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For Immediate Release
April, 20 2021, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Natalia Pérez Santos, nperezsantos@afscme.org
AFSCME's Saunders Says Chauvin Verdict Sends Powerful Message, but the Struggle To Eradicate Systemic Racism Continues
WASHINGTON
AFSCME President Lee Saunders issued the following statement regarding the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd:
"Justice was served today in the State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin. After so many African American lives have been taken with impunity, this guilty verdict is an enormous relief and sends a powerful message. After a year of pain, trauma and tension in our communities, today's verdict is a reaffirmation that a badge is not a license to commit violent crime."But accountability for a single act of brutality does not solve the underlying crisis: deeply entrenched, structural, systemic racism that continues to poison every American institution and every aspect of American life. To address that problem, there is a lot of very difficult work ahead, work that AFSCME is committed to leading."As a union with a rich history of fighting for civil rights, and as a union with some 90,000 members who work in law enforcement, AFSCME believes effective policing and racial justice can and must go hand in hand. We support commonsense reforms - including additional resources for education, mental health and other social services without divesting resources from law enforcement - that allow the police to focus on violent crime, while other public service workers take the lead in solving other problems in the community."We cannot let today's verdict allow us to become complacent about the challenges we face. We have to do better. Black people in America are exhausted with fear and anxiety every single day. Today's verdict is appropriate punishment for a single crime. But to honor the memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Adam Toledo and so many others whose only 'crime' was being Black, we must work with greater effort and urgency than ever to bend the arc toward racial justice."
AFSCME members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations, AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families.
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'Lawyers Have Been Disbarred for Less': Ethics Complaint Skewers Former Trump AG Pam Bondi
“The attorney general has the awesome responsibility to set a national example of ethical behavior... From her first day as attorney general, Bondi did just the opposite."
May 27, 2026
The former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court filed an ethics complaint against former US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, accusing her of fostering an "environment of lawlessness" inside the Department of Justice.
The 23-page complaint, submitted to the Florida Bar, accuses Bondi, who was fired in April by President Donald Trump, of having "engaged in what appears to be serious professional misconduct" and violating her professional responsibilities during her time leading the DOJ.
The complaint was filed by Peggy Quince, who retired from the bench in 2019 after serving on the state's high court for two decades. She was joined by a group of legal ethics organizations, including the group Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD), where she now sits on the board. The complaint is also backed by over 100 legal scholars and retired judges.
"As the former chief justice of this state's highest court, there are key principles that we must protect," Quince said. "First, whatever legal position you have achieved, you are still bound to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct. All lawyers are alike in that regard, and no one lawyer is above the law. Second, the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court have a duty to ensure that lawyers adhere to all applicable rules. That should be the baseline minimum for this profession."
“The attorney general has the awesome responsibility to set a national example of ethical behavior—and to ensure that DOJ lawyers live up to that standard,” said James W. Conrad, Jr., an LDAD volunteer and a principal author of the complaint. “From her first day as attorney general, Bondi did just the opposite, personally and repeatedly violating ethical standards and coercing Department lawyers into violating their own professional responsibilities if they wanted to keep their jobs.”
Citing a memo she signed on her first day on the job directing DOJ employees to engage in "zealous advocacy" for the policy set by the "chief executive," the complaint accuses Bondi of having fostered a “fall-in-line-or-be-gone” attitude within the department that measured success only by serving the interests of Trump.
As a result, it said employees "were induced to engage in acts they were ethically forbidden from doing, under threat of suspension or termination—or were fired for not doing so."
The complaint highlights the DOJ's "blatant violations" of the Epstein Files Transparency Act by failing to release large numbers of files, and overredacting ones that referenced powerful individuals—including Trump—while exposing sensitive information about more than 100 alleged survivors of the sex offender's abuse, including nude photos of some.
Under Bondi's watch, the complaint also says DOJ lawyers violated an “unprecedented number” of binding court orders, particularly in cases related to the unlawful detention of immigrants.
It cites a list created by Patrick J. Schiltz, the Chief Judge of the US District Court for Minnesota, which found that during US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) "Operation Metro Surge," the agency had violated 96 orders in a single month. A tally from another judge in New Jersey found between 52 and 72 violations within just two months.
In these cases, where ICE ignored orders to provide legal hearings, release detainees, or not remove them from the district, the complaint said Bondi took “no apparent action” to make the agency obey the law.
The complaint also accuses Bondi of directing employees to bring cases against Trump's political and personal enemies without probable cause, in direct response to the president's political pressure.
It cites Bondi's appointment of the inexperienced prosecutor Lindsey Halligan as US attorney to go after figures hated by Trump, like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, after previous prosecutors balked at bringing charges due to lack of evidence. After Halligan's appointment was ruled to be improper, a judge threw out the indictments, though the DOJ has attempted to bring new charges.
A grand jury also declined the DOJ's attempts to bring felony charges against six Democratic congresspeople who made a video reminding members of the military that they could disobey unlawful orders issued by the president.
It also accuses Bondi's DOJ of attempting to hit anti-ICE protesters with vague and flimsy charges, like the man who was charged with felony assault for throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection Officer and was ultimately acquitted.
“Bondi repeatedly ignored her ethical obligations,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of anti-corruption and ethics at Democracy Defenders Fund, another group backing the complaint. “She was responsible for releasing sensitive information about Epstein victims, shielding documents in the Epstein files from the American public, violating court orders, and charging citizens for crimes without probable cause. This warrants an investigation and action—lawyers have been disbarred for less.”
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'Dirty Tricks' Operation Behind GOP-Aligned Super PAC With a Progressive-Sounding Name Exposed
The mysterious Lead Left super PAC has been meddling in Democratic congressional primaries across the US.
May 27, 2026
A super political action committee with a progressive-sounding but with Republican financial backers that has been meddling in Democratic primaries was further exposed Wednesday by independent journalist Judd Legum as a clear example of a “dirty tricks operation.”
Legum's new reporting on the funding behind a mysterious super PAC called Lead Left, which recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to benefit Maureen Galindo, a failed Democratic candidate for US Congress in Texas who has been broadly condemned for antisemitic rants.
According to Legum, Lead Left is linked to Republican operative Caleb Crosby, treasurer of the House GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) super PAC.
"Several pieces of evidence point to Crosby’s involvement," explained Legum. "First, of the roughly 48,500 distinct political committees that have filed with the FEC since 2016, only two others share an address with Lead Left — the Staples at 2241 North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. Both of those committees are connected to the Crosby Ottenhoff Group, the political compliance firm founded by Crosby.
1. Lead Left, a super PAC created on 4/24, purports to stand "against MAGA extremists."
It has spent $3M+ in Democratic primaries.
But it's funders and motivations have been secret.
Until now.
It's a GOP dirty tricks operation.
🧵
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 27, 2026
Legum also documented what he said were "substantial similarities" in messages run against Democratic candidates by both CLF and Lead Left.
"In Nebraska, the American Action Network, the affiliated non-profit of the CLF, sent mail and ran digital ads seeking to damage House Democratic candidate and John Cavanaugh by linking him to Trump," explained Legum. "Before the Democratic primary, Lead Left then ran television advertisements with a nearly identical message."
In addition to spending money to boost Galindo, who lost to Democratic rival Johnny Garcia on Tuesday by more than 20 points, Lead Left this month also spent over $1 million in an attempt to derail the candidacy of retired firefighter Bob Brooks, who last week won the Democratic congressional primary in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district and will now face off against incumbent Rep. Ryan MacKenzie (R-Pa.).
Elected Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have accused GOP-backed interests of funding Lead Left, which they say is misleadingly posing as a progressive organization to boost the prospects of fringe candidates and hurt the party's chance of retaking the House in 2026.
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Platner Opens Up 9-Point Lead Even After Pro-Collins PAC Spends Millions on Negative Ads
The University of New Hampshire poll also showed progressive candidate Troy Jackson tied for first in the Democratic Maine gubernatorial primary.
May 27, 2026
Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Maine, has opened up a nine-point lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, according to a poll released Wednesday by the University of New Hampshire.
In a head-to-head matchup, the poll shows Platner gaining 51% of the vote, compared to 42% for Collins (R-Maine).
A February UNH poll showed Platner with an 11-point lead over Collins, although that survey left Platner just short of getting 50% of voters.
In 2020, polls universally showed Collins trailing against Democratic nominee Sara Gideon, although those same polls also rarely showed Gideon reaching or exceeding the 50% threshold.
The UNH poll is the second major poll released since Platner's chief rival, Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign nearly a month ago. Last week, a Pan Atlantic Research survey showed Platner leading Collins by seven percentage points, an increase from a March survey that showed him leading by four points.
Platner's widening lead comes even as a super political action committee (PAC) supporting Collins has spent millions of dollars in negative ads against the presumptive Democratic nominee, criticizing posts he wrote on Reddit several years ago and his since-covered tattoo of a skull and crossbones resembling an insignia worn by Nazi soldiers.
Semafor politics reporter Dave Weigel argued that the latest polls appear to show that Maine voters "have processed that [Platner is] the Bad Posts and Tat guy already," and are still supporting his campaign.
Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim similarly observed that the latest bad poll for Collins came "after the GOP threw their best... oppo at Platner."
The poll also showed progressive gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, the former president of the Maine state Senate, was tied in the primary race with former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah; both had the support of 28% of respondents.
The same poll showed in February that Jackson was in third place, behind Shah and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
Like Platner, Jackson has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and has run a campaign focused on issues affecting working Mainers. Platner said at a rally this week that he had ranked Jackson first on his ballot during early voting in Maine, which uses ranked choice voting.
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