EXCLUSIVE: This Anti-Trump Lawyer Advises Dem Governors on Resistance, Emails Show

A former counsel for the first Donald Trump impeachment–who vowed to file 100 lawsuits this year against the second Trump administration–was scheduled to advise the staffs of Democrat governors from across the country on how to defy federal policy, according to emails. 

On Jan. 21, a day after Trump’s second inauguration, Governors Safeguarding Democracy scheduled a Zoom briefing titled “Day 1 EOs: What Govs Need to Know with Norm Eisen, Protect Democracy, and Immigration Experts.”

The Daily Signal obtained the records through a public records request with the office of Gov. Ned Lamont, D-Conn.

Eisen is the former White House ethics counsel during President Barack Obama’s administration. Obama later appointed him as ambassador to the Czech Republic. 

Eisen was later the special counsel for Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee during the first Trump impeachment in 2019 over Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s president. 

Governors Safeguarding Democracy is co-chaired by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, both Democrats. In late April, Pritzker called “for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption,” because “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”

The Daily Signal reached out to Governors Safeguarding Democracy for this story on Monday and Tuesday but did not get a response for the story by publication time.

Eisen has been involved with several left-leaning nonprofits. Also participating in the scheduled conference was Protect Democracy, a separate litigation nonprofit not directly affiliated with Eisen that describes itself as “a cross-ideological nonprofit group dedicated to defeating the authoritarian threat.”

Eisen is the co-founder and board member of the State Democracy Defenders Fund, a group that says it works with “national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundation of our democracy — free and fair elections” and “We help shape the long-term strategy to defeat autocracy in 2025 — and beyond.” 

The State Democracy Defenders Fund did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal on Monday and Tuesday for this story. Protect Democracy also did not respond to inquiries for this story Monday and Tuesday. 

In February, Eisen said during an MSNBC interview, “The lawsuits we’re bringing, I’m planning 100 this year, 100.” 

Eisen regularly appears on MSNBC calling Trump a dictator or authoritarian. More recently, he celebrated victory in litigation that led to a temporary injunction against the Trump administration removing federal employees, 

Eisen also wrote or edited three anti-Trump books: “A Case for the American People: The United States v. Donald J. Trump” published in July 2020; “Overcoming Trumpery: How to Restore Ethics, the Rule of Law, and Democracy” in 2022; and “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial” in 2024. 

Eisen is a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, a center-left think tank, which did not respond to email and phone inquiries from The Daily Signal on Monday and Tuesday by publication time.

A Jan. 10 email from Governors Safeguarding Democracy to numerous staffers of Democrat governors across the country said, “Below is a topline agenda and meeting information,”

It went on to list the “Common Interest Agreement” among governors on the agenda, and “Presentation on Day 1 Immigration Plans & Potential Governor Actions.” 

It added, “Q&A and Discussion,” and “Closing and Next Steps.”

Following that, another email to Democrat governors staff went out on Jan. 17, which said: “Please hold this time for a briefing providing an overview on the incoming administration’s executive orders that will have the biggest impact on states.”

“The briefing will be facilitated by Norm Eisen, Protect Democracy, and our team of immigration experts, and will focus on providing high-level overviews of those executive orders

which Governors should be most prepared for,” the email Governors Safeguarding Democracy email continued.

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