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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.

President Trump’s continued efforts to obfuscate and dodge forcefully addressing Russian interference in the 2016 election hammer home the need for Congress to act to safeguard our elections and our democracy. Americans expect their President and other elected officials to put their country before their party when facing an ongoing threat from a hostile foreign state.

Whether Scott Pruitt resigned or was forced out, he had repeatedly shown himself unworthy of the office and he had to go. Pruitt's tenure has been a long, unbroken string of ethical lapses, maladministration, and relentless attacks on the environment he was charged with protecting. A cascade of investigations into his abuse of taxpayer funds, hiding his schedule, sweetheart apartment lease deals, and first-class flights made a mockery of public service. This partial litany of his scandals -- unearthed by environmental groups, watchdogs, and journalists -- speak for themselves, but he is hardly alone among President Trump’s appointees.

The Inspector General’s report runs more than 500 pages but it clearly states that the investigation “found no evidence that the conclusions by Department prosecutors were affected by bias or other improper considerations; rather, we concluded that they were based on the prosecutors’ assessment of the facts, the law, and past Department practice.” The report will continue to be cherrypicked by President Trump and his defenders in an attempt to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the FBI, and the Justice Department itself. But we must not lose sight of the fact that the Mueller investigation has already led to 23 indictments and 5 guilty pleas. This is a real investigation into real crimes and it must be allowed to run its course.

Today, Common Cause urged congressional oversight committees to investigate and hold hearings on the Trump Administration’s interactions with Chinese government officials and ZTE, a company that violated trade sanctions with Iran and has been deemed a security threat by U.S. intelligence agencies.

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.