Press Briefing

Advancing American Freedom led a coalition of 27 other amici in Lemelson v. SEC fighting against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) abuse of power in refusing to pay the legal fees of Father Emanuel Lemelson.

After a decade of litigation against a Greek Orthodox priest, the SEC failed to convince a jury of most of its charges against him. If the SEC wins this case, it will reward the SEC strategy of punishing those it does not like by giving targets who assert their innocence an offer they can’t refuse: a massive settlement or overwhelming legal bills.

“While the jury denied the SEC the ludicrous fine it sought, Father Lemelson’s seven-figure legal costs send a message to future targets that fighting for their rights in court against the SEC will cost them one way or another,” said AAF General Counsel J. Marc Wheat. “If the courts refuse to award Father Lemelson attorney’s fees, despite his prevailing against all of the SEC’s most important charges, the SEC’s abusive powers will only be magnified.”

In June, AAF’s brief in SEC v. Jarkesy argued that requiring targets to litigate through the SEC’s in-house kangaroo courts was a miscarriage of justice.  The Supreme Court agreed, clawing back significant power from the administrative state’s in-house ‘administrative law judges’ (ALJs) requiring instead, as the Constitution requires, that civil actions alleging fraud be brought in front of independent Article III courts.

Read the full brief here.

AAF is concerned that the Proposed Rule, as it relates to sexual orientation, gender identity, and
pregnancy provisions of nondiscrimination regulations leaves the door open for discrimination
against religious entities and for the government to violate the right of women to single-sex
private spaces. We also urge the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) not to
enshrine the Biden-Harris Administration’s poor record.

Read the full brief here.

“The RNC platform is a profound disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans that have always looked to the Republican Party to stand for life.

Now is not the time to surrender any ground in the fight for the right to life. The 2024 platform removed historic pro-life principles that have long been the foundation of the platform. I urge delegates attending next week’s Republican Convention to restore language to our party’s platform recognizing the sanctity of human life and affirming that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.

The updated platform also cedes this fight to the states, leaving the unborn in California and Illinois to the far-left’s extremist abortion policies. The right to life is not only a state issue; it is a moral issue, and our party must continue to speak with moral clarity and compassion about advancing the cause of life at the federal, state and local level.

The Supreme Court did not return the question of abortion to the states only but to the elected representatives of the people. Every life, born and unborn, is precious and deserving of their rights endowed by their Creator. The 14th amendment, though rightly cited, will not protect the unborn across the country without further federal action.

Democrats certainly do not view life as a ‘states only’ issue, and they will try to adopt federal policies in line with Democrat-run states if we back away.

Unfortunately, this platform is part of a broader retreat in our party, trying to remain vague for political expedience. But history shows that those who stand without apology for life and make their case to the American people are rewarded at the ballot box. But beyond the politics of the issue is the immorality of ending an unborn human life. We must never lose the moral clarity to say that abortion is wrong. The GOP platform may be retreating, but we in the pro-life movement never will. We will continue to be a people of life, and we will not rest or relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in our land.

My fellow Republicans, Stand firm for Life. Restore the RNC platform’s historic commitment to the sanctity of human life. Pro-Life Americans and generations  born and unborn deserve nothing less.”

– Mike Pence