New legislation being pursued by House Republicans is facing steep pushback from groups like Tea Party Patriots Action.
Introduced in February by Rep. Darrell Issa, among others, HR 1109 — the Litigation Transparency Act of 2025 — would “require the disclosure of parties receiving payment in civil lawsuits.”
It’s necessary, Issa argued in a press release, because civil litigation is being increasingly “funded by undisclosed third-party interests as an investment for return – including from hedge funds, commercial lenders, and sovereign wealth funds operating through shell companies.”
To prove its usefulness, Issa drummed up a huge list of supportive quotes from everybody, ranging from the Consumer Technology Association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and even Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) president Christopher Mohr.
In his quote, Mohr referred to the people funding these lawsuits as trolls.
“More than 80% of all patent suits are brought by patent trolls, often funded by undisclosed third parties,” says @SIIA’s Chris Mohr. The Litigation Transparency Act will help expose these hidden interests and protect innovation. Read more ⤵️https://t.co/79wy3gyXe1
— SIIA Public Policy (@SIIAPolicy) February 11, 2025
“For too many years, abusive patent litigation brought by non-practicing entities or ‘patent trolls’ has hurt the U.S. economy by raising costs on consumers, driving small and medium-sized enterprises out of business, and depressing innovation in the information and technology industries,” Mohr said.
“It is estimated that more than 80% of all patent suits are brought by patent trolls, often funded by undisclosed third-party beneficiaries. We applaud [Republicans] for seeking to bring pressure to bear on this shadowy industry through the Litigation Transparency Act of 2025. We encourage Congress to join in supporting this legislation,” he added.
So what’s the problem?
In a letter sent this week to the House Judiciary Committee, Tea Party Patriots Action warned that “sweeping disclosure mandates in this bill threaten our core American principles of personal privacy, confidentiality, and freedom of speech and association.”
“This legislation would require litigants to preemptively disclose detailed information about private financial arrangements, such as litigation funding agreements, independent from the discovery process and without any finding of relevance by a judge,” the letter continued.
The letter was signed by over a dozen conservative groups, including America First Legal, Defending Education, Heartland Institute, and the American Energy Institute.
I joined 33 conservative leaders yesterday in a letter warning @SpeakerJohnson and @Jim_Jordan of the serious privacy concerns raised by the Litigation Transparency Act of 2025 (H.R. 1109) and the threat it poses to the conservative legal movement.
Read here:… pic.twitter.com/0DhzjEjeEj
— Ken Blackwell (@kenblackwell) November 18, 2025
The letter continued by warning of the chilling effect HR 1109 would have on free speech and association.
“If adopted, H.R. 1109 will have a chilling effect on free speech and association and directly threaten the privacy rights of Americans,” it reads. “The end result will be fewer Americans having the resources or willingness to bring legitimate claims, which threatens to undermine future legal battles over issues critical to our movement.”
“The privacy interests at stake here are not abstract. We have seen how disclosure regimes can be easily weaponized by bad actors, particularly those seeking to attack and intimidate political opponents,” it continues.
But speaking with Fox News, Issa claimed that these arguments are all “misinformation.”
“What’s actually happened is language has been put in to assure groups that we’re not looking to overturn NAACP v. Alabama or any of the other historical 501(c) privileges that you don’t turn over your donor list and so on,” he said. “That was something that Obama and Biden tried to do a couple of times. We want nothing to do with that.”
“We’re only asking that if there is a material funder slash partner in a lawsuit, that they be disclosed. ‘I fully respect and appreciate the concerns of people who want to make sure that this does not turn into a burdensome discovery of, for example, a nonprofit’s hundreds, thousands or millions of donors,” he added.
The legislation is also facing pushback from Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild, who warned Fox News that the bill is an “attack” on one of the “few tools Americans have to hold powerful, woke corporations accountable.”
Fox News notes that nonprofits like Consumers’ Research “have been using litigation finance in recent years to push back against ‘woke capitalism’ to counter ESG and DEI policies.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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