased minimum wage, and policies to strengthen unions—has pulled into a comfortable lead in the four-way primary, with help from a broad coalition of backers that spans the ideological field of the Democratic Party.
He's attracted the expected progressive support, including from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has described him as someone with "the guts to stand up to corporate greed and a corrupt political system," and the Working Families Party, which praised him as an exemplar of "real working-class leadership," noting that he “spent time in dozens of jobs before becoming a firefighter and running into burning buildings.”
But Pennsylvania's centrist Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was also among his earliest big-name supporters, even though his opponents boasted deeper institutional ties to the state's Democratic Party. At a rally for Brooks on Sunday, Shapiro described him as someone who "understands what real people are dealing with, isn’t afraid of anybody, and... can bring people together to get stuff done.”
His roster of prominent supporters runs deep and wide. He has the backing of a slew of local unions and local politicians. He's secured both left-wing stalwarts like Justice Democrats and the Congressional Progressive Caucus and conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog PAC. And he's being cheered by big-name Democrats ranging from Sen. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).
Brooks' broad appeal stands out at a time when Democrats have an opportunity to win back Rust Belt voters disillusioned as Trumpism decays into something without the barest figment of populist appeal.
Where Democrats would have once pushed for a reactionary Blue Dog or highly educated party lifer to run in a district like PA-07, Dustin Guastella, a research associate at the Center for Working Class Politics and the director of operations for Teamsters Local 623, described Brooks' surge toward the nomination over a trio of more credentialed insiders as a sign of a welcome shift in strategy.
"Working-class voters simply prefer blue-collar candidates. They like electricians and schoolteachers more than attorneys and executives. That’s because working-class candidates better speak to the economic challenges most workers face, and they do so in plain language," Guastella wrote in The Guardian on Tuesday.
"Brooks hasn’t had the privilege of a college education. He’s a veteran firefighter and now the head of the statewide firefighters union. His grandfather was a Teamster truck driver. He was raised by a single mother who worked as a bartender. He’s a varsity baseball coach at Nazareth High School," he said.
But Guastella noted that Brooks' appeal goes far beyond aesthetics. "How can progressives win back the working class? For those concerned with this question, populism has proven the obvious answer," he argued. He noted the success of other candidates in traditionally red constituencies like Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn, a former union leader, looks poised to unseat Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts on the back of a similar worker-focused platform.
"He’s got what it takes to flip this district," Guastella said of Brooks. "Which is why the Republican Party is already spending big money to influence the election. That’s frustrating, but it’s also a sign that Brooks is a real threat."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Citing 'Callous Disregard' of Hegseth, Top House Dem Does Not 'Trust' Pentagon Answers on Iran School Massacre
"Eighty days on, we have not taken responsibility for that attack," said Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
May 19, 2026
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee delivered a scathing rebuke to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership on Tuesday while asking questions about a February US military strike on an Iranian primary school in the city of Minab.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the mommittee, confronted Adm. Brad Cooper about the fact that the US still hasn't taken responsibility for the attack on the school, which killed more than 100 children, even though "it's really pretty clear what happened there."
"Eighty days on, we have not taken responsibility for that attack," Smith said. "The endless stalling—'It's being investigated, it's being investigated, it's being investigated.' In the past, when we've had these type of mistakes, they've been quickly acknowledged, even if a further investigation is necessary to figure out prevention methods. So can you, at this moment, acknowledge that that mistake was made?"
Cooper responded by emphasizing that the US "does not deliberately target civilians," while stating that the Iranian people are not "our enemy."
The first day of the Iran war saw the devastating bombing of an elementary school in Minab, killing 156 including 120 young children. The U.S. has not taken responsibility, even though an ongoing investigation implicated the U.S. months ago. This horrific crime cannot be swept… pic.twitter.com/OVEyNmNTzb
— NIAC (@NIACouncil) May 19, 2026
Smith was not satisfied with this, however, and pressed Cooper to answer whether the US takes responsibility for the attack on the school.
"The investigation is ongoing," Cooper said. "As soon as it's complete, I'm happy to..."
"So that's a no," Smith interjected. "We will not take responsibility for something we very obviously did."
"It's a complex investigation," Cooper replied. "The school itself is located on an active [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] cruise missile base. It's more complex than the average strike. As soon as we're complete, I'm fully committed to transparency."
Smith did not buy this explanation.
"I have an enormous amount of respect for you and an enormous amount of respect for the Pentagon," said Smith. "I do not trust that answer. What we've seen from this secretary of defense and his callous disregard for any sort of rules of engagement or protecting of civilian life, they make us suspicious."
Smith's grilling of Cooper earned praise from the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which said the bombing of the school "cannot be swept under the rug" by Hegseth and the Pentagon brass.
Hegseth during his tenure leading the US Department of Defense has repeatedly attacked rule of engagement as "stupid," while also authorizing a series of military strikes on purported drug-smuggling boats in international waters that many legal experts consider acts of murder.
During President Donald Trump's first term, when Hegseth was a Fox News host, he successfully lobbied the president to pardon members of the US armed forces accused or convicted of killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Height of Corruption': DOJ-Trump Settlement Now Says IRS Will Never Again Probe His or His Family's Taxes
"The White House is a 24/7 grift machine and we should not stop being outraged about this," said Sen. Chris Murphy.
May 19, 2026
Less than a day after a $1.77 billion settlement announced in President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service was denounced as "highway robbery" by one Democratic lawmaker, other members of Congress expressed disgust after it was reported that the taxpayer-funded deal had been updated by a top administration official to ensure the president and his family could potentially get away with defrauding the IRS in perpetuity.
A one-page document was posted on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) website early Tuesday morning, saying that under the settlement, the IRS is "forever barred and precluded" from prosecuting and pursuing any and all claims and other actions against Trump and his family members, regarding unpaid taxes.
The landmark judgement in a civil fraud case against Trump found that his two eldest son's were implicated in an extensive financial and tax fraud scheme along with the president.
The release specifically notes that it also applies to “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the settlement, which was Monday.
"The president is now exempt from our tax laws while everyone else has to obey them," said US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "Got it. It's just mind-blowing that is what's happening in America."
Politico reported on the document a day after 93 US House Democrats joined an amicus brief filed in Trump v. IRS, aiming to block the creation of a so-called "Anti-Weaponization Fund" as part of the deal for the president to drop his lawsuit against the tax agency, which he filed over a leak of his tax returns.
The "slush fund," as Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) called it, could be used to give monetary rewards to people convicted of felonies in connection with the January 6, 2021 attempted insurrection.
The one-page document that was attached to the settlement Tuesday was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
US Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called the preemptive and permanent blocking of any IRS enforcement against the Trump family "the height of corruption."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular