AVENTURA, Fla.—David Brock, the longtime pro-Hillary Clinton Democratic operative who heads the American Bridge Super PAC and Media Matters for America, created "safe spaces" at his own donor retreat where big money liberal donors are currently huddled to map out a course to "kick Donald Trump's ass."
Brock has gathered together over 100 liberal donors at the posh Turnberry Isle resort in Aventura, Fla., for a three-day private event where the deep-pocketed Democratic funders are reminiscing on what went wrong during the 2016 elections and planning how they will fight back against a Trump administration.
During remarks at the conference, an unidentified speaker promised those in attendance that they would be protected from the press and that Brock had made reporters sign waivers promising that they would not talk to donors.
"Throughout the weekend, we are going to have some press with us. They are credentialed for three events," the speaker said during remarks at a private event that were overheard by the Washington Free Beacon. "You will know what events they are. They have all signed waivers that they may not talk to any donors or any speakers. There's a separate room where people on panels can go talk to them if they want to talk to them, so if they come up to you its against the rules, so they shouldn't talk to you and you shouldn't talk to them."
The Washington Free Beacon signed no such waiver.
The speaker went on to describe the "safe spaces" each attendee is afforded throughout the duration of the retreat, where panels officially began Friday.
"So the second thing is, a lot of people here want to have a safe space," she continued. "There are people that want anonymity, there are people that value their privacy, and people want to be able to ask questions and have these conversations without wondering if somebody is going to know what they said."
Keith Olbermann, the former MSNBC and ESPN host who is now a political commentator at GQ, later stressed how powerful liberals must delegitimize President Trump and peg congressional Republicans as willing collaborators with Russia.
Brock is gathering the donors in the hopes of achieving a liberal dark money network that rivals that of the Koch brothers.
"This will be THE gathering for Democratic donors from across the country to hear from a broad and diverse group of leaders about the next steps for progressives under a Trump Administration," Brock wrote in an email obtained by Politico leading up to the retreat.
"What better way to spend inaugural weekend than talking about how to kick Donald Trump's ass?" he said at the time.
Numerous veteran Democratic strategists, donors, and politicians are discussing how to resist the potential actions Trump could take in his first 100 days in office, holding Trump accountable through the court system, and combating "fake news," among other topics.
The Free Beacon obtained the remarks delivered by David Brock on Friday.
Free Beacon reporter Lachlan Markay contributed to this report.