Trump Administration/Executive Ethics

"The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. to testify as part of its ongoing probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Those proceedings warrant close scrutiny in light of Chairman Richard Burr’s close ties to the Trump administration and the deliberately misleading public statements he made during and after the presidential campaign to downplay Russian interference in support of Donald Trump's candidacy. As a member of the congressional Gang of Eight, Burr was fully briefed by U.S. intelligence officials on the Russian hacks of Democratic email servers and other attacks, but his camp downplayed them publicly." - Paul Seamus Ryan vice president of policy and litigation for Common Cause

“Americans have the right to know if the president is putting his business empire, or the interests of the public, first,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a group that supports the legislation.

Congress is a coequal branch of government whether President Trump likes it or not. When the Administration refuses to comply with subpoenas, Congress must fulfill its oversight responsibilities through contempt citations if necessary. Attorney General William Barr’s conduct related to the release of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report has been reprehensible to date and the Department of Justice’s stonewalling and refusal to release the unredacted report and the underlying evidence to Congress by his department must be checked. The full House should quickly follow the Judiciary Committee’s lead and vote to issue a contempt citation to the Attorney General. Congressional tolerance of Trump Administration slow-walking of document and witness requests have only led to outright stonewalling and that deeply disturbing pattern must be ended now.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may not be interested in holding the White House accountable, but it is imperative that Congress do so. Not only is it not time to “move beyond” the damning findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, it is time for the White House to begin complying with all requests from Congress – as the U.S. Constitution requires of a coequal branch of government.

“Tiger Woods is obviously a very talented golfer,” said Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, a watchdog group. But Mr. Trump awarding him the Medal of Freedom “shows he’s willing to use any tool of government to benefit his business and political allies.”

"Barr has displayed great skill in evading questions, in giving incomplete answers to questions, in spinning the contents of the Mueller report through his press conference, through a summary, etc.," said Paul Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause. "But he seems like he's also been very skilled in avoiding perjuring himself."