News Clips

"PACs are often used as slush funds," Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert at the good government nonprofit Common Cause, told CNN. "Campaign finance law doesn't require PAC money to be used for political purposes, leaving open the possibility that Trump could use PAC funds to pay for private plane repairs."

“Corporations can essentially buy elected officials ... by pumping money into getting their preferred candidates into office,” or by opposing those “not as beholden or sympathetic,” said Sean McMorris of California Common Cause, a nonprofit good-government organization.

The Paid Jailer report suggests that industry donations to sheriffs are not only likely damaging to justice and democracy but also incredibly common. Construction companies contribute tens of thousands of dollars and then go on to build bigger jails. Legal firms fund races and end up representing the sheriff’s office in misconduct cases. Our research uncovered more than $6 million in contributions from donors with potential ethical conflicts. More than 40 percent of contributions to sheriffs we studied came from conflicted donors whose influence could incentivize more arrests, lead to more deaths in custody, and keep more people in jail.

Paul S. Ryan, vice president of litigation at good government group Common Cause, was on the receiving end of a number of those decisions, and did not mince words. “Trump is a walking playbook for how to violate campaign finance laws and get away with it,” Ryan told The Daily Beast, noting that several cases hit close to home, including the Daniels payment, “complaints related to his soft money group America First Policies, his involvement with now-disgraced Cambridge Analytica, his solicitation of foreign campaign assistance and more.” Because his organization filed those complaints, he said, seeing Trump walk “really stings.” Ryan added that Common Cause wasn’t alone, noting that the Trump campaign skated on complaints from the Campaign Legal Center, End Citizens United, Democracy 21 and other watchdogs.

“This is not just about bribery. It’s also about public faith in government,” said Beth Rotman, a Common Cause national director and the person who led the implementation of Connecticut’s democracy reform program. “People don’t always know what’s going to influence them and what isn’t going to influence them, but certainly if you’re taking all of your money from an industry that wants something very valuable from you, it looks horrible and casts a tremendous shadow over any decision you make.”

My dream is to live in an inclusive democracy that lives up to its promise. Where everyone has a say in the future for their family and community; where anyone can run for public office; where everyone plays by the same fair rules; and where our government reflects who we are because people vote in high numbers. We must not yield to a cynicism that says we can never improve. Making the dream real means ensuring those who represent us are reflective and responsive to the people—not the wealthy who dominate campaign and lobbyist spending. It means ending voter suppression that silences Black and brown voters; replacing unaccountable secret money in elections with small dollar donor laws that shift power from wealthy special interests to the people; ending racial and partisan gerrymandering by shifting power from politicians to impartial commissions; and preventing election sabotage that would steal power from voters by overturning elections. —Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause