A dark money group with ties to the Democratic Party launched Monday and will spend millions of dollars throughout 2022 to try and disbar, shame and destroy the careers of over 100 lawyers who worked with former President Donald Trump.
The 65 Project will specifically target lawyers who worked on Trump’s post-election lawsuits, were linked to Jan. 6, or were part of Trump’s inner circle, according to Axios. The suits will be coupled with ad-buys in key battleground states in the lead up to the 2022 midterms and 2024 election. States include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the outlet noted.
The purpose of the 65 Project is to “shame” and “hold accountable” at least 111 lawyers from 26 states who attempted to overthrow the 2020 election, Forbes reported. (RELATED: Inside Media Matters: David Brock’s enemies list)
This effort is as much about future elections as it is 2020. Its advisors tell us they want to “make [Trump attorneys] toxic in their communities and in their firms” in order to “kill the pool of available legal talent going forward” https://t.co/uCgNHGy8vE
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 7, 2022
“The 65 Project will work to hold accountable the lawyers who raise fraudulent claims to overturn legitimate elections results, while also creating a rule-based system to prevent future attempts and to strengthen the mechanisms for accountability and deterrence,” a statement on the group’s website reads.
Founder of Media Matters for America and super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, David Brock, is a key adviser for the group, Axios continued. Brock told Axios the group’s idea is to “not only bring the grievances in the bar complaints, but shame them and make them toxic in their communities and in their firms.”
Other board members include former Democratic South Dakota Sen. Thomas Daschle, retired Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court Christine M. Durham, along with other Democratic heavyweights Roberta Cooper Ramo, Paul Rosenzweig, and Michael Chertoff, according to The Washington Post.
The group’s namesake stems from the 65 Trump-allied lawsuits filed in swing states in the wake of the 2020 election, the website states. Those already targeted with ethics complaints include Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, “insurrectionist” attorney William Calhoun, and “false elector” William Carver, along with others listed on the website. A majority of the ethics complaints were filed March 7, 2022.
“This move is nothing more than a desperate attempt by leftist hacks and mercenaries…” Texas attorney Paul Davis wrote in an email to Axios, stating that this is an effort, “to neutralize anyone on the right with the ability to stand in the way of the left’s efforts to hide malfeasance in the 2020 elections and to clear the path for a repeat of similar malfeasance in the 2022 mid-terms”
Brock and the team plan to spend at least $2.5 million in the first year, operating through an existing nonprofit Law Works, according to Axios. The outlet noted that some of the complaints issued by the group have already been dismissed for lack of evidence.