Our elections have become a competition for money almost as much as they are a competition for votes. It’s time to change that. Here’s how: citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
1. Limit undisclosed political spending by passing the DISCLOSE Act and the Stand By Every Ad Act. Pass the Honest Ads Act to address ads on the internet.
2. Empower ordinary Americans to be heard over big money by funding small-dollar matching programs for federal elections.
3. Crack down on “straw donor” donation schemes.
4. Hold dark money groups accountable by fully funding the IRS so it can enforce rules about what nonprofits can and can’t do in our elections.
5. End gridlock at the FEC by allowing commissioners to launch investigations, fully funding the FEC and changing the law so more citizens can bring campaign finance lawsuits.
6. Close the revolving door. This one is tough, but we can start by requiring five year “cooling off” periods for former elected officials and two years where former appointees and former lobbyists can’t touch things they used to work on.
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President Trump has claimed that he’s the most transparent president in history. His administration’s secrecy about who visits the White House, abuse of security classifications and recordkeeping failures prove that’s a lie.
Here’s how to fix what he’s broken:
1. Create clear enforcement measures for the Presidential and Federal Records Acts so there can be real consequences for law breaking (like failing to create records that could link families separated at the border).
2. Ban the use of apps that automatically delete messages for government work. Remember Jared Kushner’s WhatsApp messages with Mark Zuckerberg and MBS?
You don’t need us to tell you that the Trump administration has been a disaster for government ethics.
Reforms like these should be a no-brainer:
1. End misuse of government offices for private gain by expanding recusal rules and requiring all high level executive branch officials to divest their financial interests.
(we’re looking at you, Wilbur Ross, Louis DeJoy, Ryan Zinke and Marc Short)
2. Give the Office of Government Ethics more power to actually enforce ethics laws, or create a different centralized office that can do so.
Every day for nearly four years now, you’ve been reading bad news from the most corrupt administration in recent memory. We wouldn’t blame you for being exhausted, so here’s some good news for your timeline.
CREW got three huge wins for accountability in just one afternoon:
After we filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel about the Interior Department apparently creating pro-Trump propaganda, OSC told us today that they opened a case file on the matter. citizensforethics.org/legal-action/l…
CREW sued the State Department for records about Mike Pompeo’s notorious “Madison Dinners,” taxpayer-funded dinners that appear to be an effort to boost his political ambitions.
We need checks and balances that actually work. Trump has shown us why every single day of his presidency.
Here's how to make that happen:
1. Congress should create real consequences for ignoring subpoenas. Even in Trump’s impeachment inquiry, people like Mick Mulvaney, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Pompeo simply defied subpoenas.
2. Create a fast-track procedure for Congress to carry out investigations. Stonewalling Don McGahn’s testimony and in the Mazars case about Trump’s tax returns show why this can’t go on.
Here’s a radical idea: Let’s hold presidents accountable to the people.
Here’s how:
1. Require presidential (and VP) candidates to release their tax returns
2. Require those candidates to make a plan to divest from all conflicting assets
3. Empower OGE to enforce divestiture -- and quickly -- within 30 days
4. Make the Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution more easily enforceable, so any future president couldn’t run out the clock on facing justice for his corruption
CREW has been planning for months (and years) for the possibility of bold reforms after the darkness of the Trump era. citizensforethics.org/news/press-rel…
Today, we released our report what our democracy needs to come back stronger after the corruption, cronyism and abuses perpetrated by Trump and his administration.
The list has to be long, because the past four years have exposed that we are not just facing one problem, or one corrupt president; we are facing many interconnected, urgent crises.
It’s not going to be easy to fix our democracy, and it’s not going to take just one fight.