Will the FEC Let Super PACs Keep Donors in the Shadows?
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New Online Tool Launched by CLC Will Help Up to 23 Million Americans Understand Their Voting Rights
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All citizens who have paid their debt to society are entitled to participate in our democracy
WASHINGTON – Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) released a first-of-its-kind online tool at RestoreYourVote.org to help as many as 23 million citizens with past felony convictions understand their voting rights in all 50 states and take the necessary steps in the process to exercise their right to vote before the November 2018 election. A majority of this group of Americans – as many as 17 million people – should be able to vote right away if they just understand their rights. Many more are eligible to apply to restore their right to vote. CLC hopes to educate as many people as possible between now and the election by providing an online roadmap for rights restoration.
Felony disenfranchisement laws target primarily people of color, preventing them from having a voice. Many of these laws are explicitly racially discriminatory policies of Jim Crow. Nationwide, one in every 13 black adults cannot vote as the result of a felony conviction. That is compared to one in 56 non-black adults.
“Citizens who have paid their debt to society are entitled to participate in our democracy. We launched this tool because state and federal policies do not uniformly protect the right to vote of all citizens. There is lots of work to do to educate people about their rights,” said Danielle Lang, senior legal counsel, voting rights and redistricting at CLC. “We can’t overturn all discriminatory voting laws overnight. But while we fight them in court, we are minimizing the harmful impact of these laws by clearing up the confusion and misinformation that prevents many people with past felony convictions throughout the country from voting. Through this tool and a robust organizing effort, we hope to educate as many people as possible about their rights and help them access the ballot.”
As we launch the online tool today, CLC is also launching grassroots organizing efforts in several states to educate voters, beginning in the states of Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. These states were chosen because of their large population of people that can vote if they understand their rights but an equally large amount of confusion around the law.
Watch this video to learn about the Alabama Voting Rights Project, the pilot state of this campaign, which highlights the knowledge gap about voting laws for people with past convictions.
Visit RestoreYourVote.org to learn about the path to rights restoration.
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Secretary Ross Worked on Matters Affecting His Financial Interests; Appears to Have Made False Statements
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CLC complaint asks Inspector General to investigate whether Ross violated criminal laws prohibiting conflicts of interest and false statements
WASHINGTON – Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Department of Commerce’s Inspector General calling for an investigation to determine whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr., violated the criminal laws on conflicts of interest and false statements.
In 2017, Ross led an investigation to determine whether the United States should impose a tariff on steel imports while holding Invesco stock worth millions. At the time, Invesco had a significant interest in Chinese steel through a subsidiary that Ross ran until he joined the government.
While leading the steel investigation, Ross also held stock in a steel-consuming railcar manufacturer named Greenbrier. One day after Greenbrier CEO Mark Furman sent a letter to the Commerce Department expressing concern about the investigation’s effect on his company, Ross sold up to a half million dollars’ worth of Greenbrier stock. Ross, who sold Greenbrier stock three times in 2017, claims he learned that these sales occurred after he had unexpectedly discovered he still held shares of the company’s stock. However, Ross does not appear to have recused from the steel investigation after each discovery pending divestiture of the shares.
In addition, Ross participated in several matters affecting his financial interests in Navigator, a transoceanic shipping firm: (1) several trade agreements with American companies involved in natural gas products, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and ethylene; (2) the administration’s efforts to promote American exports of LNG, which are economically linked to LPG and ethylene; and (3) the steel tariff investigation. Navigator was affected by the first two matters because it transports LPG and ethylene, which are derived from byproducts of the production of LNG. Navigator was affected by the steel investigation both because it was developing a major ethylene export facility and because it was competing with pipeline companies.
“Secretary Ross’s vague and inconsistent filings raise questions about whether the financial interests of a wealthy cabinet secretary influenced administration policies affecting American companies,” said Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at CLC. “Maybe he made a profit, maybe he was shooting for a long-term gain off short-term losses, or maybe he wanted to mitigate potential harm to his interests. The motive is irrelevant. What matters for purposes of the conflict of interest law is only that Ross participated in particular matters in which he had financial interests. He knew better because the government gave him ethics training, and he’s a savvy investor who previously served as Navigator’s chairman and as the leader of an Invesco subsidiary tied to Chinese steel. This is exactly why we have ethics laws. The Inspector General needs to investigate Ross to show government leaders and the American people that conflicts of interest won’t be tolerated.”
CLC’s complaint provides a detailed analysis of public records regarding Ross’ activities. Although these documents have been available to the public, this complaint provides the first in-depth analysis of the information they contain. The goal of CLC’s project was to connect the dots and provide the Inspector General with a roadmap for determining whether Ross has violated the criminal conflict of interest law. “Each of the elements of the criminal conflict of interest law has been met,” said CLC’s Delaney Marsco, adding that “Unless the Inspector General finds new information exonerating Ross, he at least appears to have violated the law several times.”
CLC’s complaint also flags statements and omissions by Ross implicating the false statements statute. For example, in a November 1st compliance certification, Ross told the government he had divested his financial interests in Air Lease Corporation, Invesco, and Sun Bancorp. The truth is that Ross still had interests in those companies at the time. In addition, Ross testified before a congressional committee that the addition of a controversial citizenship question to the census had originated with a request from the Justice Department when, in fact, it originated with him.
In the complaint, CLC noted other concerns that the Inspector General should investigate. CLC explained that Ross has not accounted for 46 assets that he pledged to divest. In addition, CLC noted that Ross has interests in other shipping companies potentially affected by his activities in the government.
Read CLC’s complaint here.
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