Rainey Reitman

Author of
Transaction Denied: The Hidden Ways Big Finance Silences the Public (Beacon Press, 2026)

Rainey Reitman is a writer and civil liberties activist. Reitman’s advocacy focuses on defending the rights of whistleblowers, fighting mass government surveillance, and investigating how limiting access to financial services is used to silence speakers. 

Reitman co-founded and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit defending journalism. Previously, Reitman worked at the civil liberties nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, first as their Activism Director and then as their Chief Program Officer.

Reitman currently serves as a board member for the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of humanity’s most important knowledge. She also runs Groundwork Strategy, which provides strategy retreats and management consulting for mission-driven organizations.

Previously, Reitman co-founded and helped lead the Chelsea Manning Support Network, a project that worked to free Chelsea Manning and fundraise to cover the costs of her defense. She formerly served as Communications Director for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and as a board member of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.

Twitter / BlueSky / RaineyReitman.com / FinancialCensorship.org / Represented by Madison Smartt Bell

 
 
 

BookS BY Rainey

 
 

Transaction Denied: The Hidden Ways Big Finance Silences the Public (Beacon Press, 2026)

Transaction Denied explores how the policies of major financial companies impact speech and society. Through interviews with activists, journalists, erotica writers, booksellers, Muslim community members, entrepreneurs, and others who have been denied financial services, this book shows how financial exclusion can be a form of punishment for controversial speakers. Reitman argues that this practice of “financial censorship” targets communities and people who are already marginalized and disempowered. The book explores the patchwork of laws, court cases, and corporate policies that allow for this type of financial exclusion as well as key moments from Reitman’s own life as a civil liberties activist working on financial issues.