Executive Ethics

“If any connection with Kirkland and Ellis is a stain on (senior Justice Department officials), why isn’t a connection with the law firm for the receipt of campaign contributions a stain on her own campaign?” said Paul S. Ryan, an attorney for the good government group Common Cause.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform neared a contempt vote for the Attorney General and Commerce Secretary, but President Trump is trying to claim executive privilege to slow their progress. As pressure mounts on the Trump cabinet heads to submit to legislative oversight, Congress must demand accountability.

The people are clear even if one party in Congress is not -- a new poll shows only 29% approval of Barr. In a battle between Barr and the DOJ prosecutors who signed a letter calling him out for obstruction, the people agree with the prosecutors over Barr. This is a path he and President Trump have chosen.

Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, said her group has received several calls from people expressing a loss of faith in Ms. Pugh. But Ms. Antoine said she is heartened by recent proposals brought by Baltimore City Council members to tighten ethics disclosure rules and make it easier to remove the mayor.“I think we’re on the verge of recovering from all of this,” she said. “We believe the City Council is taking steps to move forward.”

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.

Rachel Maddow gave the nation an important history lesson with the man who made that history with two important decisions for transparency in the Watergate-era, Philip Lacovara.