Abuse of Power

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said that it’s past time for DeWine, Husted and their staffs to be much more forthcoming about their involvement in the bailout and about what DeWine and Husted did to investigate whether any member of the administration acted improperly. “It makes sense to be as clear as possible about what actually happened,” she said. “And I don’t just want to hear from the governor. I want to hear from the lieutenant governor.”

Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group, issued the warning Thursday in an amicus brief filed to the upcoming Supreme Court hearing that has brought special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case to a standstill. “This Court is at serious risk of being perceived as attempting to influence the 2024 election in favor of Mr. Trump,” the group writes. “It should do everything possible now to avoid that impression, which would be highly detrimental to this Court’s reputation for neutrality and fairness. Time is of the essence.” Common Cause's 37-page brief condemns the nation’s highest court scheduling decisions they argue came to Trump’s legal rescue “against the public interest." Specifically, the group points to the Supreme Court’s speedy ruling on his 14th Amendment insurrectionist ban challenge — a ruling that allowed Trump to remain on Colorado’s ballot — and the scheduling of his presidential immunity hearing until April 25, the last day possible.

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said the records showing the payment is another example of why Ohio needs greater transparency in political spending. We're still learning about public officials proximity to a bribery scandal after years of a swarm of criminal, civil, and regulatory investigations, she said. The complicated picture is a feature and not a bug, she said. The system is built to hide malfeasance. "What we do know from this is the governor and lieutenant governor are very comfortable in a dark money system and figured out how to maximize the loophole in transparency to benefit themselves, their friends, and their family," she said. "The governor and lieutenant governor have figured out a way to make dark money work for them."

Meanwhile, the fair election advocacy group Common Cause filed a brief supporting Mr. Smith at the Supreme Court in the D.C. case over Mr. Trump's claim of absolute immunity, saying the justices must decide the issue swiftly so the trial can take place before the November election and, ironically, so politics don't appear to be at play. "The American people deserve a trial and a verdict on these serious charges before they go to the polls in November," said Virginia Kase Solomón, president of Common Cause. "The presumptive Republican presidential nominee stands criminally charged with conspiracy and obstruction stemming from his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It is critically important that the Supreme Court rule quickly, as it has in past presidential cases, so that justice can be rendered before Americans cast their ballots."

Today, Common Cause filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States urging the court to decide Donald J. Trump v. United States expeditiously in order to avoid perceptions of political bias and to allow a lower court trial of the former president on conspiracy and corruption charges to be held before the November presidential election.

Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota, a nonprofit that advocates for government transparency, also had concerns. She said, "Sen. Hoffman's use of this title for marketing his consulting business as 'senator', along with the use of pictures taken while at the Capitol campus, can arguably be seen as him leveraging his public role for private gain." Belladonna-Carrera suggested the legislative branch could benefit from having clearer rules for lawmakers. "This branch of government — I would argue the most public facing and accountable to the people particularly because of what it does and who it is supposed to be working for — is once again the one with the least accountability and transparency," she said.