How to Sue Trump — and Win | Skye Perryman Joins Susan J. Demas

Skye Perryman is one of the key figures in the fight against the Trump Administration where it matters, in the courts.

“We filed a first-of-its-kind case,” Skye Perryman says, describing Democracy Forward’s push to uncover not only the Epstein files but also “communications between the White House Press Office and the Department of Justice and FBI.” The point isn’t just the paperwork. It’s exposing what she calls “an administration that has bragged about how it’s politicized these agencies and views them as his own personal attorneys.”

That theme runs through the conversation: The idea that the courts are still a frontline of resistance. Perryman reminds us that “judges that are appointed by President Trump himself … are blocking what this administration’s doing because it’s so blatantly unlawful.”

But victories come with a paradox: They matter; yet they don’t erase the damage unfolding on the ground. “It is absolutely terrible what is happening to individual people across this country every single day,” she says, underscoring the need to “hold two things at once” — acknowledging suffering while also recognizing the wins that keep programs like Meals on Wheels running and national parks open.

Autocrats thrive on convincing people that their voices don’t matter. “One person standing up and being a lone dissenting voice can give confidence to a lot of people to do that same thing,” she says, pointing to both courtroom fights and mass mobilizations like the No Kings March. From reproductive freedom and immigration rights to education and data privacy, her message is blunt: “The only way out of this thing is through it. And it’s going to be really hard to do it, but we can do it together.”

Watch now to hear how everyday resistance in the courts proves the fight for democracy isn’t over, even when the system feels at risk.

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