Citizens United (organization)

Citizens United is a conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in the United States founded in 1988. In 2010, the organization won a U.S. Supreme Court case known as Citizens United v. FEC. The Court ruled that corporations and unions could not be prohibited from making independent expenditures in federal elections, citing First Amendment protections of free speech. As of 2025, the organization’s president and chairman is David Bossie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Overview

Citizens United's stated mission is to restore the United States government to "citizens' control, through a combination of education, advocacy, and grass-roots organization" seeking to "reassert the traditional American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security."<ref name=":0">Who We Are, CitizensUnited.org</ref> Citizens United is a conservative political advocacy group organized under Section 501(c)4 of the federal tax code, meaning that donations are not tax deductible. To fulfill this mission, Citizens United produces television commercials, web advertisements, and documentary films.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> CU film Perfect Valor was named Best Documentary at the GI Film Festival, and Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny also received a Remi Award at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.Template:Citation needed

David Bossie has been its president since 2000. In 2016 he took a leave of absence to be deputy campaign manager of Donald Trump's campaign for President of the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its offices are on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, D.C.

Leadership

The current president, David Bossie, has been president since he served as the chief investigator into then President Bill Clinton's possible abuse of finances in 1997, and was later the deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. In 2020, he served in executive positions for President Donald Trump's and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection campaigns.<ref name=":0" />

History

The political action committee Citizens United was founded in 1988 by Floyd Brown, a longtime Washington political consultant. The group promotes free enterprise, socially conservative causes and candidates who advance their mission.

Positions and advocacy

Citizens United is known for its support of conservatives in politics. The group produced a television advertisement that reveals several legislative actions taken by John McCain, which aired on Fox News Channel.<ref>Citizens United Against McCain, January 31, 2008. Template:Webarchive</ref> On October 2, 2006, in reaction to revelations of a cover-up of inappropriate communications between Republican Congressman Mark Foley and House pages, Citizens United president David Bossie called on Dennis Hastert to resign over his role in covering up the scandal.<ref>Conservative Activists Call on Hastert To Resign, ThinkProgress, October 2, 2006.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The group sued and lost a case against New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over Schneiderman's demand that it disclose all its donors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1999, Citizens United wrote and funded a VHS tape produced by The Strategy Group on the Clinton administration's relationship with Chinese businessmen called "The Truth Revealed... Confidential Report: Bill Clinton, Al Gore and the Communist Chinese Connection". It is written and hosted by then company president, Floyd G. Brown.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Citizens United campaigned against Michael Moore's 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11, advocating for government limits on how much advertising the film received.<ref name=npr>Template:Cite news</ref> It also made advertisements attacking the film,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and when the Federal Election Commission held that Moore's film was not a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act, produced its own rebuttal film called Celsius 41.11.<ref name=fox>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the FEC held that paying to air Celsius 41.11 would constitute an illegal corporate campaign expenditure.<ref name=HistoryCommons>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, Citizens United produced a documentary film highly critical of Hillary Clinton called Hillary: The Movie.<ref name=mj>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Fearing prosecution from the FEC, the organization sought a declaratory judgment in federal court to assure their right to show the movie, leading ultimately to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. It previously produced and screened advertisements attacking other Democrats, including Bill Clinton,<ref name=npr/> John Kerry,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Al Gore.<ref name=mj/> In the 1988 US presidential election, Citizens United ran an ad that used Willie Horton to attack Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis.

The group has produced a film criticizing the United Nations.<ref name=fox/>

Trump administration

In 2016, the Donald Trump presidential campaign enlisted Citizens United President David Bossie as deputy campaign manager.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the campaign, Bossie made regular television appearances on behalf of the Trump campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bossie is a close friend and longtime acquaintance of Trump administration officials Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> having introduced Bannon to Trump in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Documentaries

Citizens United has released 25 documentaries. These include:

• The Truth Revealed... Confidential Report: Bill Clinton, Al Gore and the Communist Chinese Connection (1999)
• Celsius 41.11 (2004)
• Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration (2006)
• Hillary: The Movie (2008)
• Rediscovering God in America (2008)
• Fire From the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman (2010)
• Generation Zero (2010)
• Nine Days that Changed the World (2010)
• Occupy Unmasked (2012)

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Template:Main Citizens United was the plaintiff in a Supreme Court case that began as a challenge to various statutory provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), known as the "McCain-Feingold" law. The case revolved around the documentary Hillary: The Movie, which was produced by Citizens United. Under the McCain-Feingold law, a federal court in Washington, D.C., ruled that Citizens United would be barred from advertising its film.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The case ([[[:Template:SCOTUS URL Docket]] 08-205], 558 U.S. 50 (2010)) was heard in the United States Supreme Court on March 24, 2009. During oral argument, the government argued that under existing precedents, it had the power under the Constitution to prohibit the publication of books and movies if they were made or sold by corporations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After that hearing, the Court requested re-argument specifically to address whether deciding the case required the Court to reconsider those earlier decisions in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce and McConnell v. FEC. The case was re-argued on September 9. On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court overturned the provision of McCain-Feingold barring corporations and unions from paying for political ads made independently of candidate campaigns.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A dissenting opinion by Justice Stevens<ref name="Ref_d">Stevens opinion at ibid.</ref> was joined by Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, and Justice Sotomayor.

Funding

Citizens United has accepted funding from The Presidential Coalition, LLC<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (which according to their website is "An Affiliate Of Citizens United")<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Koch brothers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer