In August last year The Agitator ran a three-part series — here, here, and here — on how some politicians and their special interest supporters are attempting to intimidate, discredit and destroy nonprofits they oppose by misapplying fundraising regulations.

Particularly outrageous were the actions of Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s Attorney General and his special interest bankrollers and political allies (factory farmers, the Farm Bureau, ranchers and meat packers) in their efforts to oppose the anti-cruelty efforts of The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS).

Beginning in early 2014, Attorney General Pruitt called into question the reputation and fundraising practices of The HSUS using official government channels, interviews, and social media, citing complaints about deceptive fundraising practices.

The only problem is that Pruitt hadn’t received a single complaint from any one who had contributed to The HSUS.

Next, in his campaign of harassment, the Attorney General went on a fishing expedition demanding from The HSUS reams and reams of unnecessary detail wholly unrelated to fundraising in Oklahoma.

This abuse of power runs true to form for political bullies attempting to muzzle dissent and please their big buck contributors. The goal of politicians beholden to special interests is universally the same — weaken and silence nonprofits opposed to the agendas of special interests that fund the politicians. In turn (quid pro quo), the politicians deliver the BIG $$$$ to the special interests who provided the campaign funds in the first place.

This is of course exactly what happened in Oklahoma in the case of The HSUS.

Yesterday, The Humane Society of the United States fought back. It took the Dustbowl Bully to court in an ‘abuse of power’ case aimed at blocking his efforts to smear the organization and to stop him from misusing the state’s fundraising regulations.

Hooray for The HSUS!

Every nonprofit who advocates on just about any issue opposed by special interests has a stake in the outcome of this case.

I urge you to read a summary of the HSUS case here. Familiarize yourself with the tactics used by sleazy politicians and their special interest cronies in the name of ‘the law’ and ‘consumer protection’ and speak out against them.

Sadly, this is not an isolated occurrence. Similar tactics are being used in Canada, where the federal government has mounted a blitz against environmental, human rights, progressive policy organizations and international development organizations critical of the government’s policies.

When it comes to politicians battling parts of civil society they oppose, extremism and absurdity seem to be the watchwords. According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Canada Revenue Agency told the well-known charity Oxfam that it could no longer try to prevent poverty around the world. It can only “alleviate” poverty, because “preventing” poverty might benefit people who are not already poor.

Armed with $13 million in special funding, the revenue authority then proceeded to ‘audit’ (read: attempt to muzzle) 52 other Canadian groups.

And the effort to muzzle disagreement and dissent is not limited to governments in North America. The U.K.’s Charities Aid Foundation has warned in its report: “The independence of not-for-profit organisations is at risk due to the hostile rhetoric and regressive policies of governments around the world”. Governments in emerging economies such as Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Indonesia and Algeria are joined by the likes of Canada and the UK in introducing legislation to restrict the ability of NGOs to campaign and influence government policy.

[ Editor’s Note: For a closer look at the implications of all this in the U.K. see Matthew Sherrington’s excellent post here.]

Where does all this lead? Fortunately, past attempts to bully nonprofits and their constituencies have almost always resulted in office-holding bullies getting their political butts kicked, and their stupidity spotlighted.

But not without vigilance on all our parts. And not without the willingness of organizations to fight back.

Thus, an Agitator raise goes to The Humane Society of the U.S.

Roger