Integrity First for America (IFA) is a legal activism organization that was the lead entity representing the plaintiffs ¹ in civil litigation against the organizers of the August 17, 2017, white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. ²

Originally founded in 2017 by New York attorney Roberta Kaplan to “step up the legal pressure on President Donald Trump’s business empire,” ^{3 4} IFA assembled a large team of lawyers and won a $25 million judgement for plaintiffs against the organizers of the 2017 extreme-right “Unite the Right” rally that turned violent in Sines v. Kessler in November 2021. ^{5 6}

In 2019, IFA received $3,125,684 of donated services and use of facilities, ⁷ including $2,348,553 from the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ⁸ The Tesseract Research Center incurred $3,936,950 in fees as the fiscal sponsor of Integrity First for America in 2017 ⁹ and an additional $502,431 of fees in 2018. ¹⁰

History and Leadership

Integrity First for America (IFA) was founded in 2017 ¹¹ by New York attorney Roberta Kaplan to “step up the legal pressure on President Donald Trump’s business empire.” ^{12 13}

Amy Spitalnick has been IFA’s executive director since January 2019. ^{14 15} She previously worked as communications director and senior policy director for New York state Attorneys General Eric Schneiderman (D) and Barbara Underwood (D), ¹⁶ communications advisor for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), and press secretary for the left-of-center lobbying organization J Street. ¹⁷

In 2021, Spitalnick was a featured speaker along with critical race theory-inspired “anti-racism” ideology pioneer Ibram X. Kendi at an event sponsored the left-of-center Anti-Defamation League’s Florida chapter. ¹⁸

Activities and Funding

Integrity First for America was the lead entity representing nine plaintiffs in civil litigation against the organizers of the August 17, 2017, white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. ^{19 20} IFA executive director Amy Spitalnick has said civil litigation like Sines v. Kessler is important for future accountability for allegedly white supremacist and far-right organizations. ²¹

IFA assembled a large team of lawyers to support the plaintiffs in the case, Sines v. Kessler, ²² led by pro bono lead-counsels Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn. ²³ Dunn has worked as White House Counsel in the Obama administration, as senior adviser and communications director for former Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and as a clerk to Biden administration U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland when he was a D.C. Circuit judge. ²⁴ On November 23, 2021, IFA’s plaintiffs won a $25 million judgement ²⁵ against all 17 defendants in the case. ²⁶

During the trial, IFA created an activist toolkit, launched the #SueANazi social media campaign, ²⁷ and created a clergy toolkit to use churches and congregations to advance IFA’s mission. ²⁸ IFA has said that the United States is facing a “crisis of violent white supremacy” ²⁹ and claimed that one-quarter of Americans are inclined toward far-right authoritarian views. ³⁰

Funding and Expenses

Funding

Integrity First for America receives funding from both individual donors and organizations. ³¹ In 2019, IFA received $1,871,963 of grants and reported $5,955,128 of expenses. ³² That same year the organization received $3,125,684 of donated services and use of facilities ³³ including $2,348,553 from the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ³⁴

In 2018, IFA received grants of $8,960,914 and reported expenses of $8,203,133. ³⁵ In 2017, the organization received $2,877,550 of grants and reported expenses of $4,602,822. ³⁶ The Tesseract Research Center incurred $3,936,950 in fees as the fiscal sponsor of Integrity First for America in 2017 ³⁷ and $502,431 of fees in 2018. ³⁸

IFA also received grants of $10,000 from the left-of-center and LGBT-focused Horizons Foundation in 2020; ³⁹ $5,360 from the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco in 2019; ⁴⁰ and $10,000 from the Jewish Communal Fund in 2017. ⁴¹

Major Democratic Party donor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman also donated at least $1 million to IFA at its founding. ⁴²

Legal Expenses

In 2019, Integrity First for America spent $5,224,782 in litigation fees in its role as the lead litigators against white supremacists in the Shines v. Kessler lawsuit. ⁴³ In 2018, IFA reported legal expenses of $6,949,012 as the lead litigators in Sines v. Kessler, including grants of $620,000. ⁴⁴

1. “Organizers of deadly 2017 Charlottesville, Va., rally on trial in civil lawsuit.” CBC Radio. Posted October 25, 2021. Updated October 26, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-monday-edition-1.6224045/organizers-of-deadly-2017-charlottesville-va-rally-on-trial-in-civil-lawsuit-1.6224062.
2. United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division. Civil Action NO. 3:17-cv-00072-NKM. Filed September 17, 2019. https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/1568836381-557-2019-09-18-second-amended-complaint.pdf.
3. Gerstein, Josh. “New group plans legal challenges to Trump business.” October 9, 2017. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/09/new-group-plans-legal-challenges-to-trump-businesses-243610.
4. Vogel, Kenneth P. “The ‘Resistance,’ Raising Big Money, Upends Liberal Politics.” The New York Times. October 7, 2017. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/us/politics/democrats-resistance-fundraising.html.
5. Sganga, Nicole. “Jury awards $26 million in Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally civil case. CBS News. November 24, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlottesville-unite-the-right-rally-trial-verdict-26-million/.
6. Sganga, Nicole. “Jury awards $26 million in Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally civil case. CBS News. November 24, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlottesville-unite-the-right-rally-trial-verdict-26-million/.
7. “Integrity First for America.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. Schedule D, Part XI. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/821110585/202013219349324466/full.
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9. ^[1] “Tesseract Research Center Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2017. Part III, Line 4a. and Schedule O. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/274552853/201843199349311344/full.
10. “Tesseract Research Center Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2018. Part III, Line 4a. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/274552853/201903189349300135/full.
11. “Letter 947.” Internal Revenue Service. November 20, 2017. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/dl/FinalLetter_82-1110585_INTEGRITYFIRSTFORAMERICAINC_07262017_01.tif.
12. Gerstein, Josh. “New group plans legal challenges to Trump business.” October 9, 2017. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/09/new-group-plans-legal-challenges-to-trump-businesses-243610.
13. Vogel, Kenneth P. “The ‘Resistance,’ Raising Big Money, Upends Liberal Politics.” The New York Times. October 7, 2017. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/us/politics/democrats-resistance-fundraising.html.
14. “I’m Amy: Greetings from my new role at IFA.” Integrity First for America. February 17, 2019. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/newsroom/im-amy-greetings-my-new-role-ifa.
15. “Our Team.” Integrity Matters for America. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/about-us.
16. Ratner, Austin. “How tales of Jewish resistance inspire a 21^st Century Nazi hunter.” Forward. August 17, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://forward.com/culture/474201/how-tales-of-jewish-resistance-inspire-a-21st-century-nazi-hunter/.
17. “Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspitalnick/details/experience/.
18. “Allison Padilla-Goodman.” LinkedIn Post. Posted May 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6797633879499935744/.
19. “Organizers of deadly 2017 Charlottesville, Va., rally on trial in civil lawsuit.” CBC Radio. Posted October 25, 2021. Updated October 26, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-monday-edition-1.6224045/organizers-of-deadly-2017-charlottesville-va-rally-on-trial-in-civil-lawsuit-1.6224062.
20. United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division. Civil Action NO. 3:17-cv-00072-NKM. Filed September 17, 2019. https://files.integrityfirstforamerica.org/14228/1568836381-557-2019-09-18-second-amended-complaint.pdf.
21. ^[1] Spitalnick, Amy. “A year after the Capitol attack, a model for accountability.” Integrity First for America. January 6, 2022. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/newsroom/a-year-after-the-capitol-attack-a-model-for-accountability.
22. Sganga, Nicole. “Jury awards $26 million in Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally civil case. CBS News. November 24, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlottesville-unite-the-right-rally-trial-verdict-26-million/.
23. Smith, Chris. “Meet The Legal Group Fighting to Dismantle Right-Wing Political Violence.” Vanity Fair. January 6, 2022. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/meet-the-legal-group-fighting-to-dismantle-right-wing-political-violence.
24. “IFA’s Charlottesville Case: Sines v. Kessler.” Integrity First for America. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/our-work/case/charlottesville-case?emci=cf8544a6-8d4c-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&ceid=.
25. “MSNBC: Amy Spitalnick Interviewed on All in with Chris Hayes.” Integrity First for America. November 23, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/newsroom/msnbc-amy-spitalnick-interviewed-on-all-in-with-chris-hayes.
26.  ^[1] Sganga, Nicole. “Jury awards $26 million in Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally civil case. CBS News. November 24, 2021. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlottesville-unite-the-right-rally-trial-verdict-26-million/.
27. “Activist Toolkit.” Integrity First for America. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/activist-toolkit.
28. “IFA’s Clergy Toolkit.” Integrity First for America. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/clergy-toolkit.
29. “Want To Help #SueANazi?” Integrity First For America. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/activist-toolkith.
30. Spitalnick, Amy. “A year after the Capitol attack, a model for accountability.” Integrity First for America. January 6, 2022. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/newsroom/a-year-after-the-capitol-attack-a-model-for-accountability.
31. “Donate to IFA.” Integrity First for America. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://www.integrityfirstforamerica.org/donate.
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