New revelations in The Wall Street Journal continue to reveal evidence that supports allegations we made in January and March Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission complaints of violations of campaign finance laws and criminal code provisions related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The Wall Street Journal reports today that in February of this year President Trump personally directed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to initiate an arbitration proceeding and seek a restraining order against Stormy Daniels pursuant to a nondisclosure agreement negotiated with Daniels in October 2016. President Trump’s familiarity with the arbitration clause in the contract is strong evidence that Trump was familiar with the details of the October 2016 contract, notwithstanding his constantly-changing story and claims that he didn’t know about contract with Daniels before the 2016 election.

Today Congresswoman Anna Eshoo introduced the TRUE Fees Act. The bill requires that below-the-line fees from communications providers be included in the advertised price. Below-the-line fees are hidden fees companies add on to their users’ monthly bill but do not disclose in their advertised prices. The bill also prohibits forced arbitration agreements for wrongful billing and requires transparency in equipment fee increases.  

No senator should be pushing for a vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to a lifetime seat on the highest court in the land. A vote tomorrow would be reckless and irresponsible. There is not enough information for any senator to provide informed advice and consent.

Today, the FCC voted on an Order to limit the fees state and local governments can charge wireless companies to attach infrastructure for 5G deployment on public property. 5G is the next generation of wireless broadband service. These price caps will save the industry $2 billion in deployment costs. The FCC’s Order does not impose any deployment requirements or public interest obligations on telecom companies in return for capping fees.

Today, Common Cause urged that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to release a report that was requested by Congress regarding the Commission’s role in enforcing prohibitions on foreign campaign contributions and expenditures. The report was due to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees yesterday in accordance with explanatory statements accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018.

The rushed and deficient process to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court has been anything but deliberative. The Senate must immediately hit pause. Hastily convening a hearing on Monday concerning Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s serious allegations is unacceptable and it should be postponed. It is past time to activate an emergency brake.