Tag: Grace Church

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Church Evangelical Stuff News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur, Grace Community Church, and the Strip Clubs

Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church (GCC) are readying themselves to go to court and fight for their right to have church services now that they have a trial date, which is set for January 15th, but a recent ruling on strip clubs being open may be the key to the case in showing how absurd these restrictions really are.

Two weeks ago, on November 6th, Judge Joel R. Wohlfeil of the San Diego Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order against the tyrannical Governor Gavin Newsom and San Diego County, stopping them from enforcing their shutdown restrictions against the strip-club, “Pacers Showgirls.”

The court found that the strip clubs’ ungodly entertainment of women shamelessly dancing in the nude is “constitutionally protected speech” and decided that “the harm to the strip clubs if the application is denied is greater than the harm to the government if the application is granted.”

How lovely.

Paul Jonna, a lawyer at the Thomas Mores Society, which is representing Grace Church, explained the relationship between both entities staying open when he told ONN:

The county is trying to hold the [Grace Community Church] in contempt for violating the court’s preliminary injunction, so there is actually a trial set now for January 15 where the court will hear testimony and consider whether to hold Pastor MacArthur and the church in contempt for holding indoor services in defiance of the court’s preliminary injunction order. So, our position, the church’s position, is that the order is unconstitutional.”

We have currently pending multiple petitions at the U.S. Supreme Court we could hear next week or next month. We could get the five justices we need to enjoin these restrictions, because we previously had four in a different case we were involved in. But with Justice Barrett on the Court, these restrictions could easily be enjoined with five votes…”

[As fas as the strip clubs go], they said that the dancing was protected speech. So, I mean, the absurdity in California right now with judges saying there’s constitutional protections for strip clubs and not churches, we’re quite confident that ultimately this will get sorted out the right way.

This is a constitutional travesty that must be immediately rectified. As one California judge aptly noted — you can’t treat a church like a hair salon because churches are entitled to greater protection under the Constitution. And you certainly can’t treat a church like a strip club. In California, churches are being treated worse than strip clubs. The constitutional right to worship God is infinitely more important than any right to entertainment.

MacArthur, commenting on the moral freefall of America that allows this to happen, said in an interview with Laura Ingraham:

America is in a moral free fall. Just look at it as I would as a pastor. You murder the babies in the womb. If they survive the womb, you try to seduce them into transgender sexual deviation when they’re young. If they survive that, you corrupt them with a godless education. If they survive that, you have divorce in the family and if they grow to be adults, you drown them in a sea of pornography. This is a nation so far down in the sewer of immorality and wickedness that nothing surprises me. In fact, I would be shocked if a judge said, ‘Open all the churches and close all the strip clubs.’

Just a quick run through history. Go back to Julius Caesar. Go back to Napoleon. Go into the modern era. Every revolution – including Hitler’s revolution and the revolution in Russia – every revolution took place in a time when the powers of the people in authority were enlarged because of a supposed emergency. Power-hungry people are using this emergency to gain greater power. This is historic. This is nothing new, and if people don’t fight back, they’re going to fall victim to whatever the intention of this revolution is.

Pray for GCC and Pastor MacArthur as they ready for battle.


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Evangelical Stuff Featured In-person Church Righteous Defiance

LA County Clears John MacArthur’s Church in Outbreak Probe, But Master’s Seminary is Running Hot

Grace Community Church (GCC) has had their recent outbreak restrictions lifted by the LA County after three part-time associates and two staff members became ill with COVID, according to a press release on the Church website, but the County is saying, “Not so fast,” when it comes to whether or not the Sun Valley megachurch is complying.

The LA Times released a story a few weeks ago mired in hysterics, to which they claimed that an “outbreak” had occured at GCC. It was later revealed to have been three part-time associates, and then later two more staff.

Jenna Ellis, special counsel for the Church, said this at the time:

Three very mild positive tests among more than 7,000 people is hardly news. 0.0004 or 0.043% is not an ‘outbreak.’ The L.A. Times and others’ grossly misleading and fear-mongering headlines aim to mischaracterize Grace Community Church as irresponsible and a superspreader.

Now that several weeks have passed, GCC released a statement on their website, informing that the outbreak restrictions have been lifted:

Outbreak Restrictions Lifted

We are glad to announce that we received a notice from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Thursday, November 12, saying that we have been cleared of COVID-19 outbreak. After a thorough investigation, Public Health officials have decided to rescind all outbreak related requirements and restrictions on Grace Community Church.

We don’t exactly know what particular and specific precautions were being applied, but we do know that the Church is not complying with most previous restrictions, as they are still holding church services indoors, filled to capacity, and are not social distancing or wearing masks.

Warren Throckmorton reached out to LA County to get a comment on GCC’s news, and they sent this statement:

Public Health’s investigation into the Grace Community Church worksite COVID-19 outbreak was recently concluded.  The Church is still required to follow all current Health Officer Order requirements for places of worship, which include outdoor services, as well as all applicable infection control protocols for all activities that occur on the Grace Community Church campus.  Public Health has found that Sun Valley has among the higher rates of COVID-19 transmission in the County of Los Angeles.  Compliance with the required infection control protocols by Grace Community Church will lessen the risk of COVID-19 transmission to its employees and visitors.

So even as the “outbreak” at Grace Church winds down, things are beginning to heat up at The Master’s University and Seminary- which is overseen by GCC. While not particularly as public as the Church itself, they have 14 cases between 130 staff and some 2100 students.

At this time there have been no reports of hospitalizations or deaths.

To see a good commentary and more information, check out the video below:

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Church Coronavirus Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur to Battle in Court Tomorrow: This is What’s Going Down

John MacArthur, the Senior Pastor at Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, is scheduled to be in court tomorrow to discuss his upcoming contempt charges and trial stemming from the church’s decision to defy a court order insisting they shut down indoor services in order to comply with Governor Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 lockdown restriction.

Instead of submitting to the government’s will, the church deliberately continued to have church services, despite being ordered not to and disregarding a September 10 injunction. The County wants them to be found in contempt for flouting the injunction. The church argues that the injunction was granted on the faulty premise of an unconstitutional order, and should have rightly been ignored.

On September 24th, Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff ruled against LA county for the fifth time. Rather than adjudicate the contempt charges, GCC lawyers argued that MacArthur and GCC were first entitled to a full-blown trial on the merits of their lawsuit challenging Gavin Newsom’s shutdown orders, proposing that “a final determination on the constitutionality of the orders must occur before the County could seek contempt against MacArthur for merely holding church.”

The judge was persuaded and agreed. Special Counsel Jenna Ellis explains in a statement from the Thomas More Society:

This is significant because no person can or should be held in contempt of a constitutionally invalid order. Los Angeles County continues to presume that its order is valid, with utter disregard for First Amendment protections. It’s tyranny to even suggest that a government action cannot be challenged and must be obeyed without question. This case goes to the heart of what our founders designed for the purpose of legitimate government—not to be above the rule of law. Pastor MacArthur is simply holding church, which is clearly his constitutionally protected right in this country.

It was a brilliant tactic. With LA’s Superior Court suspending civil trials the rest of the year, this decision effectively let GCC continue holding services for months without being bothered- at least until January 2021 at the earliest. Though it cost the church substantially in legal fees, it guaranteed them the freedom to have their services unimpeded.

The court date tomorrow then is to discuss the extent, scope, and merits of the trial. When it is scheduled to start. How long it will last. What it will cover, and who will be deposed.

One specific matter of contention is the deposition list. Lawyers for GCC are seeking the depositions of LA County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis and one of their supervisors, Sheila Kuehl. County lawyers argue that such information is not needed, preferring to only have the case assessed on the merits of the contempt of the injunction.

In their court papers, GCC lawyers want to ask Davis to “explain in detail why you have not sought a temporary restraining order against any political protesters or protest organizers,” and have him elaborate on why the church was seemingly singled out, and why Davis specifically sought an injunction rather than fines or citations. They state:

Plaintiffs have refused to produce Dr. Muntu Davis for a deposition, despite him being a named plaintiff and the signatory to a key declaration. By so doing, plaintiffs attempt to render themselves the finder of fact on the issue of contempt and to strip defendants of any ability to effectively defend themselves.

The same thing goes for Kuehl. The church’s attorneys want to ask about “any and all actions taken by the County of Los Angeles against Grace Community Church of the Valley, including evidence regarding the basis, motivation, and reasons for such actions.” The County lawyers, however, are supremely opposed to this, arguing:

Defendants’ attempt to kick the can down the road until after a trial on the merits should be rejected. The contempt proceeding should proceed now and should be limited to defendants’ challenges … as to whether this court exceeded its jurisdiction in issuing the preliminary injunction order, i.e., whether the order is void on its face.

As things happen behind the scenes, there has been no further comment from MacArthur about the trial since the 81-year-old pastor took a break from preaching duties on October 5th, following his long-standing habit of taking about a month off each year.

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Church Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur on Grace Church Opening ‘We Don’t Want to Kill People’

John MacArthur, speaking on the Falkirk Podcast about the Church being essential, talked about the insanity of California’s COVID response behavior, responded to criticisms that Grace Community Church being open is killing people, and discussed whether or not he would feel personal responsibility if he gave someone COVID-19 and they passed away. The transcript is below, as well as a video uploaded by The Bible Thumping Wingnut.

The whole state of California is deceived about reality. We were in court today and our attorneys presented a statistic to the court that is staggering. The statistic is this: if you’re between the ages of 50 and 64 in California, you have a 1 in 19.1 million chance of dying of COVID, and yet this whole state is locked down in the most severe level, and even though the numbers are dropping they’re not going to let anyone out of that severe level because the flu might come to and mix again and whatever, and so on the statistical basis alone, this is just completely arbitrary.

When we heard about the ridiculous…models coming out of the Imperial College in the UK that millions were going to die, millions were going to die, we said ‘well we don’t want to kill people.’ I mean that’s ridiculous. Even though we don’t think the flu is sovereign, we think people live and die based on the purposes of God, so I’m not trying to spend my life making sure I don’t kill people, I’m trying to spend my life making sure that everybody who’s gonna die hears the gospel. So I’m not in charge of death, and even if I have a bug and somebody got that bug and died, I didn’t kill that person, that is God’s design, that’s for him to decide.

…You have a 1 in 100th of 1% chance of getting COVID in California. So I just say that because we get accused of putting people in danger, when that is the big lie. You know-‘put on your masks and shut-up and do what we tell you’ is the mantra. Our people don’t believe that. And they believe our job is not to prevent people from getting the virus, it’s to prevent people from going to hell, and so we’re going to meet and we have seen just unbelievably incredible resuls.

…Historically speaking we love to make heroes out of people who bucked the power. Those rebels are historic. Martin Luther, John Calvin, whose seminary was called the ‘school of death’ because so many graduates went to France, preached the gospel, and got killed. John Knox who gets thrown in a dungeon. These are all heroes to us until it comes in our lifetime. And we want to identify with these great reformers and puritans who went through the expulsion, you know they threw them all out of their churches. We want to identify with that kind of heroic Christianity until we’re trying to avoid a virus?

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Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur set to have Church this Morning in Defiance of Court Order: Here’s the Punishment he Faces

John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church (GCC) has indicated that he will have indoor services this morning, in defiance of a preliminary injunction granted by a Los Angeles judge that prohibits him from doing so.

On Thursday L.A. County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff sided with the public health officials hell-bent on shutting down CGG, giving the adversarial officials a win after a string of losses against the church.

The judge overseeing the case ruled that the MacArthur-led megachurch would be barred from having indoor services this coming Sunday as well as every other Sunday for the foreseeable future, arguing that the church being open is an “immediate threat to public health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

With the County obtaining a preliminary injunction, it means that GCC cannot meet indoors until it is resolved, but may still meet outside, so long as they socially distance, wear face masks, and meet in smaller groups. Judge Beckloff wrote in his decision:

But MacArthur has indicated he will defy those orders, telling Shannon Bream in a Fox News interview friday night “We’re going to have Church on Sunday. There is absolutely no reason not to have church as far as safety goes….Plus we’re under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and he says have church, and we’re gonna have it.“

In an op-ed posted this morning by pastor MacArthur on the Daily Wire, he elaborated on his motivations for defying the injunction, writing:

Churches must keep the priorities in order. We cannot sacrifice robust spiritual health, the preaching of the gospel, and the gathering of the church for worship under the power of divine truth in order to guard people from something that is only slightly more threatening than the seasonal flu. We don’t ‘save lives’ in any way that counts for eternity by putting a muzzle on our public proclamation of the Word of life.

Speaking of the commission and purpose for the church, MacArthur asks:

Could anything be more callous than to cause people to fear a virus and then shut them off from the only source where they can have that ultimate fear finally and completely removed?

We, the church, cannot relinquish our duties before God in order to appease the arbitrary, mercurial, and onerous restrictions of a governor who imposes rules on others that he does not even follow himself. Our fear of forsaking the assembly of believers greatly surpasses the fear of being infected by COVID-19 (much less the fear of whatever consequences we might face from government officials). We will put nothing in the way of those who come to church for fellowship, instruction, worship, and the sanctifying benefits of hearing God’s Word proclaimed.

…May the Lord give us all wisdom, courage, and love to honor Him as so many of our spiritual ancestors have done in much harder times than these.

It is not completely clear whether or not the church will have outdoor services, however. So far everything MacArthur has said has indicated that they will not, but rather will continue as usual with their indoor gathering, perhaps buoyed by the knowledge that their lawyer Jenna Ellis has filed an appeal on Friday to contravene the injunction.

As for punishment for intentionally disregarding the court injunction by Judge Beckloff, we read:

  • “If a court issues a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction in an action brought pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), ordering a defendant to refrain from conduct or activities, the order issued shall include the following statement:  VIOLATION OF THIS ORDER IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTION 422.77 OF THE PENAL CODE .
  • Section 422.77: Any willful and knowing violation of any order issued pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 52.1 of the Civil Code shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.“

GCC has so far has amassed over $20,000 in fines for having indoor services and singing during those services, an act outlawed by Governor Gavin Newsom’s shut down order. While we imagine they won’t waver about paying the $1,000, there is a very real threat that they could put pastor MacArthur in jail, based on the willful disobedience and open rebellion he has to the judge’s orders.

Given how rapacious the County has been in seeking to have them shut down – being the 5th time they’ve brought this motion forward, as well as canceling a 45 year parking lease, it would not surprise us to see MacArthur led out in handcuffs in the next several weeks. It’s not overly likely, given the severe nature and optic of such a move, but it is not outside the realm of possibility, given how crazy everything has become.

Pray for Grace Church and Pastor MacArthur.

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Breaking Featured Righteous Defiance

MacArthur Plans to Defy Recent Court Ruling this Sunday ‘We’re going to have Church’

John MacArthur and Jenna Ellis appeared on Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream last night, where the 80-year-old preacher currently embroiled in a battle with L.A county health officials over his church having indoor services, elaborated on what his plans were for this coming service, after a Judge gave the county a preliminary injunction and ruled he was to cease having indoor services at full capacity.

“We’re going to have Church on Sunday. There is absolutely no reason not to have church as far as safety goes. A statistic- one in 100th of 1 percent of Californians have COVID. That’s the number. And yet no one in the entire state of California is allowed to go inside a church. Doesn’t make sense. Plus we’re under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and he says have church, and we’re gonna have it.

Shannon points out that the law is not discriminating solely against churches but also affects any other large gatherings, but Ellis disagrees, saying that it is targeting churches because the state doesn’t have the same restrictions and enforcement on other large gatherings like protests, which they have lauded and encouraged participation in, nor did the ruling acknowledge or consider any meritorious constitutional arguments they claimed.

“When the government is allowed this type of broad, and arbitrary, unlimited and indefinite power, then our rights become mere privileges. And for the judge to characterize this simply as the county ‘allowing’ these types of worship services, that’s not for the county to decide. That’s why our founders put ‘free exercise of religions’ as a fundamentally, constitutionally protected right, so we’re going to stand up for pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church because he’s absolutely right, he gets to hold church.  

Ellis noted that she will file a formal notice of appeal tomorrow

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Breaking Featured Righteous Defiance

Breaking! Judge rules John MacArthur And Grace Church May NOT hold Indoor Services this Sunday

L.A. County officials are celebrating after L.A. County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff sided with the public health officials hell-bent on shutting down Grace Community Church (GCC), giving the adversarial officials a win after a string of losses against the Church.

The judge overseeing the case ruled Thursday that the MacArthur-led megachurch would be barred from having indoor services this coming Sunday, as well as every other Sunday for the foreseeable future, arguing that the church being open is an “immediate threat to public health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

With the county obtaining a preliminary injunction, it means that GCC cannot meet indoors until it is resolved, but may still meet outside, so long as they socially distance, wear face masks, and meet in smaller groups. Judge Beckloff wrote in his decision:

While the court is mindful that there is no substitute for indoor worship in the ‘spiritual refuge’ of a sanctuary, the court cannot ignore the County Health Order does not dictate a ban on worship…

[Furthermore] The potential consequences of community spread of COVID-19 and concomitant risk of death to members of the community, associated and unassociated with the church, outweighs the harm that flows from the restriction on indoor worship caused by the county health order.

While both he and Judge James Chalfant had denied four of the county’s previous bids for a temporary restraining order against the church, the county was able to persuade them on the fifth time. He writes:

“The county persuasively argues congregants of the church are not isolated amongst themselves, but circulate within the county outside of their times together in religious worship. All citizens of the community therefore — even those who do not worship at the church — would be at risk of infection through community spread.”

The order also requires that GCC allow public health officials into their church and onto their property to carry out inspections and ensure the church is in compliance. According to court documents, the church has not allowed them to do this up to this point.

There have been no updates yet or comment from Special Counsel Jenna Ellis of the Thomas More Society, who is representing MacArthur and the Church.

Pray for Grace Community Church and the wisdom of the elder board.

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Breaking Church Featured

Breaking: LA County Pursues ‘Contempt of Court’ Charges against MacArthur’s Grace Church, Demand $20,000 in Fines

Los Angelas County is deadly serious about bringing John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church to the knee, moving to hold the California megachurch in contempt after they held three separate morning services on August 16th, defying a last-minute court order that specifically forbade them from doing so, saying that even they must comply with the state’s lockdown restrictions.

The county is alleging that Grace has committed eight separate acts of contempt, to which they owe $8,000 for those acts (at a fine of $1000 each) as well as an additional $12,000 in fines for violating the court orders (at a fine of $1,500 each) – bringing the total owed to $20,000, and growing if they go ahead with any more services, which MacArthur has indicated he intended to do this Sunday.

The order, which lists both Pastor MacArthur and his church as defendants, also rakes them over the coals for flaunting the violation and thumbing “its nose at the court when decisions don’t go their way.”

Jenna Ellis, the lawyer representing MacArthur and the Church, responded in a press release:

“The LA County Board of Supervisors has decided to continue their unconstitutional attack against Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church. They are now asking the court to hold the church in contempt for simply being open for worship last Sunday. Pastor MacArthur is standing firm that church is essential and has no plans to yield to this tyrannical board, which is clearly defying the constitution’s mandate to protect religious liberty.”

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Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur and GCC Defy Govt and hold Regular Services after Last Minute Court Order Rescinds Exemption

John MacArthur and the Elders at Grace Community Church defied government orders and held their regular Sunday morning services yesterday, without masks and without socially distancing, after a late-night, last-minute appellate court decision removed an exemption they were given on Friday by Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon to have service, so long as they complied with masks and social distancing.

“We’re having church. It’s actually hard to figure out exactly what the city is trying to do, with us and to us, but we know they don’t want us to do exactly what we’re doing right now.”

Said MacArthur, during his opening few minutes, further explaining what was happening and the current state of Grace Community Church as it pertains to the government.

“And we’re not meeting because we want to be rebellious. We’re meeting because our Lord has commanded us to come together and worship him.
There was a court order that granted this church and this church alone the right to meet indoors, and the powers of the city were not happy about that. They were going to be asking us to do two things; social distance and wear masks, that was until yesterday when city…we agreed, look, we’ll comply for a few weeks, they asked that for three weeks. We’re not wanting to be defiant. We will do what is reasonable.

That was not enough for the city, so they went to the appellate court at the last minute on Saturday late and had that order removed.

The California Court of Appeal, led by Judge James Chalfant, issued a stay of the previous judge’s order, ruling that the dangers and risk of catching and transmitting the novel coronavirus outweigh the right to hold services, with the 4-page report summarizing:

“As between the harm that flows from the heightened risk of transmitting COVID-19 (namely “serious illness and death”) and the harm that flows from having to conduct religious services outdoors instead of indoors, the balance at this early stage favors issuance of a stay.”

In a statement, Los Angeles County said it was “pleased that the California Court of Appeal recognizes the vital importance of our Health Officer Orders in protecting the lives and health of our residents as we work to slow the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus.”

The county so far has shown every indication that they will pursue their July 29 cease-and-desist order, where they declared the church would be subject to fines up to $1,000 and 90 days in prison for each indoor service.

Pastor MacArthur continued:

So, the good news is you’re here, you’re not distancing, and you’re not wearing masks. And it’s also good news that you’re not outside because it’s very hot out there. So the Lord knew you needed to be inside and unmasked. So he did us that gracious favor.

They don’t want us to meet, that’s obvious. They don’t want to work with us, they just want to shut us down. But we’re here to bring honor to the lord. They’re not our enemy, we understand that. The bible tells us to pray for their salvation, and we need to be faithful to do that.

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Church Coronavirus Featured

Pastor John MacArthur and GCC Represented by All-Star Legal Team

The Thomas More Society announced in a press release that “nationally renowned attorneys Jenna Ellis and Charles LiMandri will represent Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California, as Special Counsel.”

Grace has been the target of unconstitutional religious discrimination by the City of Los Angeles and the State of California, amid the state’s order to cease in-person church assembly indefinitely after they launched an in-person service to a packed crowd two weeks ago, drastically exceeding restrictions placed on houses of worship having indoor services.

We wrote about John MacArthur’s decision to shut down HERE and released a barn-burner of a podcast offering support and criticism of the timing of Graces’ eventual decision to open HERE.

The Thomas More Society has taken on the case in response to the city of Los Angeles issuing a cease and desist letter that threatened Grace Community Church and Pastor MacArthur specifically with a daily fine of $1000 or arrest.

The Thomas More Society is a “not-for-profit, national public interest law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty” and has argued all the way up to the Supreme Court.

They have assisted “thousands of clients including some of the nation’s most renowned pro-life and religious leaders: David Daleiden, David Bereit, 40 Days for Life, Lila Rose and Live Action, and many more.”

According to the press release, of the two lawyers:

Jenna Ellis is a constitutional law attorney, Senior Fellow at the Falkirk Center for Faith & Liberty, and an allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom. She is the senior legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, private counsel to President Donald Trump, and served on his legal team for the 2020 impeachment trial. She regularly contributes to national media on television and print as a legal analyst.

Charles LiMandri is a constitutional law attorney, religious freedom expert, and Special Counsel for the Thomas More Society. He began the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund in 2012 and has litigated high-profile cases in California for decades, including the ACLU’s effort to remove the Mount Soledad Cross and San Diego’s effort to force firefighters to participate in a gay pride parade against their sincerely held religious beliefs.