America First Legal

America First Legal is led by a president, vice president, and executive director. Stephen Miller, the former senior advisor to president Donald Trump, is the organization's founder and president. The vice president is Gene Hamilton, a Department of Justice official under Trump, and the executive director is Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. attorney general under Trump following Jeff Sessions's resignation.{{Cite web |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/862190372 |title=America First Legal Foundation |work=ProPublica |access-date=June 18, 2024}} America First Legal's board of directors includes Whitaker and former chief of staff for Trump, Mark Meadows.{{Cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/26/stephen-miller-legal-group-478167 |title=Stephen Miller to launch a new legal group to give Biden fits |date=March 26, 2021 |last=Orr |first=Gabby |work=Politico |access-date=June 18, 2024}}

{{Conservatism US}}

America First Legal is a conservative legal entity that focuses on administrative law and executive overreach in response to litigation during the Trump administration, including legal challenges to the Trump travel ban, an attempt to ban TikTok, and barring migrants from seeking asylum. The organization has filed lawsuits regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion,{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/corporate-dei-efforts-legal-challenge-conservatives/ |title=Conservative groups are challenging corporate efforts to diversify workforce |date=August 10, 2023 |last=Brooks |first=Khristopher |publisher=CNN |access-date=June 18, 2024}} Title 42 expulsions,{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-title-42-migrant-expulsions-aclu-lawsuit/ |title=Lawsuit over migrant expulsions resumes after talks between U.S. and advocates collapse |date=August 2, 2021 |last=Montoya-Galvez |first=Camilo |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 18, 2024}} the First Amendment and social media services,{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/19/technology/gop-disinformation-researchers-2024-election.html |title=G.O.P. Targets Researchers Who Study Disinformation Ahead of 2024 Election |date=June 19, 2023 |last1=Meyers |first1=Steven |last2=Frenkel |first2=Sheera |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2024}} Title IX and transgender people,{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/magazine/loudoun-county-bathroom-sexual-assault.html |title=How a Sexual Assault in a School Bathroom Became a Political Weapon |date=August 5, 2023 |last=Homans |first=Charles |work=The New York Times Magazine |access-date=June 18, 2024}} and affirmative action.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/23/us/politics/supreme-court-affirmative-action.html |title=A Conservative Lawyer’s New Target After Abortion: Affirmative Action |date=May 23, 2022 |last=Liptak |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Liptak |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2024}} In January 2023, the organization joined a lawsuit led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton claiming a federal migrant parole program was unlawful.{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-19-states-sue-biden-admin-migrant-parole/story?id=96667565 |title=Texas, 19 other states sue Biden admin over migrant parole program |date=January 25, 2023 |last1=Garcia |first1=Armando |last2=Owen |first2=Quinn |publisher=ABC News |access-date=June 18, 2024}}

In October 2022, America First Legal sent flyers to voters in Colorado's 8th congressional district that were characterized as transphobic by the Queer and Trans People of Color Program of the Latino Action Council.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/latino-action-council-voters-information-reliable-sources/ |title=Latino Action Council urges voters to seek information from reliable sources |date=October 27, 2022 |last=Abeyta |first=Michael |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 18, 2024}} During the 2022 elections, the organization became involved in legal efforts relating to claims of apparent voter fraud in the election.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/election-day-is-nov-8-but-legal-challenges-already-begin/ |title=Election Day is Nov. 8, but legal challenges already begin |date=October 27, 2022 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 18, 2024}} Flyers obtained by The New York Times targeted Asian Americans with anti-affirmative action messaging.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/07/us/election-midterm-news/ads-from-conservative-groups-target-asian-americans |title=Ads from conservative groups target Asian Americans. |date=November 7, 2022 |last=Qin |first=Amy |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2024}} America First Legal ran advertisements accusing the Biden administration of "anti-white bigotry", spending {{USD|5}} million on radio advertisements, second to the Senate Leadership Fund.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/us/politics/radio-ads-trump-allies.html |title=Inflammatory Radio Ads From 2 Trump-Aligned Groups Are Airing in Battleground States |date=November 1, 2022 |last=Bender |first=Michael |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2024}} Following Trump's federal indictment on charges of retaining classified documents, the organization sent out fundraising emails.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/us/politics/trump-indictment-biden.html |title=In Legal Peril, Trump Tries to Shift the Spotlight to Biden |date=June 14, 2023 |last=Shear |first=Michael |author-link=Michael D. Shear |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2024}}

Until July 2024, America First Legal was a member of the advisory board of Project 2025, a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from The Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.{{Cite news |last=Mascaro |first=Lisa |date=August 29, 2023 |title=Conservative Groups Draw Up Plan to Dismantle the US Government and Replace It with Trump's Vision |url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-conservatives-trump-heritage-857eb794e505f1c6710eb03fd5b58981 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922112031/https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-conservatives-trump-heritage-857eb794e505f1c6710eb03fd5b58981 |archive-date=September 22, 2023 |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=Associated Press News}}{{Cite web |last=Musgrave |first=Shawn |date=2024-07-17 |title=Conservative Organizations Are Quietly Scurrying Away From Project 2025 |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/07/17/project-2025-advisory-board/ |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=The Intercept |language=en-US}}

In March 2021, Politico reported that Stephen Miller, the former senior advisor to president Donald Trump, began forming America First Legal after Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election. According to Politico, Miller consulted the Conservative Partnership Institute and lawyer Ken Starr, who authored the Starr Report that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and requested funding from Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts. Miller launched America First Legal on April 6, 2021.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/stephen-millers-next-act-finds-a-stage-in-the-courts-11617793216 |title=Stephen Miller's Next Act Finds a Stage in the Courts |date=April 7, 2021 |last=Kendall |first=Brent |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=June 18, 2024}} The name refers to America First, an isolationist policy observed by the United States and reinterpreted by Trump as a political slogan.{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/09/09/america-first-american-dream-trumpism/ |title=The 'American Dream'? 'America First' eclipses it. |date=September 9, 2022 |last=Churchwell |first=Sarah |work=The Washington Post |access-date=June 18, 2024}}

America First Legal represented white farmers in Texas who sought to undo debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/us/politics/black-farmers-debt-relief.html |title=Banks Fight $4 Billion Debt Relief Plan for Black Farmers |date=May 19, 2021 |last=Rappeport |first=Alan |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 18, 2024}} In June 2021, judge Marcia Morales Howard issued a preliminary injunction halting the Department of Agriculture's loan program.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-us-farmers-debt-forgiveness-soiled-history-usda/ |title=Black U.S. farmers' struggle to get debt relief extends painful history soiled by racism |date=September 1, 2021 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=June 18, 2024}} Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled in America First Legal's favor in November 2022 that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/12/stephen-miller-america-first-legal-biden-race-policies/ |title=How a Trump-allied group fighting 'anti-white bigotry' beats Biden in court |date=December 12, 2022 |last1=Reinhard |first1=Beth |last2=Dawsey |first2=Josh |work=The Washington Post |access-date=June 18, 2024}}

Political action committee Citizens for Sanity is run by America First Legal employees.{{cite web |last1=Levine |first1=Sam |title=Musk’s millions in rightwing gifts began earlier than previously known – report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/03/elon-musk-rightwing-political-donations |website=theguardian.com |publisher=The Guardian}}

In December 2024, America First Legal published photos of Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden meeting with Chinese businessmen and officials in 2013.{{cite news | last = Watrobski | first = Kristina | date = December 27, 2024 | title = Newly released photos show President Biden, son with Chinese officials in 2013, org says | url = https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/newly-released-photos-show-president-biden-son-with-chinese-officials-in-2013-org-says-america-first-legal-hunter-biden-pardon-xi-jinping-jonathan-li | work = CBS Austin}} The photos were obtained from the National Archives and Records Administration after ongoing litigation by America First Legal. The photos show Joe Biden introducing Hunter to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, former Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao, and officials from BHR Partners. Joe Biden has stated he was not financially involved in his son's business matters.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|862190372|America First Legal Foundation}}

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States

Category:Conservative political advocacy groups in the United States