{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pressley.house.gov/2026/08/19/news-pressley-ramirez-mcgovern-demand-answers-of-trump-admin-on-persecution-of-political-dissent-targeting-of-left-leaning-political-groups/", "NEWS: Pressley, Ramirez, McGovern Demand Answers of Trump Admin. on Persecution of Political Dissent, Targeting of Left-leaning Political Groups", "2026-08-19", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Ayanna Pressley", "P000617", "pressley.house.gov", "pressley", "https://pressley.house.gov/news/", "scraper", "\u201cDefining political opposition as an existential threat does not make communities safer\u2014it degrades civil liberties, expands state surveillance, enables violence by state actors, and mirrors the repressive tactics of authoritarian regimes worldwide.\u201d\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Congressmembers Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), and Jim McGovern (MA-02) led 23 colleagues in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent demanding an end to the Trump Administration\u2019s policies to persecute political dissent. In the letter, members raised serious concerns regarding the deployment of the State and Treasury Departments policies against the so-called \u201cfar-left networks\u201d as an attempt to target and silence any person, organization, or institution critical of the Administration\u2019s policies and abuses of power on a global scale.\n\nThe letter also asks for the release of all communications, advisories, and guidance between State, Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the White House regarding the implementation of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, an order that Trump signed last September targeting \u201cdomestic terrorism and organized political violence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe weaponization of the security apparatus of the state to suppress political dissent, criminalize international solidarity, and intimidate civil society is a direct assault on constitutional rights and democratic governance. Defining political opposition as an existential threat does not make communities safer\u2014it degrades civil liberties, expands state surveillance, enables violence by state actors, and mirrors the repressive tactics of authoritarian regimes worldwide. We urge the Administration to immediately withdraw this policy, abandon plans to export the NSPM-7 framework to foreign governments, and cease deploying the State and Treasury Departments to target political speech and civil society,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nIn July, Secretary Rubio and Bessent announced the \u201cMinisterial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism\u201d to support President Trump\u2019s National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7)\u2014a federal enforcement framework to target \u201cfar-left terrorists,\u201d their aligned groups, and financial backers. Despite investigations and analysis that established that right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism, the memorandum ignores all mention of right-wing extremism.\n\nThe letter is co-signed by Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), Jes\u00fas G. \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda (IL-04), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Becca Blint (VT), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Nydia M. Vel\u00e1zquez(NY-07), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Troy A. Carter Sr. (LA-02), Christian D. Menefee (TX-18), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Al Green (TX-09).\n\nTo read the full letter, click here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-20T05:28:41Z", "2026-08-20T05:29:58Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://pressley.house.gov/2026/08/19/news-pressley-ramirez-mcgovern-demand-answers-of-trump-admin-on-persecution-of-political-dissent-targeting-of-left-leaning-political-groups/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.704978920519352, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}