Substantively, this matter is about the importance of transparency—the voters obviously should have known about McDougal’s allegations well before the elections, and AMI’s illegal hush money payment meant they did not.
But this isn’t an example of @FEC enforcement—it is almost five years after the 2016 election, and all the investigative work was done by the federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. The FEC is just free-riding here.
The @FEC is supposed to be responsible for enforcing laws that govern campaign finance for campaigns for president & Congress. Yet, this is another example of the @FEC being an afterthought in campaign finance enforcement as DOJ takes the lead, with all the problems that creates.
To reduce political corruption, we need a stronger @FEC to enforce campaign finance laws and hold political candidates and their donors accountable. The #ForThePeopleAct, #S1, would reform the FEC to make that happen. #FixTheFEC
And lastly, for me, the most interesting question is where is the Trump campaign fine? They admitted making an illegal contribution to Trump—so by definition he took one. Is another shoe about to drop? Or are @FEC Commissioners refusing to enforce the law against the campaign?
It's important for campaigns and candidates to be held accountable and for our laws to be upheld.

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More from @thetrevorpotter

31 Mar
A7: #S1TownHall #S1’s small-donor program builds on programs that have been successful in cities and states across the country. Because candidates are incentivized to seek support from small donors and small donors are empowered by the matching funds to provide impactful...
...financial support to their preferred candidates, these programs have led to big increases in small donors and significantly decreased reliance on wealthy special interests. Freed from dependence on a few big donors, elected officials can focus on implementing policies that...
…benefit their constituents, not just those that bankroll their campaigns. For example, following the first election after Connecticut implemented its Citizens’ Elections Program...
Read 4 tweets
31 Mar
A1: #S1TownHall Economic inequality means that most personal wealth in the US is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small minority, and the historic legacy of racism and sexism means that these wealthy few are overwhelmingly white and male. The heavy reliance of our...
...campaign system on individual and corporate PAC contributions in turn, means that our government is often tilted towards the interests of a white male donor class, and the donor class looks nothing like the American public, but has a disproportionate level of influence over...
...who can competitively run for office and what policies are considered and prioritized. People of color and Americans of average means often have their voices drowned out...
Read 4 tweets
24 Mar
I’m about to head into the U.S. Senate Rules Committee to testify in support of the #ForThePeopleAct, #S1. This legislation will strengthen democracy for all Americans, regardless of political party. The livestream of the hearing should be available here:
rules.senate.gov/hearings/s1-th…
The #ForThePeopleAct will crack down on political corruption in both parties, limit the influence donors have over politicians, prevent foreign money from coming into America's elections, strengthen ethics laws...
campaignlegal.org/update/how-hr-…
...to prevent politicians from enriching themselves, create more transparency and accountability in government, reform the Federal Election Commission (@FEC) and protect voting rights for all eligible citizens.
campaignlegal.org/update/people-…
Read 5 tweets
9 Oct 20
The @nytimes reported today that Donald Trump may have illegally financed his 2016 campaign with a secret loan that potentially exceeded legal limits. The report is the latest in a Times series examining Trump's tax returns. Thread below. (1/8)
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
The @nytimes reports that in September 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, Trump quietly took out a $30 million bank loan in the name of an LLC that he jointly owns with billionaire developer Phil Ruffin, with Trump Tower Las Vegas as collateral. (2/8)
Tax records show the LLC paid Trump over $21 million in 2016 & claimed a tax deduction on the payments.

6 weeks after obtaining the loan, Trump gave $10 million to his campaign.

Federal law requires that candidates disclose bank loans used in connection w/ their campaign. (3/8)
Read 8 tweets

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