News Clips

We call on the anonymous author and allies within the administration to stand up for our Constitution and step outside government, make a case to the American people — whom you work for — and let the people decide how best to put a check on this administration and demand action from Congress. Congress must do its constitutional duty to investigate the serious allegations made by anonymous by holding public hearings immediately.

"They are probably betting that there's no way there are four votes on the FEC to come after them for this, that's part of what's in the background here," said Paul S. Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation with government watchdog Common Cause. "So I think they're really pushing the boundaries of the law in order to game the contribution limits predicting that they will get away with it, and it's like we have correct protection, but just because you can get away with something doesn't make it right."

“All the information, as it’s trickled out, has only further confirmed our suspicion that the Trump Organization violated campaign finance laws, and maybe other laws too,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause.

Manafort and Cohen get off easy for real crimes while minorities get prison for voting. Our criminal justice system undermines democracy and must change.

The Manafort and Cohen cases are also a disturbing reminder of how differently Americans are treated by our criminal justice system depending on their skin color, wealth and status. Earlier this year, a black woman in Texas was sentenced to five years in prison for unwittingly breaking state law by voting while still under community supervision for a previous fraud charge.

“It’s actually one of the biggest threats to our democracy that most people have never heard about,” said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause.