Protect Mueller

muellerprotest1

What’s Going on with the Mueller Report?

,

One of the defining qualities of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interreference in the 2016 presidential election was the absence of internal leaks. (Mueller’s team primarily communicated their case by releasing unusually detailed indictments and charging documents.)

So when news came out that the report was finished, anticipation was exceptionally high. Last Sunday, Attorney General William Barr released a 4 page “summary” of the over 400-page report. President Donald Trump and his defenders instantly began describing it as a “total exoneration”, despite the fact that the summary and report specifically state that it “does not exonerate him.” This bit of cognitive dissonance was followed by Barr claiming this his “summary” was not a “summary.” All of this was too much for some members of the Mueller team and stories began emerging that Mueller had already provided his own written summary that was bypassed for Barr’s version which was they said gave a deceptive impression.

The public deserves to see the full report for a number of reasons and the Trump administration’s absurd handling of it so far only adds to the arguments. This was the background for the 330 rallies nationwide that Public Citizen, MoveOn, Indivisible and others in the Trump is Not Above the Law coalition organized on Thursday demanding the full release of the report.

At the flagship event in front of the White House, Public Citizen’s Lisa Gilbert was joined by a number of speakers, including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler. Nadler’s played a key role in the proceedings, including recently receiving authorization for a subpoena for the report. Nadler was received as a folk hero at the event, best captured by the spontaneous chant of “thank you” that broke out while he was on stage. You can watch a full video of the event here.

Activist pressure has already proved very consequential in this process. It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that Mueller was able to finish his investigation even though Trump threatened its very existence innumerable times. The pressure of the massive number of people that got involved in the Trump is Not Above the Law effort clearly played a significant part in the calculation.

We must keep up the pressure until we have the full report.  You can help by calling Ranking Member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Doug Collins at 202 225-9893. Tell him that the public paid for the Mueller investigation and we deserve the full story about Russian interference in our election.

36834568375_fb69c19e3f_h

Manafort Sentencing Underscores the Need for Transparent Results of Mueller Probe

, ,

During former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s sentencing hearing in federal court on Wednesday, his lawyers made a peculiar point: had it not been for Special Counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and the possibility of the Trump campaign’s cooperation or President Trump’s obstruction of justice, Manafort’s many crimes—his financial crimes, as well as his unregistered lobbying , his conspiracy to obstruct justice, and his conspiracy against the United States exemplified by his sharing of polling data during the campaign with Russian associate Konstantin Kilminik—would likely have never been discovered.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the Washington, D.C. District Court did not find the argument convincing in the way Manafort’s attorneys had intended—to argue for lessened sentencing. But the lawyers were absolutely correct that the public would likely know little to nothing about the crimes of Manafort and other associates of the Trump 2016 campaign were it not for the Mueller probe. Unintentionally, these lawyers effectively made the case that the special counsel’s investigation has been invaluable in helping the American public understand what happened in the attack on our elections, and that therefore we have a right to know the full extent of Mueller’s findings.

At present, the Mueller investigation has led to indictments and/or plea deals from 37 known defendants—including Manafort, as well as Trump’s former personal lawyer Michel Cohen, his former campaign aides George Papadopoulos and Rick Gates, his former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and his longtime adviser Roger Stone. This has resulted in at least 199 criminal charges and five prison sentences already. The amount of criminal activity that the Mueller probe has uncovered and brought into public awareness is staggering.

It is clear that the special counsel’s office has been extremely effective in rooting out evidence of attacks made against the United States electoral system in the 2016 election as well as a number of other crimes. It is also clear based on what the public already knows about Mueller’s findings that the assault on our electoral system was massive, and we, the taxpayers who have funded the investigation, deserve to know the full scope of its findings. This, of course, may include evidence of whether or not our president knew about or took part in that assault, or acted to obstruct justice in covering it up—information which is absolutely critical for ensuring that our citizens feel they can trust our government.

Despite this, the president’s recently Senate-approved Attorney General, Bill Barr, has declined to commit to release the special counsel’s final conclusions in full to Congress and the public. Barr’s shakiness on this matter is not only morally indefensible—it is also deeply unpopular.

A recent poll shows that 81 percent of the public, including strong majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, support the public release of Mueller’s report. Thankfully, it appears that our members of Congress are listening to this public demand—today, a resolution to demand transparency on any final report made by the special counsel passed through the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 420-0. The implications are clear: the public deserves to know everything that the Mueller probe has turned up.

Now it falls to the Senate to respond to the immense demand of the American people. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has obstructed previous efforts to protect the Mueller investigation, it is essential that he allow a vote on public transparency of Mueller’s findings. The Senate must vote on and pass the bipartisan Special Counsel Transparency Act introduced by Senators Blumenthal and Grassley.

Americans deserve to understand the details of Mueller’s findings without presidential spin. We deserve to know about the full scale of the assault on our electoral system, including details of President Trump’s possible criminal activity. We need to feel assured that in the United States, no one is above the law.

 

Photo Credit: Flickr user DonkeyHotey
“Paul Manafort – Caricature||CC/BY2.0

Mueller, Barr & Trump

More than two years into a turbulent Trump presidency, it sometimes has seemed like the only constant has been the slow hum of Special Counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. So far, for more than a year and a half, the probe has endured sustained attacks from the president and his allies in Congress and conservative media. For months the Special Counsel’s office has operated as if it could be shut down at any time. At last, reports indicate that Mueller’s investigation may be coming to a close as the Justice Department has begun preparing for a completed Mueller report as some time in the coming weeks.

It seems that a report will be coming soon, but how much of that report will be seen by Congress, let alone made public, hinges almost entirely on the discretion of the newly confirmed attorney general William Barr. Barr has repeatedly stated that he will not deviate from standard department practices regarding disclosure of conduct that does not lead to the filing of criminal charges. This decision carries shades of the kinds of partisan politics the Justice Department is supposed to refrain from, as the Washington Post reports that many in President Trump’s inner circle believe the report may contain information that is politically damaging but falls short of criminal conduct.

This means that not even Congress will get to know the extent to which the president’s involvement in the affairs being investigated unless the Special Counsel recommends that formal criminal charges be filed. Coupled with the Justice Department’s long-standing policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted, this suggests that what Barr may relay from the report to Congress and therefore the public may contain no mention of President Trump’s role in the report’s findings at all. This is unacceptable. The American people deserve to know the facts of the Special Counsel’s report whichever way they may swing.

This begs the question, what comes next? There are a number of possible avenues, as this will not likely be the end of the Trump-Russia saga. There are several key points to keep in mind:

  • This could be the end of the Special Counsel’s “Russian collusion” investigation, but there are no signs it will be the end of the multitude of other investigations into Trump businesses, the Trump campaign, and the Trump administration. For instance, House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff recently re-opened an investigation into the Trump family’s financial ties abroad, and the Southern District of New York continues to look into financial matters as well.
  • Relatedly, Mueller may have passed evidence of certain wrongdoing outside of the scope of his mandate to state-level prosecutors or other departments at the FBI. The Mueller probe’s investigation is mandated, strictly, to investigate Russia’s role in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign played a role in it, and to investigate whether the president may have obstructed justice. If he uncovered evidence of potential criminal activity that fell outside of those bounds, Mueller may have felt that other investigators were better- or more appropriately-positioned to pursue those leads. There is no guarantee that the possible end of the Mueller probe implies the end of all criminal investigation into Trump businesses, the Trump campaign, and the Trump administration.
  • The New York Times Speculates that Mueller’s report may serve as a roadmap of sorts for Democratic house committees and future investigators
  • A lack of indictments does not rule out the possibility (or probability) of ethical or legal violations outside of the special counsel’s purview. The president is currently being investigated in several other mediums

The recently introduced bipartisan Special Counsel Transparency Act (S.236) would mandate that the Special Counsel’s report be released in its entirety (with redactions made for national security purposes). Unfortunately, the bill is unlikely to see a vote in Congress before the Mueller report is completed. We must not let William Barr and the Justice Department bury the findings of the probe. The dangers of allowing a presidential appointee to decide what details are and are not relevant in an investigation into the man who appointed him cannot be overstated. It should be up to Congress and the public to draw whatever conclusions that they may from the facts of the report alone.

Trump-Self-Funded

‘Self-Funded’ Trump Now Propped Up by Super PAC Megadonors

, ,

Dozens of megadonors have contributed $54.4 million to six groups backing President Donald Trump’s agenda, his reelection and Republican candidates for office, an analysis by Public Citizen has found.

Public Citizen analyzed [PDF here] contributions by large donors to six groups supporting Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The analysis reveals a large political operation backing Trump as well as Republican candidates. These six groups are fueled with contributions from corporate CEOs and other large donors as well as from dark money groups that do not disclose their donors.

The gusher of contributions to pro-Trump groups is a sharp contrast with the early days of Trump’s political career three years ago. Trump, who famously ran his primary campaign with a tiny staff, initially claimed to be self-funding his candidacy and avoiding big-money donors. This assertion, while not entirely accurate, was part of his appeal to voters.

Public Citizen’s analysis of Federal Election Commission data found that since the start of 2017 through mid-October 2018, the six pro-Trump groups have:

  • Raised $54.4 million from contributors who donated at least $100,000, with an average contribution of nearly $400,000.
  • Received contributions of at least $100,000 from 136 people and organizations.
  • Relied upon donations from the gambling, finance, real estate and energy sectors, largely from CEOs, senior executives, retired CEOs and spouses of CEOs.

Under federal law, political groups may participate in U.S. elections as long as they don’t coordinate their efforts with a candidate’s campaign. These groups have proliferated in recent years after the Supreme Court allowed unlimited contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals. Separately, another Supreme Court decision has led to the expansion of “joint fundraising committees” that allow donors to write six-figure checks, which then can be parceled out to other campaigns. Trump and his allies have made use of all of these strategies.

For the report, Public Citizen analyzed contributions by the six largest groups used by big-money donors to support Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The analysis excludes Trump’s official campaign committee, which is subject to the federal $2,700 cap on individual donations.

The six groups studied by Public Citizen have raised more than $153 million to date, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Most of that money has already been spent, with roughly $145 million in expenditures so far.

Pro-Trump groups are on track to far exceed what major donors spent to reelect President Barack Obama in 2012. That year, Priorities USA Action, the super PAC endorsed by Obama, raised $79.1 million. Of that money, $73 million came from 125 donors contributing at least $100,000. Since then, super PACs and other forms of big-money politics have mushroomed.

The Public Citizen analysis illustrates how giant fundraising committees, many of which have been able to accept unlimited contributions since the 2010 Citizens United decision, are become an essential piece of Trump’s round-the-clock political fundraising operation. Several Trump organizations have parallel “dark money” operations, which are structured as nonprofit “social welfare” organizations under the tax code and are not required to disclose their donors. These dark money groups often turn around and make contributions to super PACs.

GroupTotal contributions over $100KTotal ContributionsSpentDescription
AMERICA FIRST ACTION INC.$31,537,911 $38,801,172$35,994,963Pro-Trump super PAC, led by Republican operative Brian Walsh
TRUMP VICTORY$14,512,652 $30,450,763$27,274,789Joint Fundraising Committee between Trump campaign, RNC, several state parties
FUTURE45$5,242,555 $6,269,614$6,233,204Republican super PAC supported by Charles Schwab, Joe Ricketts and Paul Singer. Associated with the 45Committee, a dark money group.
GREAT AMERICA COMMITTEE$2,142,278 $4,052,421$3,795,185Leadership PAC set up by Vice President Mike Pence.
GREAT AMERICA PAC$650,000$8,082,744$8,582,778Pro-Trump hybrid PAC/super PAC led by GOP Strategist Ed Rollins. Affiliated with dark money group Great America Alliance.
TRUMP MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN COMMITTEE$310,553$65,466,544$63,162,636Joint Fundraising Committee between Trump campaign and RNC.
Total$54,395,949 $153,123,258$145,043,555

Source: Federal Election Commission, Center for Responsive Politics

The main super PAC backing Trump, America First Action, has been the leading vehicle for contributions from ultra-wealthy donors, raising a total of nearly $39 million to date, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. America First Action can take unlimited contributions, and has raised about $31.5 million from donors contributing at least $100,000, Public Citizen’s analysis found.

More

taxscam11

Exposing the Tax Scam, One Year In: Hearing From the Public

One thing made clear by the outcome of the November election is that the massive tax giveaway bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December 2017, was hugely unpopular, especially with voters in states where it mattered most. Instead of going to the table in a bipartisan manner to hammer out how to really fix the tax code to best invest taxpayer dollars, the GOP rushed through a $2 trillion dollar package of tax cuts greatly tilted toward benefitting the super rich and corporations. Workers were promised bonuses and wage hikes as the tax cuts were supposed to “trickle-down.” Unsurprisingly, President Trump’s magical $4,000 check for everyone has yet to manifest, and it never will. In a word, the tax bill was a scam.

Another predictable, but still sad, outcome of the tax giveaway scam is that we’re seeing job cuts at American factories with well-known names like GM and Harley-Davidson. And because of backward incentives baked into the tax bill that let companies pay half or less the rate of tax on profits made by foreign subsidiaries it will attract even more multinational corporations to outsource jobs and investments.

And, instead of building up operations, corporations are buying back their own stock at record volumes, which increases the value of existing shares and lines the pockets of CEOs getting fat bonuses. At current count, companies have spent 121 times as much on buybacks as on giving bonuses or increased wages for workers.

It doesn’t stop there. Millionaires will reap the majority of the “small business” breaks, while true small business owners were left with a tax code more complicated and difficult to navigate than before. Gender and racial inequities were further entrenched. These are just a small sampling of the many ways the tax law changes have proven to be a failure one year after the tax giveaways were gifted to the corporations and mega wealthy.

Certainly, we already know that the new House majority has prioritized release of presidential tax returns as part of their ethics platform scheduled first up on the docket and incoming Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal has the power to obtain President Trump’s tax return. Not only are the returns critical to understanding the extent to which he personally benefitted from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but the potential ramifications for the Mueller investigation are also huge. The New York Times has already documented alleged past tax fraud and New York State is currently suing the Trump family for their tax dealings through the Trump Foundation.

As important as that is for oversight and protecting our democracy, American families and communities across the country are suffering from a lack of available government funding. Teachers are going on strike because of the appalling conditions at their schools, our streets and bridges are crumbling, and health care is accessible for far too few. These problems are only going to get worse unless we act to repeal the tax handouts to the rich and corporations, close the loopholes that are bleeding our country of tax dollars, and implement new sources of revenue generation like taxing Wall Street trades.

As we mark one year since the passage of this terrible tax bill, Congress needs to hear from the public that they must do more than just focus on Trump’s tax returns, they need to repeal cuts, close loopholes, and get new revenue to invest in a better America.

Public Citizen and our partners are hosting a chat on Twitter on December 17 at 2:00 pm Eastern. You can add your voice to the conversation and join the chat by following #TaxScamTurns1. And, while you’re at it, why not tag your Tweets with the handle of your U.S. Representative (or U.S. Representative-elect) and tell her or him that in addition to seeing Trump’s tax returns, America needs to unrig the tax code and implement a tax fairness vision that creates significant revenues to invest in our communities.

Finally, follow this blog for a series of posts this week as we expose the tax scam one year in.

Load More