About
Lori Roman is president of the American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU), an organization founded as a “constructive alternative” or counterpoint to the liberal American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). During the pandemic, the ACRU dubbed officials who implemented safety precautions such as social distancing or mask-wearing “crisis tyrants.” The organization files amicus briefs and uses fear-mongering to push for gun rights, voting restrictions, and other measures. Its website also links to The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database, which tracks alleged voter fraud.
From 2006–08, Roman served as executive director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a pay-to-play operation in which state legislators and corporate lobbyists meet behind closed doors to write model bills to advance a radical right-wing, pro-corporate agenda. Earlier in her career, she worked for the U.S. Department of Education, first as the director of school choice and senior advisor on Family Educational Rights and then as deputy director/chief of staff of the White House Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives during the George W. Bush administration. Roman holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an M.S. in Administration from Central Michigan University.
January 6, 2021
- The ACRU shared a story on its website describing the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol as follows: “Democrats pieced a committee together against the rules and under false pretenses in order to persecute their political opposition.”
The Big Lie
- Roman and the ACRU spread lies about fraud in the 2020 election, including claims that Dominion voting machines were unreliable and showed high levels of error.
- Her organization also claimed that “6 frauds were ‘more than sufficient’ to swing” the outcome of the election outcome.
- On June 3, 2020, Roman submitted written testimony to the Ohio state legislature stating that mail-in ballots should be “tightly controlled and have extremely limited use.”
- In May 2021, Roman testified at a U.S. congressional hearing, claiming that voter rolls across the country are filled with people who have “moved, died, or are ineligible to legally vote.”