Executive Ethics

Heather Ferguson, executive director of New Mexico Common Cause, said an ethics commission will help build trust in government. Aside from investigating possible corruption, she told the Santa Fe New Mexican that a commission would serve as an educational tool for officials seeking to avoid violating laws. She said the panel should be able to provide opinions much faster than the state attorney general's office, which also weighs in on questions from lawmakers and others.

"Look at the Trump Hotel right here in Washington, D.C., smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House — one block away, by the way, from the FBI's headquarters," Stephen Spaulding told Hill.TV co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on "Rising. That Trump Hotel has, I think, really become ground zero for the swamp. You have Republican fundraisers taking place there, foreign governments holding their fundraisers there. That is a clear, physical conflict of interest.

“The court has now made clear what our clients have been saying all along — the winner of November’s gubernatorial election will appoint three justices to the Florida Supreme Court,” said John Mills, attorney for the Florida branch of the League of Women Voters and Common Cause who filed the lawsuit. “Governor Scott will not, and he has no part to play in these appointments.”

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.

The lawsuit from the League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause Florida maintains that Scott does not have the power to make the appointments ahead of when the positions will be vacant. Instead the lawsuit argues the decision must be left to his successor.