“We Have to Act”: Taxpayers Suing Congressmembers for Funding Genocide Speak Out
Plaintiff Tarik Kanaana says the lawsuit “has given people something to rally behind and a renewed sense of hope.”
On December 19, more than 500 federal taxpayers from 10 northern California counties filed an unprecedented class-action lawsuit against their congressional representatives. Seth Donnelly et. al. v. Mike Thompson, and Jared Huffman charges that the defendants — two Democratic congressmembers — illegally abused their tax and spend authority on April 20, 2024, when they voted for the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which authorized $26.38 billion in military aid to Israel.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, alleges that Thompson and Huffman violated the U.S. Constitution, the Genocide Convention and several U.S. laws.
“I am a Palestinian Lebanese American, and I am suing my California congressman, Mike Thompson, for misusing my federal tax dollars and supporting the genocide in Gaza,” Maria Barakat, a class representative, told Truthout. “As a Palestinian and a person of conscience, Thompson has forced me to be complicit in the murder and genocide of my own people.”
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