Questions About Nick Brana & Movement For a People's Party Remain Unanswered
Years-long reporting leaves a trail of even more questions
The Movement for a People’s Party (MPP) has been on my radar for quite some time. Why? Because I was very excited about the prospect of a truly progressive third party in the face of our corrupt two-party system. It gave me hope. I’m a journalist, but I’m also (I think rightly) open about my personal politics because I believe it is more ethical to disclose things like that than to pretend they don’t exist.
But, the cracks in the party began to show quite quickly. I’m now horrified by so much of what has occurred as both friends and well-placed sources turned to me.
I’m not going to narrate much in this piece, but I will try to fill in the blanks and potentially answer people’s questions (the comments area is below this piece).
I want to, in a way, get this off my plate because it has turned into something quite dark, in my view. My hope is that well-meaning people will no longer be harmed and misled and that a *true movement* can live on.
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PERSONAL DISCLOSURES/CONFLICTS ARE LISTED BELOW THIS ARTICLE.
UPDATE July 18, 2022:
Original piece:
The image below shows the subject line of the email full of questions I sent to Nick Brana and the People’s Party (MPP) media email address on March 21, 2022. These questions were sent via social media messages as well, to cover all bases. Multiple requests for an interview were made both publicly on Twitter as Nick attempted to drag me in, and privately via messages.
(NOTE: I AM ONLY RELEASING THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE NICK BRANA’S ACCUSER, ZANA DAY, HAS COME FORWARD ALREADY AND GIVEN AN INTERVIEW ON THE TOPIC. I was previously unwilling to release them for this reason.)
The questions contained in that email are pasted below (there were many more to come after this, so consider this the start of what I would have asked Nick):
Hi Nick - Again, I'd like to speak with you on the phone and/or interview you if possible. Otherwise, written responses are fine:
Can you provide evidence for your claims that there has, at any time, been a Dem./DNC infiltration of MPP/PP/PFWD?
Do you believe Zana Day to have been a Democratic Party infiltrator?
Were you given any information from any investigator or person about the investigation into Zana’s sexual harassment claims while it was ongoing?
What do you believe the outcome of the investigation to be?
Are you aware of any board members/members of the internal investigation team contacting Zana Day’s former place of employment at any time?
Do you have a response to the allegations that you sexually assaulted Zana Day?
If you state you did not, can you provide evidence that you did not sexually assault Zana Day?
Do you have a response to the allegations that you retaliated against and/or threatened Zana Day following your breakup?
Do you have a response to the allegations that you retaliated against and/or threatened Zana Day following any internal complaint she made about you?
Do you have a response to the allegations that you have retaliated to multiple former MPP staff members, board members, and volunteers?
Do you know the identity of the Twitter account “PermAgainAgain”?
Was Phil Ateto on the board prior to his vote to purge several members of the board, or was he brought in, following his earlier resignation, for the vote?
Are you personal friends with Phil?
Were you and/or your father improperly given information during the internal investigation?
How long do you believe the internal investigation to have lasted? How long do you believe it should have lasted?
Generally, if a person is raped and/or sexually assaulted, what kind of evidence would you expect there to be of this?
Can you please send me a copy of the MPP bylaws? When were these written? Were these given/shown to MPP board members, staff, and volunteers? Were there interim bylaws (or similar) at any point?
Your press release stated: “Mixed in with the allegations were demands for professional advancement and veiled threats to the board that she could go public and attempt to destroy the party if her demands weren’t met.” - can you provide me with evidence of this?
Your press release states: “the committee concluded that the allegations did not have merit and were a politically motivated attempt to remove me.” Was this concluded before or after some of the committee was purged?
Your press release states: “They discovered that two board members, who had confided to others that they had long sought to remove me and take my position” - your position is elected, correct? Are you saying that two of the previous board members sought to run in their own campaign for your position?
In your opinion, what does it mean to be “woke?” Do you feel this is a good thing or not?
What do you define as “populist?” Do you feel this is a good thing or not?
What do you define as “liberal?” Do you feel this is a good thing or not?
In uniting the “right” and the “left,” as you say, would that include those who are registered for the Democratic party?
Is it acceptable for those interested/involved in MPP/PP to be registered as a Democrat?
Is it acceptable for those interested/involved in MPP/PP to be registered as a Republican?
Your press release states: “ this hostile faction of board members drew up a plan to purge dozens of populist leaders from states across the party, beginning with me and proceeding to other national board members and the state delegates who had voted against them, an action that would have destroyed the party.” Can you provide evidence of this plan or the plan itself? Who are these board members?
Your press release states: “whistleblowers at the accuser’s last place of employment told us that she had done the same thing at their organization that she was presently doing with us, accusing board members of sexual harassment and abuse, using it to split the board and demand professional advancement.” Can you provide the name and/or role/former role of these whistleblowers? Are they currently with [Zana’s former place of employment]? Have they at any point been with [Zana’s former place of employment]? Please provide as much detail and evidence as possible about this claim.
Are you confirming that you’ve spoken to people who are currently affiliated with Zana’s past employer? Did those whistleblowers specifically confirm that there was a sexual assault allegation?
Your press release states: “ It also turned out that she was friends and former colleagues with Shahid Buttar’s accuser, who had sought to sink his congressional challenge to Nancy Pelosi, and had even tried to get us to hire his accuser.” Who is this person and were they potentially going to be hired before Zana Day joined MPP/PP?
Your press release states: “So we took action to remove them with the guidance of multiple lawyers and law firms.” Can you please provide me the names of these lawyers and law firms?
Do you believe MPP/PP to be “your” party? Whose party is it?
My reporting shows that multiple people have accused you, publicly or otherwise, of retaliation (of various sorts) if they did not agree with you. Please comment on these accusations.
Was an offer of payment/”signing bonus” made to Zana Day following her internal complaint?
Did Zana Day receive a new contract as executive director? If so, was this given immediately upon her new title as ED? If not, when?
Was Zana Day’s contract paid out? If so, which role/contract was being paid out?
Was Zana Day fired from MPP? Can you please give the reason?
Has any attorney for MPP made contact with (or attempted to make contact with Zana Day following her termination? If so, why and what was said? If so, who is the attorney?
Is there anything you regret in your handling of MPP/PP matters throughout your tenure?
Is there anything else you think I should know for my reporting?
Please provide evidence/documentation you feel is relevant.
These questions were read 3 times, as you can see in the screenshot below, per the email tracker I have installed on my jenn@couragenews.com account, from which these questions were sent. The questions were never answered.
***** Please again note that I have MANY more questions for Nick and MPP that are not contained in this original email. What I have learned from talking to over a dozen sources is shocking on many fronts. I find the behavior of the official MPP Twitter account to be quite telling, for example.
Additional things I know through reporting:
Allegations of racism
Allegations of an extreme “anti-wokeness” push
Allegations of gaslighting
Allegations of verbal abuse
Allegations of professional abuse/sabotage
Allegations of mismanagement
Allegations of overstepping professional boundaries
Allegations of Nick, in particular, wanting party messaging to be based on what popular “leftist” media figures like Jackson Hinkle and Jimmy Dore wanted it to be
Allegations of bullying until what party head/s wanted were voted through
Allegations of “infiltration” … allegedly a frequent turn-to
Allegations of sabotage in completing the acts and taking the steps one would expect from a budding party taking money and hours from well-meaning people
Twitter posts that led to this piece:
DISCLOSURES: I was a volunteer with Brand New Congress (BNC) and Justice Democrats right before, during, and right after they were a combined entity. This would be around 2017-2018 or so. Through this, I became friends with Zana Day, the then-BNC press director, who is mentioned in this piece and who has accused People’s Party (MPP) head, Nick Brana, of sexual assault and rape, during her time there.
I went on to co-found the independent news outlet Status Coup in 2018. As Zana remained an organizer in the progressive space, I had interactions with her on the road in her role with BNC and later the People’s Party. Additionally, I advised Zana against taking a role at MPP before she did so because I’d been gathering information at that time and did want to protect a friend from what I knew even then.
I’ve met Nick Brana a few times IRL, the first being during the People’s Summit in 2017 in Chicago. We ate dinner with a large group, including Rod Brana (Nick’s father) and Levi Sanders. I’ve otherwise come in contact with him through reporting at events we both attended.
Questions? Comments? Ask away!
~
Jenn Dize
As a former donor/supporter of the MPP, the things that bother me the most are as follows. In all the time that Brana/MPP have been soliciting donations and "organizing" why has the MPP never attempted to run one candidate for anything anywhere? There may be a reasonable explanation and I would love to hear it. In addition, I find it peculiar that as the MPP is imploding, suddenly Brana sends out an email announcing Jimmy Dore (his strongest supporter) "might be" the MPP candidate for president and starts asking for donations. It seems like everyone of note has ditched MPP except Dore. I am wondering if this MPP could have just been a ruse to siphon off support for the Green Party and other legit 3rd parties that already exist. I find it odd that although he always gives lip service to 3rd parties, Dore never interviews or supports Green candidates or Socialist Alternative's Ms Sawant!!! Seems fishy to me.
This!
"Your press release states: 'They discovered that two board members, who had confided to others that they had long sought to remove me and take my position' - your position is elected, correct? Are you saying that two of the previous board members sought to run in their own campaign for your position?"
I've wondered this as well. Two board members saying that they're going to run for an elected position is not a coup attempt, regardless of how Nick what's to spin things. But that's just it - for Nick, it's all about manipulating the narrative in an attempt to make himself a victim. It has never been about a People's Party. It's all about him and his ego.