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Slate/Just Security (Op-Ed): Is Jared Kushner Illegally Coordinating With Kanye West?
This week Forbes broke the story that Jared Kushner, “de facto chief” of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, has been speaking “regularly,” “almost daily,” with Kanye West since West’s July 4 tweet declaring that he is running for president. “Regular” conversations between the head of one presidential campaign and an opposing candidate looks like coordination and is highly irregular. Depending on what they’re talking about, they may be breaking campaign finance laws.
Found in: Common Cause
Washington Post: Supreme Court denies GOP request, allows R.I. pandemic-related relief on mail-in ballots
John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said the organization is “thrilled that the Supreme Court agreed not to stay the consent decree. Because of this order hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island voters will be able to safely cast their ballots without risking their health.”
Found in: Common Cause
Washington Post: Is Jared Kushner illegally coordinating with Kanye West?
The first potential issue, according to Paul S. Ryan of the watchdog group Common Cause, is if Kushner encouraged West to do something proactive that could benefit Trump’s campaign, such as running for office. If Kushner solicited from West what could be valued at more than the legal limit of $2,800, it could be considered an in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign. And, given the expense of running campaigns, it seems likely if not guaranteed that West running for office — and expending much more than $2,800 — would violate that law. The second issue is if they coordinated about the campaign — i.e., if Kushner encouraged West to do something specific when it comes to launching or running a campaign. “Any expenditure made by Kanye West in cooperation, consultation or concert with — or at the request or suggestion of — Kushner, an agent of the Trump campaign, would be considered an in-kind contribution from the Kanye West campaign to the Trump campaign,” Ryan said.
Found in: Common Cause
HuffPost: How The Eviction Crisis Could Compound Voter Suppression Come November
“These problems have always existed. They have just been limited to mostly low-income Black and Brown voters,” said Sylvia Albert, Director of Voting and Elections at pro-democracy organization Common Cause. “That population [of people being evicted] has ballooned in the current crisis, and what it exposes is how some parts of our system are not responsive to the needs of the voters.” ... The additional hurdles of a pandemic and an eviction crisis haven’t discouraged people’s interest in voting, Albert said. “In reaction to the pandemic and the actions of the administration, people feel very strongly one way or another, and it has made them engage more passionately,” she said. “All we need to do now is make sure they have the access.”
Found in: Common Cause
New York Times: A New Clash Over Mail Voting: The Cost of the Postage
“States are already strapped for cash,” Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, said Tuesday. “At a time when the Congress has not appropriated sufficient funds to help election officials run these elections this November, it’s ridiculous to contemplate adding more to their budgets.”
Found in: Common Cause
Dallas Morning News: Officials calculate cost of Trump’s plan
Government watchdog groups have called Trump’s move an act of executive overreach that usurps Congress’ constitutional power to allocate federal funds. “Americans expect and deserve more from their President in the midst of a pandemic and an economic crisis,” Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, said in a statement. “Unwilling and unable to negotiate with Congress to deliver a relief package to a nation reeling from COVID-19, President Trump resorted to unconstitutional half measures that will do little to address the serious issues facing the nation.”
Found in: Common Cause
Reuters: In Georgia and Wisconsin, smoother elections this time - with a few glitches
“Today is better than April, but that doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing in November,” said Jay Heck, state director for Common Cause Wisconsin, a government watchdog group.
Found in: Common Cause
Associated Press: Inaction by Congress leaves states to pay for election costs
“Without proper funding, guidance and preparedness, the problems seen in previous elections are going to be just the tip of the iceberg this November,” Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director with Common Cause, warned lawmakers during a congressional hearing last week.
Found in: Common Cause
ABC News: Why President Trump keeps talking about a New York Democratic primary
"New York did not have any infrastructure or an expanded absentee program. So the Board of Elections had to completely revise the entire way in which they were approaching absentee ballots in six weeks," Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a nonpartisan good government organization, told ABC News.
Found in: Common Cause
Intentional Disregard: Trump's Authoritarianism During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic did not have to be so catastrophic in the United States. The effects of the pandemic did not need to fall disproportionately on communities of color. These outcomes are the largely predictable consequences of political decisions and actions. Preventing such consequences in future national disasters requires us to act now.