The Not Above the Law Coalition is an advocacy coalition group made up of left-of-center activist groups and individuals that opposed President Donald Trump’s first and second administrations. The organization is co-chaired by leaders of Public Citizen and Stand Up America. In 2025, the coalition members of Not Above the Law Coalition reportedly took part in and promoted the #TeslaTakedown protests, a series of demonstrations outside dealerships belonging to electric-car company Tesla in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s work in the second Trump administration. ^{1 2 1}

Background

The Not Above the Law Coalition was founded in 2017 as a member-based organization to oppose the first Trump administration. It would later oppose the second Trump administration. As of September 2024, the organization claimed to have over 150 members including individual activists, think tanks, nonprofits, and others. ¹

Leadership

As of September 2024, the Not Above the Law Coalition co-chairs were Lisa Gilbert, the co-president of Public Citizen, a left-of-center lobbying and advocacy organization created by activist and former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader; and Brett Edkins, managing director for policy and political affairs at left-of-center advocacy group Stand Up America. ¹

Previously, Gilbert was the vice president of legislative affairs as well as the executive vice president of Public Citizen. Gilbert had previously been a partnership program associate director and a citizen outreach director and national trainer for the Fund for Public Interest Research. ³

Previously, Edkins was the managing director of policy and political affairs at Stand Up America, the communications director of Integrity First for America, and the communications director for the 2016 U.S. Congressional campaign of Sean Barney, who lost the Democratic primary for Delaware’s at-large district. ⁴

Activities

#TeslaTakedown

In 2025, activists with the Not Above the Law Coalition reportedly took part in and promoted #TeslaTakedown, an activist movement organizing protests against electric-car company Tesla over its CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the second Trump administration. ²

January 6th Activism

Following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building, Public Citizen released a statement that it was organizing with dozens of organizations within the Not Above the Law Coalition in order to  advocate against the “Trump Republicans” who “engaged in a criminal conspiracy in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election.” ⁵ Not Above the Law Coalition claims that the riot represented an “insurrection” to benefit then-President Donald Trump, whom the group labeled an “extremist.” ^{6 1}

Membership

According to public reports, as of June 2023 members of the Not Above the Law Coalition included American Oversight, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause, Congressional Integrity Project, Constitutional Accountability Center, the Criminalization of Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, Daily Kos, Defend Democracy Action Project, Defend the Vote Action Fund, DemCast USA, End Citizens United, Fix Democracy First, Free Speech For People, Greenpeace USA, Indivisible, J Street, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, NextGen America, Our Revolution, People For the American Way, People Power United, Public Citizen, Public Wise, Secure Elections Network, Sierra Club, Stand Up America, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, and The Workers Circle.” ²

1. “Not Above the Law Coalition Statement on Delay In Trump’s Sentencing After Conviction on 34 Felony Counts.” Public Citizen. September 6, 2024. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://www.citizen.org/news/not-above-the-law-coalition-statement-on-delay-in-trumps-sentencing-after-conviction-on-34-felony-counts/.
2. @AsraNomani. X. X Post on March 30, 2025. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://x.com/AsraNomani/status/1906281197430329459.
3. “Lisa Gilberg.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 24, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-gilbert-b834135/.
4. “United States House of Representatives election in Delaware, 2016.” Ballotpedia. Accessed April 24, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_of_Representatives_election_in_Delaware,_2016#Sean_Barney.
5. “Working With The Not Above the Law Coalition to Call for January 6th Justice.” Public Citizen. Accessed April 24, 2025. https://www.citizen.org/article/working-with-the-not-above-the-law-coalition-to-call-for-january-6th-justice/.
6. ^[1] “Working With The Not Above the Law Coalition to Call for January 6th Justice.” Public Citizen. Accessed April 24, 2025. https://www.citizen.org/article/working-with-the-not-above-the-law-coalition-to-call-for-january-6th-justice/.