Media

The Portland, Oregon city council passed “Open & Accountable Elections” today, a reform aimed at curbing special interest money in city elections and making city government more representative and accountable to the voters. Portland joined a growing list of cities and states recently passing laws to curb the influence of big money in elections.

The increasing evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election demands an exhaustive investigation and expedited bi-partisan hearings. The troubling findings of the U.S. intelligence community and are only compounded by the unprecedented lack of transparency concerning business connections between President-elect Donald Trump and Russian interests.

“President Obama lends important muscle to the investigation that must begin now in any involvement by any foreign agent in the 2016 election. With Senators McCain and Graham announcing hearings after the first of the year, the President’s investigation can inform the congressional efforts and ensure that this effort is not about partisan power games, but about preserving and protecting the integrity of our elections by learning everything we can through these investigations and improving security moving forward.”

A bipartisan group of organizations and individuals, many of whom specialize in ethical and conflicts of interest issues, today called on President-elect Trump to divest his businesses into a true blind trust managed by an independent trustee, or the equivalent.

Representation2020, Common Cause and the Center for Responsive Politics have released a new report revealing the systemic disparity in funding for female candidates running for open seats by PACs, individual donors and major parties. Women are more likely to win open seat races than women challenging an incumbent. In addition, Republican women are likely to face additional barriers and increased opposition funding.

President-elect Trump’s promise to leave his businesses “in total” to focus on the presidency needs to be backed up by details that demonstrate that the President and his administration will focus solely on what is best for the American people, not what advances Trump’s business empire.