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Today, Common Cause called on Congress to hold an emergency session to pass reform legislation to address law enforcement racism and abuses and to protect the rights of peaceful protesters. The letter comes in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers which inspired nationwide protests that in numerous instances led to police brutality against peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. Common Cause urges Congress to condemn President Trump’s threats to use the military to violently attack peacefully protesting Americans – including a disgraceful show of police brutality Monday in Lafayette Square in Washington to facilitate a photo opportunity for the President posing with a bible.

The murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police officers is a horrific tragedy that demands justice. It is a tragedy that plays out far too often in our nation and must end.  

Today, the President is expected to sign an Executive Order (EO) that attempts to police speech on social media platforms. The draft Executive Order comes after Twitter fact-checked inaccurate tweets from the President regarding processes for mail-in voting, despite the fact that Twitter enforced its policy to add warning labels to misleading tweets in violation of the platform’s community standards. 

Attorney General William Barr is a cancer on justice in this nation. Americans expect and deserve an Attorney General who enforces the law impartially, not one who abuses his office to accommodate the whims of a President who believes he has unlimited power. Barr has turned a proud and honorable Department of Justice (DOJ) into a political tool of a corrupt presidency. The unprecedented decision to drop the prosecution of Michael Flynn, despite his guilty plea, is yet another blatant abuse of the powers of his office to cover up the misdeeds and crimes of the Trump administration. Barr’s attempt at a Soviet-style whitewash of the Mueller report and other abuses of his office led Common Cause in December to call on Congress to impeach Attorney General Barr.

“Americans expect and deserve accountability for the $2 trillion Coronavirus emergency spending bill, and Congressional oversight of this Administration’s handling of the funds is absolutely critical,” said Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn. “This attempt by President Trump to bypass oversight is nothing more than a corrupt power grab by an Administration known for bending over backwards to shower rewards on its political supporters. Congress must fight this move vigorously and hold President Trump accountable to the American people. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin negotiated the stimulus package with Congress and signed off on the oversight provisions in the legislation. This after-the-fact change of heart is a last-ditch effort by President Trump to get his hand in the till of a package passed to address a grave national health emergency.”

“The Trump campaign’s threat to revoke television station licenses for airing advertisements critical of the President’s actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic raises serious concerns that the President is potentially abusing his power to intimidate and retaliate against political opponents. The FCC has no authority to revoke broadcast licenses for airing political advertisements critical of the President’s actions. More importantly, the President cannot direct the FCC, an independent agency, to take this action."