Campaign Finance

Paul S. Ryan, Common Cause's Vice President of Policy and Litigation, drafted a short memo explaining the legal jeopardy President Trump's recent tweet about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting puts himself and his campaign in.

“Democracy is not supposed to be the sport of kings and billionaires,” said Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy and external affairs for Common Cause. “Notwithstanding the Koch-Trump feud, the Koch network continues to exert enormous influence over public policy and the Republican Party at the federal and state levels.”

The investigation must follow the evidence wherever it leads. The American people are entitled to answers and accountability. With the approaching elections, Americans are closely watching how Congress will respond to this latest effort to subvert the rule of law.

Hedrick Smith is an award-winning journalist whose documentary, The People vs. The Politicians, will air on MSNBC this fall helping to tell the good news of the growing people's movement to preserve our voices and votes in our democracy.

“Denials and tweets in all caps do not make campaign finance violations go away,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause.

The new recording of Donald Trump and his attorney Michael Cohen reveals much more about who knew what when and adds evidence to back up earlier complaints filed by Common Cause urging the DOJ and the FEC to investigate the apparent campaign finance violations. In the tape, Trump and Cohen clearly discuss the payment in the context of the election and its potential impact. The recording reaffirms what we alleged in our complaints and confirms that Donald Trump knew about the Karen McDougal hush money payments before the election despite his repeated denials and those of his spokespeople and attorneys. Denials and tweets in all caps do not make campaign finance violations go away. We look forward to seeing what other tapes seized from Michael Cohen by the Justice Department reveal about a string of hush money payments leading up to the election and how they relate to campaign finance violations.