Lauren Windsor

Last updated

Lauren Windsor
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Journalist and political consultant
Known forThe Undercurrent and Project Veritas Exposed

Lauren Windsor is an American progressive political consultant and self-described "advocacy journalist". [1] She focuses primarily on Wall Street reform, money-in-politics corruption, and climate change. She is executive director of American Family Voices. [2] She is a partner in Democracy Partners [3] and Mike Lux Media.

Contents

Career

Windsor began her career in politics as a Wall Street and campaign finance reform activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement and with the Money Out Voters In Coalition in Los Angeles. She traveled around the country documenting protests and met her mentor, Robert Creamer, who founded Democracy Partners, where she is now a partner. She was the deputy communications director for the Tom Steyer 2020 presidential campaign.[ citation needed ]

Windsor is the creator of The Undercurrent, a field reporting web show launched with The Young Turks Network in 2012. The Undercurrent has covered the Koch brothers' donor retreats, [4] efforts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election, [5] and the operations of James O'Keefe and Project Veritas. [6] Her investigation of the 2014 Koch brothers' summer donor retreat [7] was featured in Jane Mayer's book on the Koch brothers, Dark Money . [8] [9]

In late 2020, Windsor spent six weeks in Georgia during the runoff in both the regular Senate election and the Senate special election covering politicians such as Rudy Giuliani, [10] then-Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville, and then-Senator David Perdue. [11]

Windsor created the investigative website Project Veritas Exposed (PVE), which serves as a research hub for journalists, progressive movement activists, organizations, and campaigns. [12] PVE's research has been featured in The New York Times , Washington Post , The Daily Beast , The Intercept , and other outlets. [13] [14]

On October 29, 2021, Windsor admitted [15] helping to coordinate a hoax (false flag) in which 5 fake white supremacists pretended to be supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin several days before Virginia's election day. [16]

Windsor is a contributor to Huffington Post, DailyKos, and The Nation. She runs her own blog, Lady Libertine, and her videos have appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show , All In with Chris Hayes , The Ed Show , and The Lead with Jake Tapper . [17]

Many of her practices have drawn comparisons to Project Veritas, but she disavows using embedded moles as Project Veritas was purported to do. [18]

Supreme Court Historical Society recordings

In June 2024, Windsor surreptitiously recorded conversations with Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, as well as Alito's wife Martha-Ann Bomgardner while posing as a Catholic conservative at a gala for the Supreme Court Historical Society. [19] [20]

Some statements from Windsor's recordings include:

The Supreme Court, and particularly Alito, faced criticism following the release of the recordings. [25] In contrast, the Supreme Court Historical Society condemned the surreptitious recording and revoked Windsor's membership. [26] [27]

Windsor said she recorded the conversations because of her belief that the Supreme Court was "shrouded in secrecy", [21] [28] "refusing to submit to any accountability in the face of overwhelming evidence of serious ethics breaches", [21] and "willing to overturn long-standing precedent in ways that are really extraordinary", as well as her claim that the United States was "at this crossroads of do we continue with a secular democracy or do we let a conservative majority take us down a path of Christian theocracy". [28]

Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, said of Windsor, "I think it's fair to say that most ethical journalists deplore those kind of techniques ... How do you expect your readers or your viewers to trust you if you’re getting your story through deception?" [28] [29]

The Wall Street Journal editorial board posited of the affair, "The sorry truth about our present political moment is that harassment by the left is shrinking the public space in which Justices, or at least conservative Justices, and their families can operate." [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of the United States</span> Highest court of jurisdiction in the US

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party." The court holds the power of judicial review: the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandra Day O'Connor</span> American lawyer, politician and judge (1930–2023)

Sandra Day O'Connor was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O'Connor was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. A moderate conservative, she was considered a swing vote. Before O'Connor's tenure on the Court, she was an Arizona state judge and earlier an elected legislator in Arizona, serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. Upon her nomination to the Court, O'Connor was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates</span>

Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by President George W. Bush since before his presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Alito</span> US Supreme Court justice since 2006 (born 1950)

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated to the high court by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has served on it since January 31, 2006. After Antonin Scalia, Alito is the second Italian American justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Roberts</span> Chief Justice of the United States since 2005

John Glover Roberts Jr. is an American jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. He has been described as having a moderate conservative judicial philosophy, though he is primarily an institutionalist. For his willingness to work with the Supreme Court's liberal bloc, Roberts has been regarded as a swing vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonia Sotomayor</span> US Supreme Court justice since 2009

Sonia Maria Sotomayor is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since August 8, 2009. She is the third woman, first nonwhite woman, the first Hispanic and the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court.

Leonard Anthony Leo is an American lawyer and conservative legal activist. He was the longtime vice president of the Federalist Society and is currently, along with Steven Calabresi, the co-chairman of the organization's board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consuelo Callahan</span> American judge (born 1950)

Consuelo María Callahan is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberts Court</span> Period of the US Supreme Court since 2005

The Roberts Court is the time since 2005 during which the Supreme Court of the United States has been led by John Roberts as Chief Justice. Roberts succeeded William Rehnquist as Chief Justice after Rehnquist's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Crawford</span> American lawyer, TV journalist, and author (born c. 1965)

Jan Crawford Greenburg is an American television journalist, author, and attorney. She serves as a political correspondent and chief legal correspondent for CBS News and previously for ABC News. She appears regularly on the CBS Evening News, Face the Nation, CBS This Morning, and CBS News Sunday Morning. She led CBS News's coverage of the 2012 Presidential Elections. She is a New York Times bestselling author of Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court and also a member of the New York State Bar Association.

The Supreme Court Historical Society (SCHS) describes itself as "a Washington, D.C.-based private, nonpartisan, not for profit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to preserving and communicating the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, increasing public awareness of the Court’s contribution to our nation’s rich constitutional heritage, and acquiring knowledge covering the history of the entire Judicial Branch."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Tree Flag</span> American Revolutionary-era flag

The Pine Tree Flag was one of the flags used during the American Revolution. The flag, which featured a pine tree with the motto "An Appeal to Heaven", or less frequently "An Appeal to God", was used by a squadron of six schooners commissioned under George Washington's authority as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army beginning in October 1775.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Rogers Brown</span> American retired federal judge (born 1949)

Janice Rogers Brown is an American jurist. She served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 to 2017 and before that, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court from 1996 to 2005. She is a member of the Federalist Society and frequently features at events hosted by the organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James O'Keefe</span> American conservative filmmaker

James Edward O'Keefe III is an American political activist who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptively edited videos and information gathering techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses. O'Keefe served as chairman until he was fired from the organization in February 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence Thomas</span> U.S. Supreme Court justice since 1991 (born 1948)

Clarence Thomas is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1991. After Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court and has been its longest-serving member since Anthony Kennedy's retirement in 2018. Since Stephen Breyer's retirement in 2022, he is also the Court's oldest member.

Robert Leonard Schenck is an American Evangelical clergyman who has ministered to elected and appointed officials in Washington, D.C. and serves as president of a non-profit organization named for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Schenck founded the organization Faith and Action in 1995 and led it until 2018. He is the subject of the Emmy Award-winning 2016 Abigail Disney documentary, The Armor of Light. Schenck stated that he was part of a group that paid Norma McCorvey to lie that she had changed her mind and turned against abortion. Once a prominent anti-abortion activist, Schenck has since repudiated this work and expressed support for the legality of abortion. In 2022, Schenck testified before the House Judiciary Committee concerning his allegation that a member of the Supreme Court leaked information about a pending case before the Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Veritas</span> Former far-right activist group in the U.S.

Project Veritas is an American far-right activist group founded by James O'Keefe in 2010. The group produces deceptively edited videos of its undercover operations, which use secret recordings in an effort to discredit mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Project Veritas also uses entrapment to generate bad publicity for its targets, and has propagated disinformation and conspiracy theories in its videos and operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Loomer</span> American far-right activist (born 1993)

Laura Elizabeth Loomer is an American far-right political activist and internet personality. She was the Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, losing to Democrat Lois Frankel. She also ran in the Republican primary for Florida's 11th congressional district in 2022, narrowly losing to incumbent Daniel Webster. She has been described as espousing anti-Muslim, white nationalist and conspiracy theorist views.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), returning to individual states the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal statutory law.

References

  1. ↑ Gabriel, Trip (October 7, 2021). "The Liberal Activist Who Targets Republicans with a MAGA Masquerade". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "American Family Voices" . Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Democracy Partners" . Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive: Inside the Koch Brothers' Secret Billionaire Summit". The Nation. June 17, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville suggests he might challenge Electoral College count; other GOP senators mum". USA Today. December 17, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  6. ↑ "New Project Veritas Dossier Compiles Photos of James O'Keefe's Known Associates". The Intercept. January 3, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  7. ↑ "At Koch Retreat, Top GOP Senate Candidates Credited Koch Network For Their Rise". Huffington Post. August 28, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  8. ↑ Ehrenhalt, Alan (January 19, 2016). "'Dark Money,' by Jane Mayer". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  9. ↑ Dwyer, Jim (January 26, 2016). "What Happened to Jane Mayer When She Wrote About the Koch Brothers". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  10. ↑ "'Burning Down The Place': Trump Eyes Pardons For Allies After Losing Election". YouTube. December 4, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Perdue can't vote on Georgia's presidential electoral results this week". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. January 3, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Exposed: Right-Wing Activist Tries to Infiltrate Sierra Club". Sierra Club. November 28, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Right-Wing Sting Group Project Veritas Is Breaking Facebook's "Authentic Behavior" Rule. Now What?". The Intercept. June 11, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Liberal Group Looks to 'Out' James O'Keefe's Project Veritas Operatives". The Daily Beast. June 25, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Windsor admits her part in coordinating white supremacist hoax". Twitter. October 29, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Lincoln Project Members Pose as White Supremacists at Virginia GOP Event". The Guardian. October 30, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Lauren.Windsor – Netroots Nation" . Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  18. ↑ Gabriel, Trip (October 7, 2021). "The Liberal Activist Who Targets Republicans With a MAGA Masquerade". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  19. ↑ VanSickle, Abbie (June 11, 2024). "In Secret Recordings, Alito Endorses Nation of 'Godliness.' Roberts Talks of Pluralism". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  20. ↑ Cole, Devan (June 11, 2024). "The Alitos and Roberts discuss politically sensitive topics in secret recordings by liberal activist". CNN Politics . Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 The Associated Press. "Justice Alito questions possibility of political compromise in secret recording". ABC News . Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is heard questioning whether compromise between the left and right is possible in a conversation posted on social media
  22. 1 2 3 Tait, Robert (June 11, 2024). "Alito doubts US right and left can co-exist and wife criticizes Pride flag in secret recording". The Guardian . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  23. 1 2 Gerstein, Josh. "Alito and his wife are captured in audio recordings talking about abortion leak, flag controversy". Politico . Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  24. 1 2 McHardy, Martha (June 11, 2024). "Wife of Supreme Court justice complains about having to look at a Pride flag in secret recording". The Independent . Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  25. ↑ Durkee, Alison. "Supreme Court Ethics Controversies: Alito's Remarks On Secret Recording Draw Concern". Forbes.
  26. ↑ "Justice Roberts and Justice Alito secretly recorded at the Supreme Court Historical Society". Reason. June 10, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  27. ↑ Schonfeld, Zach (June 11, 2024). "Supreme Court Historical Society condemns secret recordings at group's dinner". The Hill .
  28. 1 2 3 Jouvenal, Justin; Marimow, Ann E. (June 10, 2024). "Justice Alito talked about political divide on purported secret recording". Washington Post . Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  29. ↑ "Prof. Jane Kirtley Quoted in New York Times About Filmmaker That Secretly Recorded Supreme Court Justices", law.umn.edu. June 10, 2024.
  30. ↑ "The Secret Supreme Court Tapes: A political activist infiltrated a gala to try provoking Justice Alito and his wife.", wsj.com. Accessed June 14, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.