Accountability Applies to Our Own Movement

Dear American Opposition:

The movement to defend democracy and hold power accountable draws its strength from one source above all others: Moral credibility.

When we call out corruption, hypocrisy, and the abuse of power, we must be unimpeachable in our own conduct. That is not a standard we can selectively apply.

That doesn’t mean we have to be perfect, but it does mean that—on the big questions—we have to be right.

We have learned that a few organizations involved in our movement have accepted significant donations from Reid Hoffman, an individual whose name appears in the released Jeffrey Epstein files and who has publicly acknowledged maintaining a relationship with Epstein after his 2008 sex crimes conviction.

We will not name those organizations here. They know who they are, and we believe in giving people the opportunity to do the right thing.

The victims of Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking network deserve a world in which no institution—left, right, or center—treats association with their abuser as something to be managed. The exploitation of children is not a partisan issue. It is not a talking point. It is a moral absolute, and movements that exist to hold power accountable can’t be entangled with those who still maintained proximity to one of history's most notorious predators after he was publicly outed as such.

It is profoundly unethical and just plain wrong.

To be clear: We are not rendering a legal verdict on any individual. We are making a values statement about our movement.

Any organization that has accepted Mr. Hoffman’s money should return it.

Any leader who has accepted his support should disavow it.

Not because we fear the attack line from MAGA—although we should be clear-eyed that this vulnerability will be exploited by our opponents— but because it is the right thing to do.

We can’t preach accountability only to practice convenience. We can’t call it wrong when the other side does it only to accept it from our own.

We must hold ourselves to a much higher standard.

American Opposition was built on the belief that we must be worthy of the nation we're fighting for. We ask every organization and leader in this movement to reflect seriously on that standard, and to act accordingly.

The victims are watching. So is history.

In solidarity,

Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos
Founder, American Opposition