Media Center

Today, Common Cause, the Campaign Legal Center, and Democracy 21 filed a supplement to a complaint filed in July 2017 against President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign committee for soliciting contributions from foreign nationals in the form of opposition research offered by Russians. Although Special Counsel Robert Mueller declined to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump Jr., Mueller provided a roadmap by which the Federal Election Commission (FEC) could pursue civil penalties.

New revelations in The Wall Street Journal continue to reveal evidence that supports allegations we made in January and March Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission complaints of violations of campaign finance laws and criminal code provisions related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The Wall Street Journal reports today that in February of this year President Trump personally directed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to initiate an arbitration proceeding and seek a restraining order against Stormy Daniels pursuant to a nondisclosure agreement negotiated with Daniels in October 2016. President Trump’s familiarity with the arbitration clause in the contract is strong evidence that Trump was familiar with the details of the October 2016 contract, notwithstanding his constantly-changing story and claims that he didn’t know about contract with Daniels before the 2016 election.

Today, Common Cause called on the House Ways and Means Committee to immediately investigate false statements made under oath to the committee by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the U.S. census survey. The recent release of Ross’ correspondence with Commerce Department staffers reveal that Ross falsely claimed to the Committee in March that it was a Department of Justice (DOJ) request that had prompted his Department to add the citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

Paul Manafort’s plea deal will surely tempt President Trump to consider pardoning his associates, or firing senior Justice Department officials or Special Counsel Robert Mueller, or take other steps to sabotage the investigation of the Russian attack on the 2016 presidential race. Congress must stand ready to take decisive action if President Trump abuses the power of his office by obstructing justice. Such blatant obstruction by the President must be a line in the sand that, if crossed, will trigger immediate Congressional action. The Republican majority in Congress must put their country before their party.

Today, Common Cause called on Congress to uphold its oversight responsibilities and immediately investigate the alarming accounts of President Trump’s “reckless” and “erratic behavior” since taking office that were made by a “senior official in the Trump administration” in an op-ed published anonymously in The New York Times last week. In a letter to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Common Cause urged immediate hearings on the disturbing reports of a President run amok and a nation being run behind his back by unelected senior officials.