News Clips

Experts like Jesse Littlewood, vice president of campaigns at the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, say the lack of moderation on apps like Parler is normalizing hate speech and other forms of "toxic" online content. "These platforms are where individuals can see their worldview reflected and encouraged, even if in complete opposition to the facts," said Littlewood. "This avoidable tragedy [on Wednesday] was fomented for weeks based on the president and his Republican allies amplifying disinformation about the results of the election."

On this edition of Your Call, we'll discuss the state of the Georgia Senate runoff elections. The AP has now called the win for Democrat Raphael Warnock, who will be the first Black senator in Georgia's history. If Jon Ossoff wins, Democrats will have complete control of Congress. Later in the show, we'll discuss how dozens of Republicans in the House and Senate are planning to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory as Congress certifies the electoral college vote count. They are repeating dangerous conspiracy theories about widespread fraud and a stolen election. Civil rights lawyers and citizen activists say the damage they are doing should not be underestimated. What precedent is being set? Guests: Anoa Changa, Atlanta-based freelance journalist covering electoral justice & Sylvia Albert, director of Voting and Elections at Common Cause

“There’s a lot of work we need to do on the revolving door and dealing with what we talk about as the reality and the appearance of any favoritism based on prior relationships,” said Beth Rotman, director of money in politics and ethics at the watchdog group Common Cause. “Obviously, when we look at the issues of money and politics in democracy, when there are large numbers, there could be potential conflicts,” Rotman said. “All of us are always having to grapple with the balance of special interests and expertise, and there wouldn’t be many appointees who couldn’t show from their past experience some relationships with some of the same industries that they’ve been called upon to work with, because that’s where their experience comes from,” Rotman said. “We have to strike the balance between appointing people with appropriate backgrounds but also ensuring there’s not a revolving door that gives unfair influence to people based on prior relationships.”

“There’s no question there is grounds for an investigation at the federal level and at the state level,” said Stephen Spaulding, special counsel for public policy at the nonpartisan nonprofit Common Cause. “The question is we’ve got this one tape, but how many other people received this call?” Spaulding said. “How many state legislatures received this call? What other secretaries of states, election officials received this call? Who else in the White House was involved?”

Regardless, Perdue's stock trades remain troubling, said Beth Rotman of the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause. “It looks terrible if people are coming out of sessions of Congress and getting wealthy on their own at a time when everyday Americans are suffering,” Rotman said.

Common Cause Ohio, a progressive good-government group, urged DeWine to require additional financial disclosure for utilities commission applicants. “Ohioans should be able to ‘follow the money’; such disclosure will help Governor DeWine identify conflicts of interest and could help head off future problems,” Executive Director Catherine Turcer said in a statement.