Founder and Executive Director @protectdemocracy.org. Former Associate White House Counsel. Tweets my own.https://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mwvzp5jaqs2rWe @protectdemocracy.org have been working with allies across the country to help ensure a free and fair election. Ben Gips and I recount our efforts in California @democracyproject.bsky.social, where attention could be focused in November. https://democracyproject.org/posts/going-to-california02 Oct 2026 18:43 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwvzp5jaqs2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mwrj53tkgc26This perfectly encapsulates what seems to be happening in politics, something many of us have waited for for years: people who were seemingly brainwashed by a Trump cult coming out of it. Listen here to a Trump superfan in her own words: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2026/09/28/trumps-joes-exit-the-front-row-01094720?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000015a-706a-dfa6-ad7b-7c6f6c25000030 Sep 2026 23:36 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwrj53tkgc26https://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mwpsmx5vr22mCongratulations to this year’s @macfound.org fellows! https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/arts/design/macarthur-foundation-announces-2026-genius-grant-winners.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share30 Sep 2026 07:21 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwpsmx5vr22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mwlr7ao6gc26BREAKING: Federal Court blocks Trump Admin attempt to misuse homeland security funds to force states to bend to its efforts to interfere in local election processes. Big win for our clients, partners, and American voters. @protectdemocracy.org28 Sep 2026 16:45 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwlr7ao6gc26https://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mw32t2qn6s2cOne of the most powerful essays you’ll read this year, from Nikole Hannah-Jones https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share22 Sep 2026 01:22 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw32t2qn6s2chttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mvy25olytk2eIt appears Donald Trump has endorsed ranked choice voting.20 Sep 2026 20:32 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvy25olytk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mvuy5pwntc2fThis is exactly the kind of careful, ethical person who should be in charge of dangerous world-altering technology. OpenAI’s premise that only they can do this safely is clearly in good hands. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/technology/microsoft-openai-publishing-industry.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share19 Sep 2026 15:18 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvuy5pwntc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mvusj7sh222yCan you imagine the goverment response if this many pharmaceutical companies experimenting with potentially deadly viruses let them leak out of their “secure” biolabs? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/google-gemini-ai.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share19 Sep 2026 13:37 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvusj7sh222yhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mvpxr3q6e22rThis is a stunning article, featuring interviews with sitting federal judges, including stalwart conservatives, warning that the Trump Admin's actions in Minnesota “created a grave threat to the rule of law.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/us/politics/minnesota-judge-trump-immigration.html17 Sep 2026 15:28 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvpxr3q6e22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mvksdie54k2o@garymarcus.bsky.social with an update on our lawsuit to get the White House to reveal its secret AI regulatory framework https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/breaking-secret-us-ai-evaluation15 Sep 2026 14:07 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvksdie54k2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mv52bngvk22oThis pairing in my feed really drove home our moment in history.10 Sep 2026 02:52 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv52bngvk22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mv3rfiw7pk23Two Nations. Two Democracies at Stake. Thomas Friedman on the coming elections and the stakes. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/opinion/israel-us-elections-midterms-netanyahu-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share09 Sep 2026 14:40 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3rfiw7pk23https://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3muz7ff3rd22hJust a giant gang of grifters using our government to line their pockets. [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Sep 2026 14:13 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3muz7ff3rd22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3muwuvg57jk23Happy Labor Day. As @jenrubin.bsky.social writes at @contrariannews.org, a key phase in the movement to not just reclaim but reimagine our democracy goes into high gear starting now: https://www.contrariannews.org/p/labor-day-is-more-essential-than07 Sep 2026 16:00 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwuvg57jk23https://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mugquu2k4s2cThe country feels like a giant Jenga game right now. Where Trump keeps pushing out important pieces and at some point the whole thing’s gonna come crashing down. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/us/politics/army-secretary-daniel-driscoll-resign.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share01 Sep 2026 06:05 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mugquu2k4s2chttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mtw4qf4p7c2yDid you know that depriving people of the right to vote has been a legal violation since at least 1703 in common law England? @protectdemocracy.org's Cameron Kistler explains why that matters for how the courts are handling disenfranchisement schemes today: https://electionlawblog.org/2026/cameron-kistler-hog-barns-and-ballot-boxes-the-disenfranchisement-tort-the-8th-circuit-missed-in-minnesota-voters-alliance/25 Aug 2026 15:22 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtw4qf4p7c2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mtuj7lxtbs2iHopefully we are learning that you can’t expect to just bully everyone in the world — via tariffs, or sanctions, or missiles — into bowing to you. The world is more complicated and multi-polar than that. Trump is teaching us that lesson the hard way. I pray we survive learning it.25 Aug 2026 00:00 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtuj7lxtbs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mtqb4yhmm22dIn 1914 in a small rural theater in France, moviegoers booed vigorously when Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany appeared on screen in a newsreel. Stefan Zweig wrote that seeing regular people so angry about a foreign head of state signaled to him the conflicts to come. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Aug 2026 07:25 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtqb4yhmm22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/ianbassin.bsky.social/post/3mtm2kgjmms23Trump’s threat to sue @americanprogress.bsky.org is both the flailing of a weak and cowardly leader and a dangerous attack on the First Amendment. Make it backfire. Share their report and donate to them. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/trump-lawsuit-liberal-think-tank.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Aug 2026 15:17 +0000at://did:plc:da5irtfnfcesevyimzjfj2ho/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtm2kgjmms23