October 9, 2025 - OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 10 attorneys general in issuing a joint statement condemning President Trump’s baseless and unprecedented attacks on nonprofits’ freedom of speech. In a September 25, 2025, memorandum, President Trump directed the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and potentially prosecute organizations and entities, including nonprofits and charities, that support or fund causes and activities that the Trump Administration disagrees with, under the guise of fighting “political violence.” This includes, among other things, a threat to investigate “institutional and individual funders, and officers and employees of organizations, that are responsible for, sponsor, or otherwise aid and abet” causes, policies, or ideas that Trump opposes. Perversely, President Trump claims without justification that the organizations he targets in the memo are engaged in activities that are “designed to suppress lawful political activity or obstruct the rule of law,” when in fact the clear intent of his memo is to quell nonprofits’ freedom of speech and freedom of association that the First Amendment protects. 

In their statement, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition said:

Among the rights Americans cherish most are our freedom of speech and freedom of association, which the Constitution has guaranteed for more than 200 years, and one of the important ways Americans express those freedoms is through supporting, belonging to, and volunteering for nonprofits and charitable organizations. Charities and nonprofits are woven into the fabric of American society, in every state and community. Any attempts to target nonprofits for simply fulfilling their missions, no matter their beliefs or worldview, is a gross violation of their and all Americans’ First Amendment rights to free speech and free association — which the U.S. Supreme Court recently held ‘is especially important in preserving political and cultural diversity and in shielding dissident expression from suppression by the majority.’ In a country founded on the right to hold different opinions than the king, the President’s shameless attempt to punish nonprofits and charities who may not co-sign his extremist agenda is deeply un-American.

These coercive efforts also violate donors’ intent for how contributions should be used. As attorneys general, we are the chief regulators of nonprofits, charities, and charitable trusts in our states, and serve as representatives of the public and donor intent. We strongly condemn the Trump Administration’s naked effort to intimidate charities from fulfilling their missions and donors’ intent. Our message to the nonprofits and charities we oversee is: You keep fulfilling your missions, and we will keep fighting against attempts to weaponize the government to suppress your legitimate activities and constitutional freedoms.  

State attorneys general across the country are the chief regulators of nonprofits corporations, charitable trusts, and charitable solicitations, and work to ensure that those organizations are properly registered under their states’ laws. They are also the chief enforcers of their states' civil charities laws.  

Joining Attorney General Bonta in issuing this statement are the attorneys general of Minnesota, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and Washington. 

PAST WORK

As California's top lawyer and law enforcement official, Attorney General Bonta has continued to defend against the Trump Administration’s campaign of political retribution and suppression of speech. Last month, Attorney General Bonta sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing grave concern with the alarming trend of the U.S. Department of Justice wielding its prosecutorial power for the improper purpose of political retribution following the apparently politically-influenced indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. Attorney General Bonta also called on Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr to stop his campaign of censorship after his intimidation of television broadcasters led to Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show being pulled off the air. 

Earlier this year, Attorney General Bonta, along with 20 other state attorneys general, issued an open letter urging the legal community to stand together in defense of the rule of law in response to President Trump’s calls for the impeachment of federal judges and threats of retribution against law firms. He has stood with WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, Susman Godfrey, and Perkins Coie in amicus briefs in support of their lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s retaliatory executive orders targeting law firms that represent clients or positions it disagrees with. And he issued a separate statement on the need to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system is undermined, and our laws are broken. 

Source: CA. DOJ