The influential union 32BJ SEIU and dozens of progressive groups released a joint statement on Thursday in opposition to the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee’s subpoena of The People’s Forum, a nonprofit leftist activist group based in Manhattan. “This subpoena is an effort to chill speech and association, taking a page straight out of the authoritarian playbook.” The New York Immigration Coalition and New York Civil Liberties Union organized the joint statement. Other groups that signed on include VOCAL-NY, New York Communities for Change, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Jewish Voice for Peace and the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. The People’s Forum must turn over the documents by Friday or risk being held in contempt of Congress.