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Today, Common Cause urged the United States Senate to exercise its constitutional power to withhold its consent on any presidential nominee for a lifetime appointment to the United States Supreme Court until a complete record of what’s at stake is laid bare, including all of a nominee’s records relevant to the job, and until more is public concerning Department of Justice investigations involving the president and the electoral process.

The Trump Administration has confirmed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that it has fulfilled its agreement to delete the state voter data that was unlawfully obtained by Trump’s Pence-Kobach Commission -- the very relief sought in a suit brought by Democracy Forward on behalf of its clients Common Cause and individual voters Jan Cantler, Anthony Gutierrez, Thomas Kennedy and Ellen Nakhnikian. The lawsuit was filed last year against the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, its Vice Chair Kris Kobach, and the Department of Homeland Security to prevent them from violating the Privacy Act and engaging in other unlawful conduct.

Americans deserve to know the truth about the Russian attacks on the 2016 presidential race. The statements of Chairman Grassley and Senator Graham that they expect to help President Trump confirm a replacement for Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the elections are irresponsible at this time. President Trump should not receive any cover for corruptly replacing the attorney general to appoint a loyalist who will undermine Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.

Paul Manafort joins a growing list of convictions stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s attack on the 2016 presidential election. Congress must be prepared to act swiftly and decisively if President Trump attempts to subvert the justice system by pardoning Paul Manafort or otherwise undermining the Special Counsel’s investigation. Today’s jury conviction and the continuing threats from President Trump and his attorneys against the Special Counsel hammer home the need for Congress to protect the investigation.

The Department of Justice is sending a strong message that it will enforce the nation’s campaign finance laws. The blatant violations of the law that Common Cause outlined in our complaints to the Department of Justice concerning hush money payments to Stormy Daniels are among those that Cohen pleaded guilty to today. Cohen’s guilty plea directly implicates President Trump in related campaign finance violations detailed in Common Cause complaints.

In the wake of the irresponsible and dangerous conduct of President Donald Trump at the Helsinki Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Common Cause today called on Congress to take concrete steps to check Russian aggression and safeguard our election systems.