Congressional Ethics

Americans expect and deserve a fair and transparent impeachment trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is attempting to deny the country even the pretense of a fair trial. The Senate owes the nation a legitimate trial of President Trump who was impeached by the House of Representatives for abusing the power of his office to deny critical military aid to an U.S. ally in an attempt to coerce them into launching an unwarranted investigation of his political rival Joe Biden. The trial proposal floated by Sen. McConnell would amount to nothing more than a fact-free sham trial perpetrated in the dead of night.

Americans expect and deserve federal agencies that are able to do their jobs free of White House intimidation. Today’s Government Accountability Office (GAO) report is a simple interpretation of the law, stating that the White House broke the law by withholding congressionally mandated military aid for Ukraine. But it took courage to issue that report in the face of a disturbing pattern of intimidation and retribution that the Trump Administration has unleashed against any and all critics.

"[S]everely restricting their access to Senators comes across as nothing more than a blatant attempt to limit transparency and Member accountability in what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has billed as a show trial to ostensibly 'clear' President Trump of any wrongdoing," said Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn. "The American people deserve a transparent impeachment trial, but this is one more attempt to deny that to them. These are reporters who interact with Members of Congress every day in the halls of Congress and penning reporters looks like a dog-and-pony show to allow Senators to dodge tough questions."

Keeping reporters in pens and severely restricting their access to Senators comes across as nothing more than a blatant attempt to limit transparency and Member accountability in what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has billed as a show trial to ostensibly “clear” President Trump of any wrongdoing. The American people deserve a transparent impeachment trial, but this is one more attempt to deny that to them. These are reporters who interact with Members of Congress every day in the halls of Congress and penning reporters looks like a dog-and-pony show to allow Senators to dodge tough questions.

“He pleaded to a single felony but not one that is specifically included in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act,” said Beth A. Rotman, an attorney who is the money in politics and ethics program director for the good government group Common Cause. Rotman noted that while the law includes many more crimes than it did 20 years ago, “It’s not everything. In cases like this, the desire to keep the pension could be one of the reasons someone accepts a plea that is only a portion of the charges.”

“It’s extremely troubling,” said Beth Rotman of Common Cause, a group that filed complaints Federal Election Commission and Department of Justice complaints about the Parnas and Fruman donations. “The money should absolutely be returned. It shows a really problematic appearance of a conflict [of interest].”