US citizen mobilization, dreaming big vs Trump

NEW YORK — The organization may have only five employees and a small office in the Empire State Building, but its ambitions are huge: holding the Trump administration accountable and fighting what it sees as the erosion of democratic norms in the United States.

Far from the noisy street protesters and the politically fractured Congress, Integrity First for America quietly showcases a new citizen zeal ignited in the United States under President Donald Trump.

Bankrolled by Democratic Party donors, and uniting investigative journalists with top-flight lawyers, IFA is sharpening its talons against what spokesman Brett Edkins calls the erosion of civil norms and elected leaders undermining fundamental rights.

Its creation highlights the liberal US climate under Trump: political opponents of the Republican president, shocked by a victory they thought impossible, are wondering how best to mobilize against the unthinkable.

Posters that read "We, the people" — the first three words of the US Constitution — hang in IFA's lobby, which they share with a large law firm.

Just months after the non-profit started to take shape last summer, IFA's work is already showing results.

In October, they filed a lawsuit against 25 white supremacists and hate groups behind the racial violence that rocked the country last August in Charlottesville, Virginia. The case was filed in the name of 10 victims.

"The first case we are bringing is an example. It's not against politicians, it's against resurgent groups of violent racists," said Edkins, 33.

The case is about "bringing transparency" to farright groups, shining a light on their resources and fundraising, "and making sure that hate and bigotry does not become normalized" — even if it takes years to wind through the courts, Edkins said.

IFA is now working on a second investigation which it hopes to announce in the coming months.

The group is "looking at various public officials from Trump down and their private financial ties on the Charlottesville case," said Edkins. He hopes the case will "have a major public impact in 2018."