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Trump Must Sign Ethics Pledge & Transition Documents

Press Release

Trump Must Sign Ethics Pledge & Transition Documents

President-elect Donald Trump still has not signed legal documents – including an ethics pledge - needed to formally begin his administration’s transition of power. Candidates usually file these documents well in advance of the election. As a result of this delay, the government cannot provide security clearances, briefings and resources to Trump’s incoming team before he is sworn into office on January 20th.

Media Contacts

David Vance

National Media Strategist
dvance@commoncause.org
240-605-8600

Katie Scally

Communications Director
kscally@commoncause.org
202-736-5713

Ariana Marmolejo

Regional Communications Strategist (West)
amarmolejo@commoncause.org

Jennifer Garcia

Regional Communications Strategist (South)
jgarcia@commoncause.org

Kenny Colston

Regional Communications Strategist (Midwest)
kcolston@commoncause.org

Common Cause’s network of national and state democracy reform experts are frequent media commentators. To talk with one of our experts, please reach out to any member of the press team above.

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Miami Herald/CQ-Roll Call: Asking Clarence Thomas to testify in Senate could spark a showdown

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Miami Herald/CQ-Roll Call: Asking Clarence Thomas to testify in Senate could spark a showdown

Common Cause sent a letter Tuesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee asking them have Thomas testify and “put it on the record for the American people,” as well as have Roberts testify. “The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly proven itself incapable of policing itself without a code of ethics,” Common Cause co-president Marilyn Carpinteyro said in a news release. “It is time for Congress to hold hearings and pass legislation to establish a code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices to hold them to the same standards as every other...

USA Today/Gannett: GOP billionaire Harlan Crow purchased property from Justice Clarence Thomas, according to new report

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USA Today/Gannett: GOP billionaire Harlan Crow purchased property from Justice Clarence Thomas, according to new report

"Americans expect and deserve a fair and impartial Supreme Court and we need transparency in order to identify potential conflicts and to restore public trust in our nation’s highest court,” Common Cause co-president Marilyn Carpinteyro said earlier this week, before the latest revelation. "The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly proven itself incapable of policing itself without a code of ethics."

Common Cause Veterans Kathay Feng and Stephen Spaulding Step Into VP Roles

Press Release

Common Cause Veterans Kathay Feng and Stephen Spaulding Step Into VP Roles

Common Cause is pleased to announce that two Common Cause veterans have stepped into the role of vice president at the government watchdog. Longtime Common Cause leader Kathay Feng will step into the role of Vice President for Programs and Stephen Spaulding is returning to Common Cause from his role as Policy Director of the U.S. Senate Rules Committee and will serve as Vice President for Policy & External Affairs. Together the two will help lead Common Cause’s national efforts to reduce barriers to a more representative democracy. They will...

Judiciary Committees Urged to Call Justice Thomas as a Witness in Supreme Court Ethics Hearings

Press Release

Judiciary Committees Urged to Call Justice Thomas as a Witness in Supreme Court Ethics Hearings

Today, Common Cause urged the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to call Justice Clarence Thomas as a witness in hearings to examine Supreme Court ethics in the wake of the latest scandal to engulf the nation’s highest court. Recent reporting by ProPublica revealed that for more than two decades Justice Thomas failed to report luxury gifts and vacations he received from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. 

Associated Press: Trump’s response to criminal charges revives election lies

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Associated Press: Trump’s response to criminal charges revives election lies

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, which has long been critical of Trump’s allegations of election rigging, noted that all the investigations of the former president began well before he started running for president again.

“Nobody is above the law, including former presidents, and running for president cannot and must not serve as a shield for wrongful conduct,” Scherb said.

Florida Public Radio/WFSU: Florida elections bill would further restrict voter registration groups

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Florida Public Radio/WFSU: Florida elections bill would further restrict voter registration groups

“We saw that it has a lot more restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations," said Amy Keith, program director for Common Cause Florida, an organization that works to ensure fair and free elections. "When you put more rules, when you put more fines, you restrict their work."

"When you restrict a small community organization, and you put more of a burden on them, they don't have the ability to comply," Keith said.

Charleston Gazette-Mail: As Morrisey mounts gubernatorial run, environmental advocates fear he has damaged WV’s climate future

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Charleston Gazette-Mail: As Morrisey mounts gubernatorial run, environmental advocates fear he has damaged WV’s climate future

“Attorney General Morrisey should know better,” Aaron Scherb, senior legislative affairs director at Common Cause, a Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog group, said in a phone interview.

Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission against Trump in 2018 alleging a $130,000 payment to Stephanie Clifford, a pornographic actress known as Stormy Daniels, was an unreported in-kind contribution to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign committee in violation of federal...

Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Op-Ed): Why is Texas voter turnout so embarrassing? Lack of online registration, for starters

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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Op-Ed): Why is Texas voter turnout so embarrassing? Lack of online registration, for starters

We got it right in Texas when we inscribed in our Constitution that “all political power is inherent in the people.”

But politicians in power today are not living up to that ideal. Texas is the fourth-most difficult state to vote in by one analysis and 41st in the nation when it comes to voter turnout. We had 9.6 million registered Texas voters sit out the last election — more than the entire population of states such as New Jersey or Virginia.

MarketWatch: Watchdog groups call for Justice Clarence Thomas to address reported failure to disclose gifts from real-estate tycoon

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MarketWatch: Watchdog groups call for Justice Clarence Thomas to address reported failure to disclose gifts from real-estate tycoon

Common Cause’s senior director of legislative affairs, Aaron Scherb, said it would be reasonable for U.S. lawmakers to have Thomas testify as to “why he didn’t put any of these trips on his personal financial-disclosure forms.” Scherb said that move could come from the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.

Durbin said on Thursday that his committee “will act” to respond to the ProPublica report.

Scherb also described the lack of disclosure by Thomas as “extremely...

Houston Chronicle: Texas Republicans want out of a national program that targets voter fraud

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Houston Chronicle: Texas Republicans want out of a national program that targets voter fraud

“States leaving ERIC and creating their own independent registration system increases the potential for election fraud,” Katya Ehresman, the voting rights program manager at Common Cause Texas, testified last week. “The GOP and conservatives for years demanded the kind of results ERIC has produced, and states withdrawing from the compact undercut efforts to keep voter rolls clean and prevent illegal voting.”

Ehresman also has questioned whether Nelson’s office could run its own system. She pointed to the office’s...

The Motley Fool: Moment of Trump

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The Motley Fool: Moment of Trump

Just days after the story came out, Common Cause, a Washington-based watchdog group, filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission alleging the $130,000 payment to Daniels amounted to an unreported, illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign for the purpose of influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, made in coordination with Cohen.

At the time Common Cause did not know it was Cohen himself who had made the in-kind payment, but later amended the complaints to...

Bloomberg: Swing-State Flip Gives Democrats Path to Sue on Abortion, Voting

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Bloomberg: Swing-State Flip Gives Democrats Path to Sue on Abortion, Voting

Lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional and state legislative maps “will most definitely” be filed, said Wisconsin Common Cause Executive Director Jay Heck.

As they prepare to ask the courts to evaluate political maps, lawyers will line up voter plaintiffs from areas where Democratic-leaning precincts were merged into Republican-dominated districts beginning in 2011, Heck said.

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