Press Releases Archive

Trump’s Continued Ownership of Business Enterprises Will Cause Serious Problems for His Presidency and the Country, Says Bipartisan Group of Leading Governance Experts

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  A bipartisan group of organizations and individuals, many of whom specialize in ethical and conflicts of interest issues, today called on President-elect Trump to divest his businesses into a true blind trust managed by an independent trustee, or the equivalent. This is the approach that has been taken by Trump’s predecessors for the past […]

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President-elect Trump’s Statement Today Hasn’t Yet Solved his Pervasive Conflict of Interest Problems

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  Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer President-elect Donald Trump said today he will announce on December 15 how he intends to deal with The Trump Organization in order to avoid conflicts of interest while serving as president. Trump said he would take himself out of the “business operations” of The Trump Organization, but […]

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Reform Groups Urge Members to Oppose All Campaign Finance Riders to Funding Bills

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  In a letter sent today, reform groups urged members of Congress to oppose all campaign finance riders and other “poison pill” riders to any CR or omnibus bill to be considered in the remaining days of this Congress. The groups included the Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, CREW, Democracy 21, […]

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Democracy 21 Calls on Congress to Promptly Pass Legislation to Require Trump to Comply with Blind Trust Requirements of Ethics in Government Act

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Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer In his first two weeks as president-elect, Donald Trump already has shown that he will be a walking conflict of interest until he divests his business empire. President-elect Trump’s original proposal to deal with these issues is an illusion. He proposed to place his business empire in a […]

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Trump Must Divest Himself of All Business Holdings, Reform Groups and Ethicists Say

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Statement from Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer President-elect Trump is about to become a walking financial conflict-of-interest. For example, Trump’s business enterprise reportedly owes hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bank of China. This is a state-owned bank which means that, as a businessman, Trump owes this money to the Chinese government. How will […]

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Trump’s Proposed “Blind Trust” for his Business Empire Would be Blind to Everyone but the Trump Family

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Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer According to a POLITICO article today, “Donald Trump’s vast business holdings will be placed into a blind trust with his three children in charge, according to the president-elect’s attorney.” The so-called “blind trust” scheme outlined by Trump’s lawyer is absurd. In a real blind trust, an independent trustee who has no connection […]

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Democracy 21 Study — Outside Groups Greatly Outspend Candidates in Seven Battleground Senate Races

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  Super PACs and other outside spending groups have played a dramatic and dominant role in the 2016 elections, spending $1.2 billion to date, according to Open Secrets.  Outside money is playing its most pronounced role in the battle between Republicans and Democrats for control of the Senate. In seven of the eight key battleground […]

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Fred Wertheimer – “If Elected President, Trump or Clinton Must End all Family Ties with the Trump Organization or Clinton Foundation”

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Last year in a Vanity Fair article, I said that “if Hillary Clinton is elected president, all three Clintons should cut their ties with the [Clinton] Foundation for as long as she’s president.” This position remains the same today and this same principle also applies to Donald Trump. If Trump is elected president, he and […]

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Constitutional Scholars Oppose House Effort to Impeach IRS Commissioner

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  In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, fifteen constitutional scholars opposed the effort in the House led by the Freedom Caucus to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen.  According to the letter, “When it comes to impeachment, the Constitution leaves many open and difficult questions. Whether the […]

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Constitutional Lawyers Send House Leaders Letter Opposing Impeachment of IRS Commissioner

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  In a letter sent today to House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, more than a dozen constitutional law professors opposed the resolution to impeach John Koskinen sponsored by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA). The impeachment resolution is a privileged resolution able to be brought directly to the House floor by any […]

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