Press Release

Today, Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that President Trump, his 2016 presidential campaign and American Media, Inc. (AMI) violated campaign contribution limits and reporting requirements through a December 2015 payment of $30,000 to a former doorman at a Trump property to squelch rumors of then-candidate Trump having fathered an illegitimate child with an employee at Trump World Tower in New York. The DOJ this week raided the office and residences of Trump attorney Michael Cohen in its investigation of similar violations alleged by Common Cause in earlier complaints to the agency.

Pennsylvanians should be choosing their elected representatives, not the other way around. The courts made that abundantly clear when they threw out the hideously biased map drawn by the legislature. But yesterday Pennsylvania House State Government Chair Daryl Metcalfe revealed that he missed the message and that he and, certain lawmakers remain unwilling to show due deference to the citizens, the constitution or the welfare of our state.

No American is above the law, not even the President. But President Trump is making no bones about the fact that he believes he is above the law and members of his administration continue to float disturbing trial balloons to gauge what the public reaction would be if Trump fired Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In light of these deeply troubling actions, the Senate must move quickly to pass its bipartisan legislation to protect the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election by the Special Counsel.

The Facebook/Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal is another example in a long list where companies have failed to protect the online privacy of their users. Americans have a fundamental right to privacy, and our democracy functions best when we have control over our personal information online. But the existing legal framework we have is inadequate to properly protect online privacy. Now is the time for Congress to pass comprehensive privacy legislation that gives consumers opt-in choice, not just for Facebook, but across-the-board, for those who hold our personal data.

Today, Common Cause and the Voting Rights Institute filed an amici brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Abbott v. Perez, in support of a challenge to Texas legislative districts twice found by lower courts to be discriminatory racial gerrymanders perpetrated by the state Legislature. The maps drawn after the 2010 Census, were initially found to violate the Voting Rights Act by a U.S. District Court in 2011 but were reinstituted by the Legislature in 2013 without change.

Statement of Michael Copps former FCC Commissioner & Common Cause Special Adviser Sinclair’s latest plan to force its local stations to air must-run segments criticizing other news outlets is another example of the company masking its editorialized content with trusted local broadcasters. President Trump’s tweet dismissing opposition to Sinclair’s destruction of local news shows how big media uses its money and power to influence our elected officials.