Raw America managing editor Carl Gibson recently sat down with Skye Perryman, CEO of Democracy Forward, for a wide-ranging conversation about her group’s multiple legal fights against President Donald Trump’s administration. Democracy Forward has filed hundreds of lawsuits challenging the administration’s policies, and on Monday, she walked Raw America through where those cases stand and what still lies ahead.
Gibson and Perryman touched on a variety of topics, including:
Democracy Forward’s multiple wins in the federal courts blocking the $1.8 billion slush fund for MAGA loyalists, voter purges and the federal funding freeze
ICE detention conditions and the rising number of deaths in custody
The ongoing fight over Trump’s permanent IRS audit immunity deal
January 6 defendants attempting to backdoor their way into getting taxpayer money through the Federal Tort Claims Act
Getting to the bottom of mysterious prediction market accounts making suspiciously timed bets tied to the president’s actions
Contrasting Trump’s self-aggrandizing Fourth of July celebrations with the true intent of America’s founding principles
Perryman’s upcoming book, “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times”
What a Democratic-controlled Congress should prioritize after the midterms
Whether there’s momentum to reform or expand the Supreme Court
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Democracy Forward’s Hundreds of Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration
Gibson openedthe conversation by noting that Democracy Forward has become one of the most active groups challenging the Trump administration in the courts, and asked Perryman to walk through some of her group’s recent work.
Perryman said Democracy Forward has been busy on multiple fronts, having just successfully blocked the president’s $1.8 billion slush fund meant to financially compensate people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Perryman’s group also stopped the administration’s attempt to use a Department of Homeland Security database to remove eligible voters from the rolls, and challenged the federal funding freeze of congressionally appropriated money for programs like Head Start and Meals on Wheels.
Perryman further observed that 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (also known as food stamps), and that Democracy Forward had no choice but to sue the White House for using SNAP as a political tool during the government shutdown earlier this year. She added that her group is also working on guaranteeing due process protections and access to legal counsel, as well as legal challenges to untrained DOGE staffers accessing Americans’ sensitive private data without facing any accountability.
ICE Detention Deaths And The Fight For Transparency
Gibson referenced a Washington Post report that ICE will no longer report deaths of newly released detainees, and pointed to a roughly 140 percent surge in the deaths of immigrants in ICE custody since the start of Trump’s second term. He then asked what Democracy Forward is doing to protect detainees.
Perryman pointed to recent wins in the judiciary that have forced the government to allow detainees to have access to legal counsel, pointing out that the administration initially tried to block it outright. She also emphasized the importance of journalists exposing what’s happening inside detention facilities.
“Journalists are really important in this time, because they’re reporting things, sometimes even before the government admits that they’re doing it,” Perryman said, adding that her organization is looking for additional legal options to force transparency from the White House.
The IRS Slush Fund And Trump’s Audit Immunity Deal
Gibson mentioned Democracy Forward’s successful lawsuit blocking a $10 billion IRS payment to Trump, and then asked about the second half of the deal Trump struck with Todd Blanche. That deal gives Trump, his family and his businesses permanent protection from IRS audits.
Perryman confirmed the slush fund remains blocked while the case moves through discovery, and predicted more damning information will surface in the future. On the audit immunity piece, she said her organization is exploring legal options to challenge what she called “a one-sided, unfair, and we know unlawful deal.”
She noted that in a related Florida case, Democracy Forward has represented former government officials from both parties who understand how the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury actually function, helping inform the judge’s options.
“I think you’ll see more to come from us on that,” Perryman said.
January 6 Defendants Trying To Backdoor Their Way Into Receiving Taxpayer Money
Gibson then pointed to reports showing that some January 6 defendants and Trump loyalists are attempting to claim taxpayer money through the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) after the $1.8 billion slush fund was blocked, and asked about what Democracy Forward was doing to prevent it.
Perryman acknowledged the FTCA was an important law, citing a separate, legitimate use of the act to help people genuinely harmed by the government — including children exposed to tear gas — file claims for compensation. She confirmed Democracy Forward has heard of January 6 defendants attempting to use the same statute for settlements and said that while Democracy Forward is reviewing legal options, Congress would still need to take action to prevent the FTCA from being abused. Perryman added that the judge overseeing the slush fund case issued a broad order making clear she doesn’t want to see related money moving.
“The judges are kind of catching on to what this administration is doing, where they try to play a shell game,” Perryman said.
Hunting Down Potential Insider Trading from Trump’s Decisions
Gibson referenced a BBC investigation from April finding that newly formed accounts on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket — with Donald Trump Jr. serving as a strategic advisor for both groups — placed winning bets on events like the Iran war and a Venezuela invasion moments before they were publicly announced.
Perryman said several cases have been filed to investigate communications and documents related to the administration’s conduct, and that her group is paying close attention to allegations of administration figures potentially engaging in insider trading.
“We have a pattern that we can show, we can use the law to try to expose that pattern, and then to try to challenge that pattern,” she said, noting that tools like the Freedom of Information Act will be central to that effort.
Reclaiming The Fourth Of July from Trump’s Self-Aggrandizement
With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaching this weejend, Gibson asked Perryman to address concerns that President Trump has turned what should be a unifying milestone into a partisan spectacle.
Perryman argued the president is using the anniversary to distract from low approval ratings and a government that hasn’t delivered for ordinary people. She pointed instead to the organizing happening across the country.
“We have seen over the past year and a half people in communities from all different walks of life … come together and step forward and say, you know, we’re not going to let a president violate our rights,” she said, observing that the plaintiffs in Democracy Forward’s cases are ordinary people rather than powerful institutions. She also pointed to the millions who turned out for this year’s “No Kings” protests as evidence of sustained public engagement.
“Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times” and How Americans Can Find Meaning Through Action
Perryman’s forthcoming book, “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times,” is available for preorder ahead of its August release. Gibson asked about the book’s message on local organizing — noting that even in places like his city of Louisville, Kentucky, the most recent No Kings turnout was conservatively estimated at 10,000 people.
The Democracy Forward CEO said her book points out that autocrats rely on a strategy of convincing people their voice and actions don’t matter. She urged readers to turn their outrage into action, and emphasized that this can include supporting independent media, voting in the upcoming midterms, and investing in public goods like libraries and schools — even for people without kids in them.
“There’s never been change … like, real change that came down from powerful people,” she said. “It’s always been demanded by the people.”
What A Democratic-Controlled Congress Should Prioritize
With the midterms approaching and Democrats poised to win back control of one or both chambers of Congress, Gibson asked what concrete steps Perryman would want to see from a Democrats, beyond the obvious calls for investigations of Trump officials and accountability for lawbreakers.
Perryman pointed to unfinished business from January 6, including the absence of comprehensive legislation to safeguard the peaceful transfer of power. She also called for more voting rights legislation in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling disenfranchising voters of color in the Deep South.
She additionally tied the affordability fight directly to Trump’s corruption, arguing that rising costs for ordinary Americans are connected to people inside the administration profiting from their roles in government.
“People are... less concerned now about exactly what you stand for on every single policy thing, and they really want to know that if they entrust you with power, that you are going to use your power to protect people,” Perryman said.
Is There Momentum for Significant Supreme Court Reform?
Gibson closed by asking whether there’s potential for Democrats to expand the Supreme Court, particularly in light of this week’s controversial rulings.
Perryman pointed to the Court’s historically low approval ratings, and attributed them to their refusal to protect the rights of all Americans and the Court’s inconsistency when it came to checking the Trump administration. She predicted things will get much harder for the Trump administration in the judiciary, but cautioned that structural reforms will require sustained public pressure from everyday Americans rather than waiting for institutions to act on ther own.
“Every time you get upset about another Supreme Court decision ... don’t just get upset about it, do something about it, make your voices heard,” Perryman said.
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