New York, NY—Tomorrow, materials subpoenaed from The People’s Forum by the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee are due. The House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Jason Smith claims that the documents would help “expose how America’s tax laws and charitable sector may have been exploited to advance the CCP’s [Chinese Communist Party] influence operations inside the United States,” rhetoric that harkens back to the darkest days of the McCarthy era. Other organizations targeted by subpoena include Breakthrough News.
The below organizations issued the following joint statement:
“Freedom of speech and association are the bedrocks of our democracy. The House Ways and Means Committee’s investigation of The People’s Forum is part of a broader effort by the Trump regime and its minions in Congress to intimidate organizations whose speech they disagree with, and to threaten the very values that are essential to a free and open civil society. This subpoena is an effort to chill speech and association, taking a page straight out of the authoritarian playbook. It is designed to silence not just The People’s Forum but to suppress our collective voice of dissent. But it will fail. We will never stop fighting for our communities, our democracy, and for justice. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
Signed By:
198 Methods
32BJ SEIU
50501 NY
ACT UP
Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE)
Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
Albany Muslim Advocacy Coalition
Alliance for Quality Education
Alyssa Rodriguez Center for Gender Justice
American Civic Association
Arab American Association of New York
Arab-American Family Support Center
Art Against Displacement (AAD)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Bay Ridge Justice Collective
Brooklyn For Peace
Chhaya Community Development Corporation
Civic Roots Initiative
Clean Air Coalition of Western New York
Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR)
Cross-union Retirees Organizing Committee (CROC NYC)
Dignity in Schools Campaign of New York
EduColor
El Puente
EVLovesNYC
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Freedom To Thrive
Hands Off NYC
Immigrant Defense Project
Immigrant Solidarity Table
Immigration Advocates of NY, Inc.
IndivisibleADKSaratoga
Inwood Indivisible
IUPAT DC4
Jackson Heights Indivisible
Jewish Voice for Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace - NYC
Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice
Kaurage Inc
Kelly Price Counseling
Kolot Chayeinu/ Voices of Our Lives
Literacy Assistance Center
Mekong NYC
Muslim Community Network, Inc.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
New York Abortion Access Fund
New York City Democratic Socialists of America
New York Communities for Change (NYCC)
New York Immigration Coalition
NYIC Action
PEER: Progressive East End Reformers
Physicians for a National Health Program - New York Metro Chapter
Policing and Social Justice Project
Rainbow Collective of Western New York
Redstockings of the Women’s Liberation Movement
Refuge America
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP)
Rise and Resist
Sakhi for South Asian Survivors
Saratoga Immigration Coalition
Syracuse Immigrant Refugee Defense Network (SIRDN)
Strong Economy For All Coalition
Sunrise Movement at Columbia University
The New York Civil Liberties Union
Third Act NYC
Upper West Side Action Group
VOCAL-NY
We Will Win (NYC)
WESPAC Foundation, Inc.
Westchester Coalition for Police Reform (WCPR)
Workers Center of Central New York