(I'm reposting this thread because it was apparently deleted by a moderator who is no longer here.)

In one of the Sandlers' emails to John Podesta, they write to tell him that they've arrived on Martha's Vineyard (It is this trip that produces the "handkerchief" with "pizza-related map" email chain). The Sandlers also add, "Anthony Romero will probably not come. He has a bad cold."

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/54496

https://wikileaks.com/podesta-emails/emailid/55433

I wasn't familiar with the name, but discovered with some searching that the ACLU's current executive director is named Anthony Romero, and he is likely the one mentioned in this email. In a number of John Podesta's emails released by Wikileaks, he writes to Podesta about ACLU business, and the Sandler Foundation has been a big donor to the ACLU, so he is likely well acquainted with the Sandlers. Even if somehow it's another Anthony Romero being referred to, this is still relevant information, given the ACLU's backing of censorship of "fake news."

Below are some links on Romero's background. He's been executive director of the ACLU since 2001, and many in the ACLU organization have accused him of being secretive and unprincipled while others have come to his defense. The previous executive director, Ira Glasser, has tried to remove him for improprieties:

The irony is that Ira Glasser created Anthony Romero. After heading the ACLU for 23 years, during which time he earned respect for a firm presence at the rudder and an almost bloodthirsty acumen on television debate programs, Glasser decided to step away in 2000. At the time, Romero was a young executive at the Ford Foundation who oversaw human-rights grants to the ACLU and others totaling $90 million a year. Though Romero had none of Glasser’s telegenic appeal, he is a lawyer by training—Glasser is a mathematician—and had something else going for him: a compelling personal narrative. Being Latino and gay made him a double minority and a trophy in the eyes of a place where diversity is a crucial value. ("Freedom to Backstab," link below)

Former ACLU board member Wendy Kaminer also accused Romero of improprieties, and the ACLU of compromising its principles to cover up for him:

"Out-of-control secrecy is a serious disease that is hurting American democracy," the ACLU rightly declared last month, introducing an important new report on the vast and secretive national security state. But the ACLU's opposition to government secrecy is selective: It has yet to complain about the reported failure of the East Hampton police to disclose DWI charges against ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero in what the New York Post calls its "weekly press release package that includes details of every DWI charge." The Post reports that Romero was pulled over for "careening into oncoming traffic" back on June 26th; he refused a Breathalyzer and reportedly "stalled for time" when asked for his ID. (You can find additional details here.) He is due in court today, August 11. Why was this charge not included in a weekly press release of DWI charges? According to the Post, "police said they 'inadvertently' omitted" it. Whatever.

...So it's not surprising to me (or other distressed ACLU alumnae) that ACLU President Susan Herman informed the national board of Romero's June 26th DWI charge on August 10th, after it was reported by the New York Post. In her email message to the board, Herman dismissed the Post report as "lurid," without specifying any inaccuracies. But it is still a bit of a shock to hear Herman, a law professor who teaches criminal procedure, describe Romero's drunk driving charge as an "unfortunate incident involving Anthony's private life that has not remained as private as we would have hoped."

http://archive.is/Rfpfs (2011)

In a short NY Times interview, Romero mentions that he had just "finished (reading) a history of Hadrian by Anthony Everitt" (the same Roman emperor connected to James Alefantis). He also says, "But my favorite historical figure is Alexander the Great. He was just this complicated, fascinating, brilliant narcissist."

http://archive.is/swejl

"Freedom to Backstab" (NYMag, 2007) is a long but very informative read on Romero and the inner workings of the ACLU. It's particularly relevant, too, since the ACLU has come out in favor of censoring "fake news."

The ACLU’s troubles spilled into the public square last fall, when Romero’s critics launched a protest Website aimed at “saving” the group from the threat they say Romero poses. Some of the country’s best-known civil libertarians joined the opposition, including Siegel, the writer Nat Hentoff, and David Goldberger, who served as chief counsel in the ACLU’s most famous case, defending a neo-Nazi group’s right to march in Skokie, Illinois.

“Something dreadfully amiss is going on at the ACLU,” says Muriel Morisey, a law professor at Temple who served on the board until 2004 and is one of ten current or former board members who oppose Romero. “I’m thinking, We’re in looking-glass territory. That’s just so wrong it’s mind-boggling.”

http://archive.is/W94Ja http://archive.is/GNY5w http://archive.is/d0UaZ http://archive.is/QsTM1 http://archive.is/HOSC7 http://archive.is/qwQjj http://archive.is/n8Ndz

Two recent ACLU articles in support of censoring "fake news":

"Fixing Fake News"

http://archive.is/DxBth

"Facebook Moves to Stem Fake News"

http://archive.is/E1QDD