NGO-Sponsored Lawfare Goes Unpenalized.

Why? Because the law protects it. 

This needs to change!  

Our legal appeal is the vehicle to change it -- and we'll take it to SCOTUS if we have to.  Here's how...

THE LEGAL BATTLE TIMELINE

The NAACP, League of Women Voters, and Mi Familia Vota sued defendants Col. Shawn Smith ret. USAF, Ashe Epp (Ashe in America) and Holly Kasun in March 2022. (Case number: 1:22-cv-00581 10th Dist. Fed. Court)

Plaintiffs falsely accused us, the defendants, of voter intimidation in their pleading; insinuating we are violent racists who went door-to-door, armed, intimidating and harassing voters.  One quote of many from the pleading, "tactics include violence and intimidation; specifically, threatening and intimidating voters."  

Before we were even served, plaintiffs launched a global press campaign announcing their suit, while destroying our reputations in the press.  Over the course of this legal battle plaintiffs have generated roughly billions of media impressions about this baseless case. 

Why Were We Sued? The Reality: We canvassed counties in Colorado to verify the publicly available Secretary of State's voting records in 2021. Our civics-oriented canvassing project was conducted 100% by volunteers and produced a damning report showing an 8-11% error rate in the official records.  Over the course of months, not a single complaint or police report of voter intimidation or violence was filed anywhere in the state in 2021.

Even before plaintiffs filed suit, they knew their case had no evidentiary support - yet the NAACP, League of Women Voters, and Mi Familia Vota filed the suit anyway. 

Defendants Won at Trial:  After nearly 3 years fighting this case, in a rare directed verdict at trial (52(c)), we decidedly won our case.  At trial the judge ruled the plaintiffs failed to make their case due to a lack of evidence showing any voter intimidation.  Worse, plaintiffs counsel manipulated their one elderly witness into falsely linking the defendants to fabricated claims of voter intimidation. The judge immediately awarded our legal costs; but we had to file a separate motion to recover our $450(k) in legal fees from the plaintiffs.

NGOs Didn't Stop: Despite their humiliating loss at trial, the well-funded plaintiff NGOs; NAACP, League of Women Voters, and Mi Familia Vota appealed the ruling.  To secure the win, it added another ~$50(k) to our legal fees.

The District Judge Denies Defendants' Motion for Legal Fees

Here's Where The Law Protects NGOs Vicious Lawfare:

For the judge to award us legal fees, she used the Christiansberg Standard as legal guidance for her decision.  In general, the loser in a lawsuit pays the winner's legal fees.  But that's not how it works if a "Civil Rights" organization brings a suit and loses.  Christiansberg rests on an assumption that civil rights cases are always brought in good faith. So, under the standard the judge gave special equitable considerations, to the plaintiffs, denying awarding our fees. Christiansberg is based on faulty assumptions that lead to legal abuse. In our case, the NGOs used their "Civil Rights" position as a legal weapon. 

The Chrisitansberg Standard Must Be Changed to Stop NGO Funded Lawfare:  Well-funded NGOs are incentivized to use lawfare against individuals, because they know, even if they lose, there are no financial consequences under the Christiansberg Standard.  And worse, Christiansberg disincentivises defendants & lawyers from legally fighting against malicious NGO lawfare because even if defendants win, recovering fees is nearly impossible.  This means, if we don't use our case as the opportunity to overturn Christiansberg, the malicious lawfare continues harming targeted Americans - unchecked.

Winning This Appeal: We need to prove our case was frivolous, baseless and or meritless from the start.  We have the evidence.  It's a once-in-decades opportunity to challenge this standard that fuels unjust lawfare. 

We need to raise $60(k) by April 15, 2025 to pay our legal team for the appeal.  If we don't raise the funds in time, we'll miss this crucial opportunity to stop NGO lawfare for all Americans.  **All funds raised go directly to our legal team. 

Shawn, Ashe & Holly