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Money & Influence 09.23.2019

Washington Post: Trump denies explicitly tying U.S. military aid to demand for Ukrainian probe of Biden

The nonprofit government watchdog group Common Cause also on Monday filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice on the matter. The organization accused Trump and Giuliani of illegally soliciting a political contribution from Zelensky and Ukranian officials by allegedly urging them to investigate Biden.

Money & Influence 09.23.2019

Just Security (Op-Ed): The “Quid” is a Crime: No Need to Prove “Pro Quo” in Ukrainegate

Late last week allegations surfaced in The Wall Street Journal that during a July 25th phone call President Donald Trump had repeatedly pressured Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden. If these allegations are true, some of which were admitted by the President himself on Sunday, it looks like Trump has violated federal campaign finance laws. Again. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani seems to be on the hook for violations, too.

Money & Influence 07.30.2019

Bloomberg Government: Trump’s Ex-HHS Chief Seeks Career Rehab With Old Campaign Cash

The proposal would establish “a new blueprint for federal politicians to rehabilitate their reputations after a scandal using other people’s money—specifically, using past electoral contributors’ money,” said election attorney Paul S. Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation at the watchdog group Common Cause.

USA Today (Op-Ed): Common Cause: After Robert Mueller, time for an impeachment investigation of Donald Trump

Americans deserve to know the full truth about the Trump administration’s efforts to obstruct the Mueller investigation into Russia’s campaign to help elect Donald Trump to the presidency. They deserve to know the full truth about the impact of the president’s denial of the past and ongoing Russian threat to the integrity of our elections. And they deserve to know whether the president and members of his inner circle committed felony campaign finance violations.It has become alarmingly apparent though, that without a significant course change, the American people will not be given the full truth. It is time for a congressional impeachment investigation because Americans deserve the truth.

Money & Influence 07.19.2019

Slate (Op-Ed): The DOJ Should Release All the Evidence in the Trump Campaign Payoff Case

This now-public evidence of Trump’s campaign finance crimes is likely only the tip of the iceberg. These facts were known by the DOJ before it obtained and executed search warrants on Cohen and sent him to prison via guilty plea to multiple campaign finance law violations and other crimes. Since that time, the DOJ accumulated evidence not only from the Cohen raid and Cohen’s testimony, but also from cooperating witnesses David Pecker and Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, both of whom have received some type of immunity from the DOJ in this matter.

The Hill (Op-Ed): For Big Pharma, the revolving door keeps spinning

The revolving door is an age-old problem in Washington but the scope and volume of the conflicts in the current administration - starting with the president himself – is unprecedented and lends new urgency to legislative reforms pending in Congress. The “Executive Branch Conflict of Interest Act”(HR 599/S 156) would curb many of these abuses by mandating recusal periods, prohibiting employer bonuses to those leaving to take government positions, tightening lobbying rules and lengthening “cooling off” periods. Presidential conflicts of interest measures have also been introduced in both the House (HR 1481) and Senate (S 882). Provisions from these bills are also included in a sweeping set of reforms in the “For the People Act” (HR 1/S 949), which passed the House earlier this year.

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