Mich. Welfare Rights Org. v. Trump
| Decision Date | 01 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | Civ. Action No. 20-3388 (EGS) |
| Parties | MICHIGAN WELFARE RIGHTS ORGANIZATION, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Donald J. TRUMP, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Janai Nelson, Pro Hac Vice, Monique Lin-Luse, Pro Hac Vice, Samuel Spital, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., New York, NY, Stephen Ascher, Pro Hac Vice, Jenner & Block LLP, New York, NY, Anuja Diwakar Thatte, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Washington, DC, Jason Bradford, Jonathan Enfield, Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs.
Jesse R. Binnall, Binnall Law Group, Alexandria, VA, for Defendants Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
Gary Lawkowski, David Alan Warrington, Dhillon Law Group, Inc., Alexandria, VA, Patrick Neilson Strawbridge, Pro Hac Vice, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Boston, MA, Tyler R. Green, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Salt Lake City, UT, Cameron Thomas Norris, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Arlington, VA, Harmeet Dhillon, Mark Meuser, Dhillon Law Group Inc., San Francisco, CA, for Defendant Republican National Committee.
Plaintiffs Michigan Welfare Rights Organization ("MWRO"), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ("NAACP"), Maureen Taylor ("Ms. Taylor"), Nicole Hill ("Ms. Hill"), and Teasha Jones ("Ms. Jones") (collectively "Plaintiffs") bring this case against Defendants the Republican National Committee ("RNC"), Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. (the "Trump Campaign"), and Donald J. Trump ("former President Trump") (collectively "Defendants"), alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b), and the Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3), based on conduct alleged to have occurred throughout the country around the 2020 Presidential Election. See generally Amended Complaint ("Am. Compl.") ECF No. 8.1
Pending before the Court are four motions. Defendants move to transfer this case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, on the basis of the convenience of the parties and witnesses, and in the interest of justice. See Def. RNC's Mem. in Supp. of its Mot. to Transfer Venue Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(A) ("Mot. to Transfer"), ECF No. 21-1; Defs.' Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President Incorporated's Notice of Joinder in Mot. to Transfer Venue ( ), ECF No. 22. Plaintiffs oppose this motion. See Pls.' Resp. in Opp'n to Defs.' Mot. to Transfer Venue ( ), ECF No. 23. In addition, the RNC moves to dismiss this case for failure to state a claim and lack of standing. See RNC's Mot. to Dismiss Pls.' Amended Compl. ("RNC's MTD"), ECF No. 24. The Trump Defendants move to dismiss for failure to state a claim, lack of personal jurisdiction, and lack of standing. See Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss Amended Compl. For Decl. and Injunctive Relief on Behalf of Defs. Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. ( ), ECF No. 25-1. Plaintiffs oppose both motions. See Pls.' Resp. in Opp'n to Defs.' Mots. To Dismiss ( ), ECF No. 35. On March 31, 2022, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Supplemental Authority relevant to their 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) claim. See Notice of Supplemental Authority, ECF No. 46.
Upon consideration of the motions, responses, and the replies thereto, the applicable law and regulations, the entire record and the materials cited therein, the Court DENIES Defendants' Motion to Transfer, ECF No. 21; DENIES the Trump Defendants' Motion to Transfer, ECF No. 22; GRANTS IN PART as to Plaintiffs' 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b) claim AND HOLDS IN ABEYANCE IN PART as to Plaintiffs' 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) claim the RNC's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 24; and GRANTS IN PART as to Plaintiffs' 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b) claim AND HOLDS IN ABEYANCE IN PART as to Plaintiffs' 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) claim the Trump Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 25.
Plaintiff MWRO is the Michigan state chapter of the National Welfare Rights Union and is based in Detroit, Michigan. See Am. Compl., ECF No. 8 ¶ 7. MWRO "conducts voter engagement efforts targeted at low-income voters of color" and has members "who reside in Detroit in Wayne County, Michigan, voted in the November 2020 election, and cast a ballot for President." Id. Plaintiffs Maureen Taylor, Nicole L. Hill, and Teasha K. Jones reside in Detroit and cast their votes for President in the 2020 election. Id. ¶¶ 8-10. Plaintiff the NAACP is "the nation's largest and oldest civil rights grassroots organization" and "has over 220,000 members nationwide." Id. ¶ 12. It has "members across the country who voted in the 2020 election and who plan to vote in future elections, including in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada." Id.
Defendant Donald J. Trump was the forty-fifth President of the United States. Id. ¶ 13. In November 2020, he was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to that office. Id. He is domiciled in Florida, and asserts he was also domiciled there when the events alleged in the Amended Complaint occurred. See Trump Defs.' MTD, ECF No. 25-1 at 8. Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. ("Trump Campaign"), is a Virginia corporation with a principal place of business in New York and an office in Virginia. See id. The RNC is a national political party with its principal place of business at 310 First Street S.E., Washington D.C. See Mot. to Transfer, ECF No. 21 at 7.
On November 20, 2020, Plaintiffs brought suit in this Court against Defendants alleging: (1) Violation of Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act ("VRA"), see 52 U.S.C. § 10307(b) ; and (2) Conspiracy to Interfere with Civil Rights in Violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3).2 See Am. Compl., ECF No. 8 ¶¶ 76-85. Plaintiffs assert that Defendants conspired to prevent the counting of legally cast ballots, see id. ¶¶ 20, 76-85; and that the objective of Defendants' conspiracy was to intimidate election officials, disenfranchise and overturn the will of voters, and ensure that then-President Trump remained President despite losing the 2020 presidential election, see, e.g. , id. ¶¶ 35-37. For the purposes of the Motions to Dismiss, the Court assumes the facts alleged in the complaint to be true and construes them in Plaintiffs' favor. See Baird v. Gotbaum , 792 F.3d 166, 169 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 2015).
Plaintiffs argue that in furtherance of their conspiracy, Defendants engaged in private coercion of election officials; public intimidation of, and incitement of lawless action against, election officials; and, through their agents, physical violence, obstruction, and other intimidation—conduct unprotected by the First Amendment. See Pls.' MTD Opp'n, ECF No. 35 at 11. In support of this argument, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants' actions were carried out by agents under Defendants' control, including Trump Campaign and RNC volunteers and state Republican parties. Id. ¶¶ 2, 22, 56, 61-66. Defendants and their agents "recruit[ed] volunteers for election-related activities," and, once the volunteers had "enlist[ed]," required them "to participate in a training before engaging in certain election-related activities." Id. ¶¶ 62-63. The trainings were designed to prime volunteers to engage in inappropriate behavior, including intimidation and coercion, at polling places and recount sites. Id. ¶ 66. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as monetary damages. Id. at 30-31.
Plaintiffs claim that Defendants' conduct violating the VRA falls into three main categories: (1) private coercion and intimidation of election officials (by the Trump Defendants); (2) public intimidation targeting election officials, including through false accusations and implications of criminality and incitement of illegal activity by others (by all Defendants, including in conspiracy with one another); and (3) physical violence or obstruction of counting lawful votes by agents (by all Defendants, including in conspiracy with one another). See Pls.' MTD Opp'n, ECF No. 35 at 11. Allegations specific to each category are discussed below.
Plaintiffs contend that: (1) former President Trump made personal phone calls to two Republican canvassers in Wayne County, Michigan who agreed to certify Wayne County's election results, but who reversed course after receiving those calls and furnished affidavits to the Trump Campaign stating their opposition to certification, Am. Compl., ECF No. 8 ¶¶ 46-47; (2) former President Trump made phone calls to the Governor of Georgia and speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives pressuring them to overturn election results, id. ¶¶ 50, 52-53; (3) former President Trump summoned the leaders of the Michigan State Senate and State House to the White House, where they participated in a meeting that included lawyers involved in former President Trump's efforts to overturn the election results, id. ¶ 48; and (4) Trump Campaign representatives "spent weeks" pressuring the Governor of Arizona "to echo President Trump's false claims about election fraud and cast doubt upon the State's results," id. ¶ 54.
Plaintiffs state that: (1) the RNC hosted a press conference at its Washington, D.C. headquarters, where former President Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, falsely asserted that Wayne County's election results should not be certified due to "illegitimate ballots," and Trump Campaign lawyer Sidney Powell stated that the 2020 election had involved "the most unpatriotic acts I can even imagine," and that "American patriots are fed up with the corruption from the local level, to the highest level of our government" (an event that the RNC subsequently amplified by retweeting a portion of Powell's...
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