Disclosure & Transparency

A pair of lawsuits making their way through the courts in Alaska and New York State have important implications for efforts to rein in the power of big money in American politics.

The swamp that candidate Donald Trump promised to drain is getting deeper six months into President Trump’s administration.

Even in California, where strong state campaign finance laws set an example for the nation, it’s not that easy to see who is bankrolling political candidates or initiatives.

For a state formerly known as “Corrupticut,” Connecticut has become a national leader in clean, transparent elections with its model public financing program, the Citizens’ Election Program (CEP).

Today Common Cause, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) supplementing a complaint filed by Common Cause on Monday. The expanded complaint alleges that Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort illegally solicited a contribution from a foreign national, and that Kushner, Manafort and Rob Goldstone illegally assisted Donald Trump Jr. in soliciting an illegal political contribution from a foreign national on behalf of the Trump 2016 presidential campaign.

If these e-mails are not a hoax, they are the smoking gun showing that Donald Trump Jr. illegally solicited a contribution from a foreign national—in the form of opposition research against Hillary Clinton—as our complaints yesterday alleged.