I was sitting at the airport yesterday afternoon, waiting for my flight to board, when I saw it. Donald Trump had attacked me by name on social media. He called me a "disgusting individual" and a "terrible lawyer with a horrible track record."

This isn’t the first time, and I predict it won’t be the last. In the past, he had called me the Democratic Party's "best election stealing lawyer" as well as a "radical" and a "really bad person" who "tried to turn America into a corrupt, communist and Third World country."

His White House has called me a "crooked hack" and "a disgraceful swamp creature." In a March 2025 presidential memorandum, he accused me of "grossly unethical misconduct."

After all of this time, I have unfortunately become immune to these attacks. It comes with the territory of being a public, vocal opponent of Trump and his Republican Party.

But yesterday afternoon, Trump auditioned a new approach. In addition to the familiar name-calling, he declared me a "terrible lawyer with a horrible track record."

Whatever else Trump may think, I doubt he believes my track record in court is "horrible."

After all, my track record includes winning 64 out of 65 court cases in the aftermath of the 2020 election. I am sure he has not forgotten that humiliating defeat.

I am certain that he has been briefed on the fact that my law firm is currently undefeated in cases against his DOJ over access to sensitive state voter files. And I suspect that etched into his memory is his failed effort to sue me and others for racketeering in federal court in Florida.

Until recently, I assumed that Trump attacked me because he knows precisely how effective I have been in stopping his election subversion efforts in court. For the same reason he casts doubt in the 2020 elections, he wants to cast doubt on my victories.

But now, as I think back to all of the times he summoned my name, I realize that his goal is partially motivated by something else. He wants me to be afraid.

Trump's only method of leadership is to instill fear. Unlike nearly all his predecessors, Trump does not try to persuade his political opponents or the public. He doesn't try to build trust or find compromise.

Trump is never loved — often mocked, and sometimes loathed — by those who obey him. He rules via threat and vilification alone. He insists on prosecutors bringing frivolous prosecutions — even though they will be dismissed — because legal threats are his ultimate weapon to keep others in line.

Early in the 2024 election, Trump posted that I "should be" scared of legal retribution. Later, in the Fall, he posted his intent to investigate and prosecute "Lawyers" and others who were helping his political opponents.

The threats did not deter me from representing Kamala Harris as we prepared for potential election-related litigation. They have not stopped me from suing to block his anti-voting executive orders. And they have not prevented my law firm from litigating scores of cases in the last year to protect free and fair elections.

The same cannot be said other targets of his vitriol. Sadly, his ability to use fear has worked against many of the most powerful individuals and corporations in the country.

While my law firm of 60 lawyers is litigating more than 80 voting and election cases, most large law firms are sitting on the sideline. While brave citizens show up for massive protests, corporate leaders cower in their lavish suites. While new, independent media outlets speak plainly about the threats we face, the largest media giants feed sanitized both-sides coverage.

Never have those with the most resources and power done so little as they watch those with much less do far more.

History will remember them for the cowards they are.

Trump’s recent post on Truth Social wasn’t just about me. His target was the 2026 midterm elections. He was clearly upset that former Attorney General Eric Holder and I are helping Democrats prepare for Republican voter suppression and election subversion.

He also wanted to make clear that Republicans will have an "Election Integrity Army in every single State" that will be "much bigger and stronger" than what we have seen from the GOP in the past.

This, too, was a message of fear. He wants to signal to voters that they should be afraid — afraid to organize, afraid to speak out, and afraid to vote.

By now, you know that in addition to being a practicing lawyer, I also founded Democracy Docket. Standing up to Trump in the courtroom is one way to combat his reign of fear. But speaking out is another.

Those of us with powerful voices need to be willing to set aside our own personal concern and apprehension. We must use the megaphone we have been given not only to defend ourselves but, more importantly, to dispel the myth of an all-powerful Trump that we all must fear.

I do that by writing several times a week for Democracy Docket. Others accomplish the same by standing up at public events and rallies. The key is that we all need to do our part — and those fortunate enough to have public stature must always be ready to do more.

I do not steal elections. I am not a radical, a bad person, nor unethical. My track record in court speaks for itself. What I am is a concerned citizen willing to do whatever it takes to defend democracy from an authoritarian. No threat or fear will deter me.