State Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan all-star team of experts in safeguarding democracy.
State Democracy Defenders Fund fills three key gaps in the fight against election sabotage and autocracy:
- Our all-star team goes on offense against democracy deniers who break the law, including through our innovative program of outside public support for criminal prosecutions.
- We work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundation of our democracy — free and fair elections.
- We help shape the long-term strategy to defeat autocracy in 2025 — and beyond.
Events, News and Resources
Op-Ed
July 3, 2024
CNN Opinion: Trump’s Immunity Has a Limit
Norm Eisen explains why the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling has no bearing on Trump’s 34 felony convictions in Manhattan. More
Report
June 26, 2024
Just Security: Should Trump Serve Jail Time? A Survey of Sentences for Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree
This report surveys many falsifying business records convictions in New York, determining that a sentence of incarceration is indeed warranted for former President Trump’s felony convictions. More
Report
June 24, 2024
Lawfare: Prepare for a 2024 Mini Trial in Trump’s D.C. Prosecution
Norm Eisen explains how the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity — which remands back to the district court for fact-finding — gives Judge Chutkan the opportunity for a “mini trial” to inform voters of Trump’s alleged felonies prior to the election. More
Report
June 17, 2024
Brookings: A Better Anti-Corruption Machine: Breakthroughs Needed to Fight Illicit Finance and Protect Democracy
Norm Eisen and others explain how illicit finance and financial secrecy pose a growing danger to democracy and what must be done to address this corruption. More
In the News
June 14, 2024
What Trump’s Conviction Means for Democracy
Ambassador Norman L. Eisen (Ret.) testifies at the Hearing on the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. More
People
Leadership
Ambassador Norm Eisen (ret.)
Co-founder and Board Member
Co-founder of States United and CREW, Ambassador Norman Eisen (ret.) also served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee majority during the impeachment proceedings and trial of President Donald J. Trump in 2019 and 2020. He is a CNN Legal Analyst and author or editor of five previous books, details of which can be found at normaneisen.com. Eisen was the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014. From January 2009 to January 2011, Eisen worked in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform. Eisen received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991 and his B.A. from Brown University in 1985, both with honors.
Susan Corke
Managing Director
Susan is the Managing Director of SDDF. For two decades, she has served in senior pro-democracy leadership roles at the Southern Poverty Law Center, German Marshall Fund of the U.S., Freedom House, Human Rights First and the U.S. Department of State. She has testified and spoken at major international and political forums, including testifying on Capitol Hill several times on human rights and democracy issues, at the United Nations, European Union, and other official conferences. She has been a regular commentator in American and European broadcast, print, radio and digital media, a lecturer at leading universities, co-author of The Democracy Playbook and a Webby-nominated podcaster, writer, and editor for numerous research and policy reports that drove democratic progress. She serves on boards for William & Mary and other nonprofits.
Spencer Boyer
Board Member
Spencer Boyer is a Partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge group, leading the firm’s National Security, Defense and Aerospace practice. He served for nearly 3 years in the Biden administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy. His government service includes senior roles in both terms of the Obama administration, including as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2009-2011. He has also served as a Director, Senior Fellow or Visiting Scholar with numerous think tanks, including the Center for American Progress, the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS, the Brookings Institution and the Brennan Center for Justice.
Brian Frosh
Board Member
Brian Frosh served as Maryland’s 46th Attorney General from 2015 to 2023. During his two terms as Attorney General, Brian Frosh worked to ensure fairness, equality and justice for all Marylanders. Prior to that, he served in the Maryland General Assembly for 28 years, including 12 as chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, where he led the effort to pass gun safety legislation that has been called some of the toughest and most effective in the nation.
Matt Traldi
Co-founder and Board Member
Matt Traldi is the founder and CEO of Greenlight America, which accelerates the clean energy transition across the U.S. through grassroots campaigns. In 2022, he led the Democracy Defense Coalition’s election crisis boiler room, a movement-wide coalition effort involving hundreds of organizations. In 2016, he was one of the co-authors of the Indivisible Guide and a co-founder of the Indivisible organizations, for which he was named one of TIME Magazine’s “25 Most Influential People on the Internet.” Previously, he worked for more than a decade in the labor movement as an organizer, researcher, policy director and Secretary-Treasurer of a local union.