Five years ago today, our democracy was violently attacked. What unfolded on January 6, 2021 was not a protest gone wrong—it was an authoritarian power grab, incited by a sitting president who refused to accept the will of the people and sought to cling to power through violence and intimidation.
In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, Lawyers for Good Government spoke clearly and unequivocally. More than 12,000 lawyers and supporters joined our call to invoke the Constitution, to remove Donald J. Trump from office, to impeach and disqualify him, and to investigate all who contributed to that assault on the rule of law. We said then—and we say now—that no one is above the law, and that democracy cannot survive when those entrusted with power are permitted to subvert it without consequence.
Five years later, the warning signs we named in 2021 have not faded. They have metastasized.
Donald Trump did not merely return to power; he has used it to further erode the institutions meant to constrain executive abuse. We have seen sustained attacks on judicial independence, open defiance of congressional authority, the hollowing out of professional civil service, and the deliberate weakening of the separation of powers that undergirds our constitutional system. Accountability for January 6 was never fully realized—and in some cases has been actively dismantled. Political violence has been excused, normalized, and even rewarded.
But this truth remains: the rule of law still matters, and it only endures when it is actively defended. Constitutional democracy depends on institutions willing to assert their authority—and on people willing to insist that power has limits and elections have consequences.
At L4GG, we are not waiting for permission to defend democracy. We are building the legal firewalls this moment demands. In 2025, our community mobilized $50 million in pro bono legal support to defend democratic institutions, protect vulnerable communities, and uphold the rule of law—deploying lawyers where harm was immediate and accountability was most at risk. Our power is real. Our community is ready. And our work is only accelerating.
We believe what we believed five years ago: the rule of law is not partisan, and a president who incites violence poses an immediate threat to our republic. Lawyers have a professional and moral obligation to meet moments like this with clarity, resolve, and action.
We are not simply responding to crises—we are reshaping how the legal profession shows up for democracy. That is what this moment demands, and that is what L4GG was built to do.
On this solemn anniversary, we remember what was at stake on January 6, 2021. We recognize how much more is now at stake. And we recommit ourselves—without illusion and without hesitation—to the work ahead.
We are still here.
We are still organizing.
And we are not backing down.