Campaign Finance

President Trump can Tweet all he wants about the non-crimes of Michael Cohen and AMI. But the DOJ apparently, and correctly, sees things differently, and so did the court. “Continued” cooperation by AMI suggests this isn’t the last we’ve heard from DOJ on this matter.

Today’s sentencing of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen speaks to the seriousness of the crimes committed which is why we filed complaints alleging these violations earlier this year. Our complaint also alleged that then-candidate Donald Trump violated campaign finance laws and DOJ filings at Cohen’s sentencing identify a co-conspirator, “Individual-1”, who is clearly none other than now Trump. Despite the Republican apologists in Congress making light of Trump’s involvement, these are serious crimes with significant penalties associated with them as Cohen’s sentence reflects. These laws are in place to protect the integrity of our elections and they must be enforced. No American is above the law, not even the President.

"It's really an apples and oranges comparison," added Paul Ryan, the top lawyer at Common Cause, a watchdog group. Common Causes' January complaint with the Federal Election Commission prompted Cohen to publicly admit making a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. "We are not talking about minor, technical violations," Ryan said of the allegations against Cohen. "The Obama civil penalty was consistent with the types of fines that most big campaigns end up paying after an election for reporting errors," he added.

The effort was applauded Friday by the government watchdog Common Cause. “Congress is finally listening to the growing demands for reform from the American people,” the group’s president, Karen Hobert Flynn, said in a statement. “On Election Day, voters from coast-to coast sent a clear message that we are ready for bold, comprehensive democracy reforms.”

Congress is finally listening to the growing demands for reform from the American people. That H.R. 1 will be a sweeping set of pro-democracy reforms is an encouraging sign that the new Congress has its priorities in line with the will of the people. On Election Day, voters from coast-to-coast sent a clear message that we are ready for bold, comprehensive democracy reforms. Tired of the status quo, Americans passed nearly two dozen ballot initiatives across the nation ranging from redistricting reforms, ethics, same day and automatic voter registration to citizen-funded elections measures to ensure that the people have a voice in their democracy. These passed in red states, blue states, and purple states alike with strong support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.

"That is not the vindication that Kid Rock or his lawyers would perhaps like the public to believe. There was no vindication here," said Paul S. Ryan, the vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause. "A lot of people considered Donald Trump’s campaign to be celebrity parody in its early stages, and the Republicans don't acknowledge that in any way," Ryan added. "It's just a very weak basis for them not to pursue enforcement here."