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If Baseball Teams Had the Power of a Political Gerrymander, It Would Ruin the Game
Sep 20, 2017The U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity this term in CLC’s Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case (Gill v. Whitford) to rein in the pernicious practice of elected officials cherry picking their voters and silencing the voices of voters in the other party. Our democracy desperately needs the Court to rise to the challenge.
Associated Press: Facebook may be facing an 'era of accountability'
Sep 19, 2017Facebook appears to have been used as an accomplice in a foreign government's effort to undermine democratic self-governance in the United States," writes Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and now head of a nonpartisan election-law group, in a letter to Zuckerberg.
Potter's group, the Campaign Legal Center, wants Facebook to make the Russian-sponsored ads public. The company has so far declined to do so, citing the ongoing investigations. It has provided the ads and other information to Robert Mueller, the special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation, Facebook said in a statement, although it declined to elaborate.
New York Times: Chemical Industry Ally Faces Critics in Bid for Top E.P.A. Post
Sep 19, 2017It is unlikely ethics rules would bar him from overseeing issues related to chemicals manufactured by companies he has conducted research for. Grants given by companies to universities, but not to the scholars themselves, generally do not create conflicts that require individuals to recuse themselves from matters involving the companies, said Walter Shaub, the former head of the federal Office of Government Ethics.
CNN: Voting commission member calls for hard-liner's resignation after email
Sep 19, 2017At issue is an email sent by von Spakovsky that ended up with the Justice Department in February that was made public in a Freedom of Information Act request by the Campaign Legal Center last week. The names on the email were redacted by the government. Von Spakovsky was named to the commission in June.
USA Today: Ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn's family sets up legal defense fund for Russia probes
Sep 18, 2017Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics, noted that Flynn is no longer a government employee, so he is not subject to any ethics restrictions or financial disclosure requirements on the funds.
"Flynn and his spokespeople have not specified whether it would disclose its list of donors, so there is no way for the public to know for sure whether Flynn will follow-through on his promise not to accept donations from foreign nationals or from affiliates of the Trump campaign or Trump Organization," Shaub said.
ThinkProgress: For Michael Flynn’s legal defense fund, anything goes
Sep 18, 2017“Michael Flynn is no longer a government employee, so he is not subject to government ethics restrictions on legal defense funds,” said Corey Goldstone, spokesperson for government watchdog group Campaign Legal Center. “He is also not subject to any financial disclosure requirements applicable to federal government employees.”
Reuters: Fight over electoral district boundaries heads to Supreme Court
Sep 17, 2017“Government should treat voters equally regardless of their viewpoint and we have ways to measure it,” said Danielle Lang, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
If the justices rule that courts must stay out of this highly political process, voters will lose, Lang said.
“There would be no way for voters to rein in partisan gerrymandering, no way for voters to take back control of their government.”
Kathmandu Post: Highflying Mnuchins take the country for a ride
Sep 17, 2017“We’re starting to see a pattern with Steve Mnuchin,” says Walter Shaub, former chief of the Office of Government Ethics, now at the Campaign Legal Center. “This is the tone from the top, that President Trump himself has set: Ethics doesn’t matter, and high positions of public trust come with perks.”
Yahoo News: Russia Probe: Trump Aide Struggles to Pay Legal Defense
Sep 16, 2017Although Caputo has not had any assistance in paying for his legal aid, a few members of Trump’s team have had their legal services paid for. The Trump campaign paid $50,000 for Donald Trump Jr.’s attorney back in June.
"It's legal for the campaign to pay any legal expenses arising out of the campaign," said Larry Noble back in June, general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group.
Washington Post: Trump’s FEC nominee has questioned the value of disclosing political donors
Sep 15, 2017Brendan M. Fischer, who directs the federal regulatory work of the advocacy group Campaign Legal Center, said the U.S. Senate should press Trainor on his interpretation of Citizens United when considering his nomination.
“It is incredibly concerning that an individual nominated to the Federal Election Commission either doesn't understand or is willfully ignoring the fact that the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld and endorsed campaign finance disclosure,” said Fischer, whose group flagged Trainor's past statements for The Washington Post.