Let me be clear: after President Biden denied my pardon despite support from 34 members of Congress and more than 100 civil society groups, I took a beat to rethink the immediate future. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed by the President's failure to act after I was targeted with the nation's first private (and illegal) corporate prosecution. I still cannot leave the country, maintain a bank account, or practice law. I am going to resume my campaign for a pardon and to reinstate my full civil rights soon, but that's not my focus at the moment.

 

In the meantime, I have worked with other attorneys to organize a team to independently monitor the vicious SLAPP-style legal attack launched by the Energy Transfer pipeline company against Greenpeace in North Dakota. I just spent several days at this trial and was appalled by what I witnessed. This is really an attack on the entire climate movement, on Indigenous peoples, and on the First Amendment. Our monitoring team will be issuing periodic statements throughout the trial and a final report at the end, all of which can be accessed at trialmonitors.org. 

 

This project is also personal for me. Greenpeace is facing the same corporate playbook Chevron invented to use against me after we won the landmark Ecuador pollution case. In fact, the same law firm (Gibson Dunn) that targeted and arbitrarily detained me for almost three years in violation of international law is now representing Energy Transfer in its case against Greenpeace. I believe this trial is a basic attack on our freedoms. It affects not just Greenpeace, but all advocates on any issue. Please visit trialmonitors.org for more.