New 501(c)(4) advocacy group will lend a conservative voice to the calls for federal and state governments to rein in “Big Tech” before it is too late
Washington, D.C. — The Internet Accountability Project (IAP), a new 501(c)(4) nonprofit advocacy organization, announced its launch today. Mike Davis, a former top Senate Judiciary Committee counsel, White House aide, and litigator, will lead IAP. Rachel Bovard, a conservative policy leader and former top U.S. Senate and House aide, will serve as the Senior Adviser.
“For far too long, Big Tech companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter have gotten away with profiting from human-sex trafficking, revenge-porn, the opioid epidemic and drug addiction, terrorism, and other forms of human misery, along with engaging in egregious business practices like snooping, spying, political bias against conservatives, employee abuses, and anticompetitive conduct,” Davis said. “Enough is enough. It’s time to re-boot Big Tech, upgrade and reformat the sweetheart laws that protect them, and enforce the antitrust, consumer- and employee-protection, and similar laws already on the books. We are pleased that 50 state attorneys general, along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, have taken the bold and courageous steps of investigating Big Tech’s ‘bad acts,’ and we will support other government officials in their efforts to investigate and hold Big Tech accountable.”
“It is critical to protect innovation and ingenuity in the tech space, but to do so mindfully. Big Tech should not be allowed to become the arbiters of communication in America without input from citizens and policy makers,” Bovard said. “It is important for those on the Right to begin discussing whether our public policy has kept pace with Big Tech, who now owns our data, much of our privacy, and in many cases, is pulling the levers of our political communication. IAP is here to help facilitate that conversation.”
The Internet Accountability Project’s initial conservative partners in this fight include: Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), Human Events, and Publius Lex (led by Harmeet Dhillon). IAP’s team also includes top surrogates who have served in the White House, Justice Department, Congress, and conservative movement.
Internet Accountability Project Website
About Mike Davis:
Mike Davis is the founder and president of the Internet Accountability Project (IAP), a new advocacy organization that opposes Big Tech and seeks to hold them accountable for their bad acts.
Davis also leads the Article III Project (A3P), established to fight for and defend President Trump’s judicial nominees, appointed judges, the process, and judicial independence.
Davis previously served as Chief Counsel for Nominations to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary during the 115th Congress (2017-19). Davis led a team of attorneys, law clerks, and other professionals that advised Chairman Grassley and other senators on presidential nominations and Senate confirmations of federal judges, senior Justice Department officials, and other senior Executive Branch appointees. Davis served as the Chairman’s staff lead for 30 hearings, 41 markup meetings, or floor votes for 278 nominees, including the confirmations of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and a record number of circuit judges confirmed during a president’s first year and a president’s first two years in office. Davis also served as the Chairman’s staff lead for the hearings for 50 judicial nominees, including 6 circuit nominees, readied for confirmation votes in 2019.
Before joining Chairman Grassley’s team on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Davis, a former law clerk to Justice Neil Gorsuch, served as the “general” of Justice Gorsuch’s outside support team for his successful confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2017.
Davis has served in all three branches of the federal government, including for President George W. Bush, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Davis has also served in several capacities in the Justice Department, including as a federal prosecutor. Davis has assisted with hundreds of appointments to every part of the federal government, including Supreme Court justices, district and circuit judges, cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, heads of independent agencies, and sub-cabinet officials, along with members of boards, commissions, and delegations.
For nearly ten years before returning to public service in 2017, Davis was a civil litigator in Denver. Davis worked at one of the largest law firms in the world and one of the top-ranked law firms in Colorado, before starting and running his own law practice for over five years. Super Lawyers recognized Davis as a “Colorado Super Lawyer” in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, along with a “Colorado Rising Star” in 2010, 2012, and 2013. In 2013, Colorado Business Magazine recognized Davis as a “Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals in Colorado.” Davis is from Des Moines, Iowa. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 2000 and Juris Doctor in 2004, both from the University of Iowa. In 2017, Davis received Iowa Law’s “Emerging Leader Award.” Davis also serves on the University of Iowa Political Science Advisory Board.
Mike Davis Social Media: Twitter | LinkedIn
Internet Accountability Project Website
About Rachel Bovard:
Rachel Bovard has over a decade of experience fighting for conservative policies in Washington. Beginning in 2006, she served in both the House and Senate in various roles including as legislative director for Senator Rand Paul.
Bovard went on to serve as policy director for the Senate Steering Committee under the successive chairmanships of Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), where she advised Committee members on strategy related to floor procedure and policy matters. In the House, she worked as senior legislative assistant to Congressman Donald Manzullo (R-IL), and Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX). She also served as director of policy services for The Heritage Foundation.
In 2013, she was named one of National Journal’s Most Influential Women in Washington under 35. Her policy analysis and punditry appear weekly in American Greatness, as well as the Washington Examiner, the Daily Wire, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, the Federalist, the Daily Signaland Conservative Review, among others, and she frequently appears on radio and television, including on MSNBC, CNBC, Fox & Friends, Fox Business, EWTN, One America News Network, and National Public Radio.
Along with CPI’s Chairman, Sen. Jim DeMint, is the co-author of Conservative: Knowing What to Keep, to be released by Fidelis Books in September, 2019.
Born and raised in Dansville, NY, she received her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude from Grove City College in 2006. She also holds a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. In addition to her public policy pursuits, Bovard is an accomplished sommelier, a wine educator, and a diploma candidate in the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
