Abuse of Power

Trump’s pardon sends an unmistakable signal: He will abuse the pardon power to excuse those who flout the rules that protect the integrity of our democracy. As the president continues to debase the rule of law, Congress must put country before party and exercise its oversight responsibilities, and voters must continue to do their part to stay informed, stay engaged, and make their voices heard.

President Trump announced via Tweet that he will pardon Dinesh D’Souza signaling again his contempt for the rule of law. D’Souza pleaded guilty several years ago to violating our nation’s campaign finance laws with a “straw donor” scheme that violated federal candidate contribution limits and the public’s right to know who is spending money to influence our elections. The President has taken to boasting about pardons of convicted criminals. His previous pardon of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for defying a judge’s order to stop his department’s racial profiling and harassment of Latinos during patrols. Trump’s action sends yet another dangerous signal that he will abuse his power to protect those who would subvert the rule of law, including the laws that protect the integrity of our democracy from corruption.

Much of the enforcement of New Mexico’s conflict of interest and vote recusal rules revolves around voluntary compliance and having other legislators police each other, said Viki Harrison with Common Cause New Mexico, which advocates for stricter ethics laws. New Mexico legislators are not paid a salary and serve only part-time. “When you police yourselves there’s always going to be questions around transparency and cronyism,” she said.

Tomorrow’s White House briefing by law enforcement and intelligence officials to discuss a confidential informant’s interactions with Trump campaign officials in 2016 cannot be a closed partisan meeting and must include members of both political parties through the “Gang of Eight.” Despite President Trump’s assertions on Twitter, the entire U.S. intelligence community has concluded beyond a doubt that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. And it has been widely documented that numerous members of the Trump campaign, including the President’s own son, took meetings throughout the campaign with Russians and other foreign nationals offering assistance to the campaign.

By excluding Democrats from a classified briefing on the FBI's use of a confidential informant in the Russia investigation, the president demonstrates he's more interested in confusing the public than pursuing the truth.

If the president and his enablers are permitted to succeed in their campaign to politicize American justice, it will cease to be justice at all.