We had a huge victory in court, got two FOIA scoops, sent letters to DHS and FinCEN and sued the government for records (again). Here’s a round-up
On Monday night, a federal judge ruled in a CREW lawsuit that the DOJ needs to make public a secret memo that Bill Barr cited when he announced he would not charge Trump with obstruction. citizensforethics.org/news/press-rel…
We also sent a letter along with 84 partners urging DHS not to destroy records of abuse in its detention facilities. citizensforethics.org/legal-action/l…
We got records from the Secret Service showing just how much Trump’s extension of protection for his family is costing...and it’s a lot. Like $140,000 for only 30 days (and that’s only the half of it). citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
On Wednesday we sent a letter to FinCEN urging them not to water down some really important corporate transparency legislation when they actually write the regulations. citizensforethics.org/news/press-rel…
Then on Thursday we revealed that the temporary fence around the White House during peaceful racial justice protests last summer cost a whopping $1.5 million. citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
And finally, this morning, we sued Treasury and State for records on Steve Mnuchin overturning sanctions on an Israeili billionaire in order to understand the extent to which he was looking out for business interests. citizensforethics.org/legal-action/l…
Happy Friday! Sign up for CREW updates here, if you want to get news like this about our work directly in your inbox: actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-…
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This may sound extreme, but to save our democracy, the filibuster needs to go.
Here’s why:
If 41 senators agree to block a bill, they can—even if the other 59 senators support it. That means that majority rule no longer exists in the United States Senate.
If the Founding Fathers knew about this, we don’t think they would be happy. They *literally* enshrined majority rule in the Constitution.
NEWS: Mike Pompeo violated federal ethics rules when he and his wife, Susan, asked State Department employees to carry out tasks for their personal benefit more than 100 times politico.com/news/2021/04/1…
Today, Fox announced that Lara Trump was joining the network as a paid contributor, as she decides whether she wants to run for Senate.
Never mind that the day before the insurrection, she went on Fox to spread election fraud lies… nytimes.com/2021/03/29/bus…
But Lara Trump is not the first Trump employee to get hired by Fox. In Kayleigh McEnany’s case, they were in talks before she had even left the White House. citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
Apparently Mike Pompeo doesn't like the most ambitious ethics reform in a generation. Any ideas why?
Maybe it’s because he attracted scrutiny for using taxpayer funds to travel frequently home to Kansas, apparently while deciding whether or not to run for office. citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t like oversight, as we all saw when he asked Donald Trump to fire the inspector general who was investigating him for misuse of office and for fast tracking arms sales to Saudi Arabia. cnn.com/2020/05/18/pol…
Ten big reasons for the Senate to do whatever it takes to pass the For the People Act:
1. If presidential candidates disclosed their tax returns, the American people wouldn't have to wonder what interests the president could be beholden to or whether they paid their fair share citizensforethics.org/news/analysis/…
2. If presidents and vice presidents were forced to divest from their assets before taking the oath of office, the president couldn’t rake in $1.6 billion and we wouldn’t have to sue them for violating the Constitution citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
If Don Jr wants to talk about shocking use of taxpayer money, lets talk about it.
There was Don Jr's endangered sheep hunt in Mongolia, which taxpayers more than $75k for his Secret Service protection citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…
The countless business trips that the Trump sons took to Trump properties, also subsidized by taxpayers, to the tune of hundreds of thousands dollars citizensforethics.org/reports-invest…