Dear John,

There’s a dangerous new attack on free speech from Trump that’s flying under the radar.

It’s a new presidential directive called NSPM-7 — and it may be the most sweeping attack on the First Amendment that I’ve seen in my 60 years in politics.

NSPM-7, which stands for the National Security Presidential Memorandum #7, defines a sweeping range of commonly held political beliefs as indicators of “domestic terrorism,” including “anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity,” “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” and opposition to “traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

I went to Harvard Law School, and I can’t tell you what those terms mean. But I’m pretty sure Trump would say most of it applies to me.

The order then directs the FBI to focus its counterterrorism task forces on investigating donors and nonprofits that may be guilty of these thought crimes, and orders the Treasury Department to strip their tax-exempt nonprofit status.

This is what authoritarianism looks like. Inequality Media Civic Action is sounding the alarm about NSPM-7 and urging Congress to take action now to defend our First Amendment rights.

To help launch this effort, I’m humbly asking you to start a monthly donation to Inequality Media Civic Action to fund our campaign against NSPM-7, educate the public, and ensure that we have the resources to fight back in court if we are ever targeted under NSPM-7.

The language of NSPM-7 is alarmingly reminiscent of the McCarthy-era witch hunts, when Americans were blacklisted, silenced, and ruined for expressing their opinions.

Under NSPM-7, peaceful advocacy is branded as terrorism. A sermon, a protest sign, an op-ed in a student paper, or even a donation to a social justice or environmental group could be held up as “evidence” of disloyalty.

The entire document is flagrantly illegal and unconstitutional, but since the Supreme Court handed Trump immunity from criminal prosecution, he thinks he can get away with it.

The ACLU calls NSPM-7 “a fever dream of conspiracies” meant to “investigate and intimidate his critics,” and I think they’re absolutely correct.

But I will not be intimidated by Trump or any of his authoritarian henchmen.

Inequality Media Civic Action has launched an urgent effort to sound the alarm about NSPM-7, educate the public, and demand that Congress take action to stop these abuses — and we’re counting on your support to help fund our efforts.

Will you join with me and start a monthly donation to Inequality Media Civic Action today?

Thank you,

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action