As a bilateral group Without tags As he attempted to launch an independent third-party bid in the 2024 presidential race, several of his opponents aggressively attempted to sabotage his operations in an attempt to prevent the group from moving forward, according to a lawsuit filed by the group.
A lawsuit originally filed against NoLabels.com Inc. in December 2023 in the U.S. District Court of Delaware alleges that some in the Democratic Party made deliberate efforts to undermine the group, eventually forcing it to cease operations. No Labels now seeks to recover monetary damages as a result.
NoLabels.com Inc., created to mimic the real No Labels website – NoLabels.org, is believed to be incorporated in Delaware, according to the suit.
Documents sealed in the case show how a handful of Democratic strategists operating under the false banner NoLabels.com attempted to use scare tactics to sow uncertainty among No Labels supporters and donors, fuel skepticism in the media, and cast doubt on its authenticity and reach. centrist group At one point, activists targeted No Labels founder Nancy Jacobson, as well as candidates interested in serving on her “Unity Ticket.”
People from the No Labels group hold signs during a rally on Capitol Hill, July 13, 2013.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
One document contained a series of deals orchestrated by a group of political operatives called the American Patriots Project (APP) to impersonate the No Labels website by purchasing the NoLabels.com domain and Google search ads. According to the bureau, the operatives attempted to mislead voters and paint the group as a centrist Christian-nationalist group and featured images of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking on behalf of the group. The aim of the saboteurs was to show that No Labels was a right-wing shadow effort. He also tried to falsely pin the proposal on “red meat issues” such as immigration and anti-abortion messages.
Gregory B. Williams, US District Court for the District of Delaware, issued a court order for the agents to take down the NoLabels.com website; however, No Labels believes there were further attempts to discredit their operations.
No Labels subpoenaed APP on November 5 in an attempt to find out more information.
Democratic strategists with ties to American Bridge — which it calls the largest investigative, video monitoring and rapid response organization affiliated with the Democratic Party — also tried to single out donors, according to a three-step proposal in an email listed in court. the documents When donors were talking, strategists would suggest that their money was being mismanaged with inefficient or wasteful spending. These strategists also tried to misinform the media about the goals of No Labels.
ABC News reached out to American Bridge for comment, but did not receive a response.
Earlier this week, No Labels bosses updated supporters on a Zoom call.
“We believe in democracy in this organization, and obviously some people didn’t want us to live democracy the way we lived it,” said Mike Rawlings, the group’s national convention chairman, before turning down the call to Dan Webb. Labels board member informed followers of legal findings.
Webb informed followers that he had asked the Department of Justice to look into possible illegal conduct.
“I think one of the defining stories will be that it’s wrong for a group of elite donors, party operatives, media spokespeople to actually decide that the way we need to protect democracy is to make sure we have less of it.” Webb said.
Most of the No Labels “family members” on the call were outraged by the accusations and called for national exposure, suggesting outlets like “60 Minutes” or Joe Rogan’s podcast to spread awareness. In general, the call was an opportunity for supporters to air their grievances.
“I wholeheartedly agree with publicizing this as much as possible, and not pretending it’s normal politics,” said one supporter.
“This is not acceptable; they have hindered the democratic process here”, added another supporter.
Asked if the efforts were “just politics” or “dirty politics,” No Labels leaders suggested they went further.
“I’m a big believer in the First Amendment, and political speech is absolutely protected by the First Amendment, but the law is also clear that you can’t break the law and even if you broke the law, you were just saying that you were doing politics,” Webb said.
He continued, “I think we did the right thing by reporting the information to the Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice decides what it decides.”
One supporter suggested the scandal was like Watergate and questioned whether the case was worth pursuing. Another supporter told No Labels leaders to focus on the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus and ignore the past.
“We should focus on the fact that no candidate has a majority in this election,” suggested one supporter. “Our need is to direct Congress to resolve it. So I think we have to carefully balance that and not focus in a way that distracts from a major issue and puts us in a position where we’re tied to the Trump administration.”
In April, the group then suspended its efforts no candidate found which had a credible path to victory with its bipartisan platform.
No Labels wanted to offer a different option than the presumptive presidential candidates of the time — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — to citizens yearning for something new rather than a repeat of the 2020 election. When they entered the race in March, their internal polls showed that more than 70% of Americans said they would be open to another chance.
The group plans to meet with supporters in Washington, DC in December to create a plan to address the new Congress and work with congressional leaders.
-ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
