Campaign Finance

"Trump may not be held accountable for his actions in a court of law, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t break laws getting elected in 2016. That’s a matter for the court of public opinion. And the case against Trump is strong." - Paul Seamus Ryan in a Just Security Op-Ed

"These statements do the opposite of what he intends," said Paul Ryan, a top lawyer for Common Cause. "They don't prove his innocence. They, in fact, underscore his guilt."

The Department of Justice is sending a strong message that it will enforce the nation’s campaign finance laws. The blatant violations of the law that Common Cause outlined in our complaints to the Department of Justice concerning hush money payments to Stormy Daniels are among those that Cohen pleaded guilty to today. Cohen’s guilty plea directly implicates President Trump in related campaign finance violations detailed in Common Cause complaints.

“The simple fact that a sitting president is implicated is pretty astounding and something we haven’t seen in decades, if ever,” said Paul Seamus Ryan, a vice president at Common Cause, a Washington-based group that had filed a complaint with the Justice Department about the payments.

“We’re talking potential years of jail time if he’s not the sitting president but was instead a civilian candidate,” said Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, which filed campaign finance complaints based on the payments made to the women connected to Mr. Trump.