Anti-Trump lawyer’s nonprofit secretly aided state prosecutions of Trump supporters, memos show

Democratic attorneys general deputized private lawyers from a nonprofit run by former Obama ambassador and anti-Trump activist Norm Eisen to help prosecute supporters of President Donald Trump for organizing alternate electors to challenge the 2020 election results, according to tax records and internal memos released under open record laws.

The relationship between state and local prosecutors and Eisen’s States United Democracy Center (SUDC) raises troubling questions about the independence of judicial decisions and the influence of a donor-funded group on matters of law and order, experts said.

At least one state — Minnesota — swore in lawyers from Eisen’s SUDC as “special attorneys” serving “at the pleasure of the Attorney General,” the memos show. Other state and local prosecutors accepted advice and free work, the memos show.

"This is highly inappropriate for left-wing nonprofits to become the prosecutors against their political enemies,” Mike Davis, a former GOP Senate Judiciary Committee lawyer who vetted federal judges for two decades before founding the nonprofit Article III Project, told Just the News.

Over the last decade, more state and local prosecutors have turned to private lawyers for prosecuting criminal and civil cases, including Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who hired a man she was dating, and New York prosecutors who accepted help on climate cases from billionaire Michael Bloomberg's nonprofit.

The arrangements have also become an issue in the courts.

Former Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, a defendant in the Arizona 2020 election prosecution, asked for a hearing on the role of Eisen's group a year ago in her bid to disqualify Arizona Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes from the case.

The state Supreme Court has thrown out the charges in the case, but Mayes has vowed to restore them. Bobb has pleaded not guilty to her prosecution, and a trial date was set for Jan. 5, 2026, but procedural motions have delayed that trial.

"States United, as 'an initiative of' PSLC/DAGA, has an inherent conflict and cannot impartially participate in the prosecution of their obvious political opponents," Bobb wrote in a motion last year. "Kris Mayes had an obligation to disclose that the organization she hired, allegedly pro bono, to advise her on prosecuting prominent Republicans is effectively an initiative of DAGA, which is a committee of the Democratic Party. Instead, she tried to cover it up."

In an interview with Just the News, Bobb said the role Eisen's group played in the first wave of lawfare against Trump supporters should be a wakeup call for members of Congress who could be targeted in the next wave.

"Exchanging governmental authority for political access and funding is a surefire way to ensure everyday Americans lose their voice and end up in prison for disagreeing with those in power," Bobb said. "We have to stop pretending that this type of activity isn’t happening.

"People are so overwhelmed by the corruption that many (elected officials included) want to bury their head in the sand and hope it goes away. It’s not going away. It’s getting worse," she added. "...This prosecution enterprise is now targeting conservative officials. These elected leaders will have a rude awakening when this prosecution network targets them and no one cares."

Eisen did not respond to a Just The News inquiry prior to press time.

An ardent Trump critic who pays Democrat superlawyer Marc Elias

The memos chronicle how Eisen’s group secured relationships with Democrat attorneys general in multiple states to prosecute and disbar attorneys who assisted President Donald Trump in his 2020 election disputes.

SUDC describes itself as “a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the rule of law and free, fair, secure elections” that provides “direct support to state officials and law enforcement leaders as they uphold our system of checks and balances, protect public safety, and preserve our democracy.”

Though SUDC boasts a “Bipartisan Advisory Board,” the Republican members of that board have been prominent critics of Trump. For instance, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who famously urged Republicans in Congress to vote to impeach Trump over 2020 election claims.

And Eisen himself has been a relentless critic of the 47th president, cheerleading publicly efforts to prosecute Trump and going so far as to co-author an essay in the New York Times in 2023 titled “How to convict Trump.” In 2025, Getty Images captured him speaking to a "Hands Off" rally protesting the Trump administration's policy.

There is also a connection between SUDC and other Democrat-aligned organizations. According to SUDC’s 2023 tax filings, it paid prominent Democrat superlawyer Mark Elias’ law group more than $100,000 as an independent contractor. SUDC also formed out of the Voter Protection Program (VPP), which lists the same director (Joanna Lydgate) and many bipartisan board members as SUDC.

The October 16, 2020, press release announcing the launch of VPP is still on SUDC’s website. That press release states that VPP “is a nonpartisan initiative of the Progressive State Leaders Committee.”

Click to Read Eisen's Insurrection Playbook:

Ties to Democrat attorneys general group

The PSLC’s tax documents state that “compensation for officers of PSLC is issued by Democratic Attorney Generals Association (DAGA), an unrelated organization for tax purposes.” The documents also state that the PSLC reimburses DAGA for time spent on PSLC business, including salary and benefits for PSLC president Sean Rankin, who is also DAGA’s executive director.

DAGA’s tax forms also show that PSLC is its largest listed contributor, having received around more than $11 million from PSLC over the years. DAGA’s executive committee also includes notable figures tied to SUDC’s efforts, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (no longer listed), and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell (no longer listed), all of whom contracted with SUDC.

SUDC has publicly denied being a program of PSLC, with an attorney telling the court in Arizona that SUDC “has never been a part or program of” PSLC, but the connections remain.

Special prosecutor status in Minnesota

In Minnesota, Ellison, the former Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee, appointed SUDC Senior VP of Legal Christine P. Sun and SUDC in June 2023 as “Special Attorneys to serve at the pleasure of the Attorney General specifically to provide legal services to the Attorney General.”

Sun and the organization were to receive no benefits, compensation, or reimbursements for expenses incurred, and their client was Ellison himself.

The work conducted by Sun and SUDC was subject to “examination by the Attorney General and the Minnesota Legislative Auditor,” and had to comply with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act should a request to release the data be received.
 

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