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President Trump announced via Tweet that he will pardon Dinesh D’Souza signaling again his contempt for the rule of law. D’Souza pleaded guilty several years ago to violating our nation’s campaign finance laws with a “straw donor” scheme that violated federal candidate contribution limits and the public’s right to know who is spending money to influence our elections. The President has taken to boasting about pardons of convicted criminals. His previous pardon of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for defying a judge’s order to stop his department’s racial profiling and harassment of Latinos during patrols. Trump’s action sends yet another dangerous signal that he will abuse his power to protect those who would subvert the rule of law, including the laws that protect the integrity of our democracy from corruption.

Common Cause and 25,213 of its members and supporters have filed formal comments urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to adopt the stronger of two proposals (Alternative A) to update its rules by requiring online political advertisements to include “paid for by” disclaimers currently required for TV, radio and print ads. Common Cause joins a coalition of pro-transparency organizations delivering to the FEC comments from more than 100,000 people urging the adoption of stronger online ad disclaimer rules.

Rudy Giuliani tonight put President Trump in legal peril for “knowing and willful” violations of campaign finance law related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford (a.k.a., Stormy Daniels). Giuliani, as a member of President Trump’s legal team, told Fox News tonight that President Trump repaid his lawyer Michael Cohen the $130,000 that Cohen had paid Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet just prior to the 2016 presidential general election.

As 2018 congressional races heat up, Common Cause is once again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. Members of the House and Senate have received letters asking them to co-sponsor and support more than a dozen democracy reform bills and informing them that their co-sponsorship record will be published to our 1.1 million members during the lead-up to Election Day in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard.”

Today, Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that President Trump, his 2016 presidential campaign and American Media, Inc. (AMI) violated campaign contribution limits and reporting requirements through a December 2015 payment of $30,000 to a former doorman at a Trump property to squelch rumors of then-candidate Trump having fathered an illegitimate child with an employee at Trump World Tower in New York. The DOJ this week raided the office and residences of Trump attorney Michael Cohen in its investigation of similar violations alleged by Common Cause in earlier complaints to the agency.