Washington, DC — The League of Women Voters of Michigan, represented by Campaign Legal Center, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, and the Michigan law firm Goodman Acker, filed a motion late yesterday to intervene on behalf of voters in U.S. v. Benson, a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Michigan for failing to comply with the department’s demand for the state’s complete voter file. The Department of Justice hasn’t provided a sufficient justification for seeking this data, which includes sensitive information such as driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

The League of Women Voters of Maine and the League of Women Voters of New York State recently filed motions to intervene in similar cases brought by the Department of Justice against their states. Campaign Legal Center and the Brennan Center for Justice represented them. The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, League of Women Voters of Minnesota, and League of Women Voters of California also filed motions to intervene in similar cases brought by the Department of Justice.

The organizations commented on yesterday's motion, filed in the U.S. Western District Court of Michigan, as follows:

“Our democracy works best when every voter has a chance to participate in the electoral process. The Justice Department’s efforts to access voter data from states nationwide, including Michigan, is an act of federal overreach that risks violating voters’ privacy and potentially disincentivizing people from casting ballots. The Constitution is clear that the states and Congress have the power to administer and regulate elections. We will keep fighting to protect Americans from the Trump administration’s attempts to limit the freedom to vote.” — Brent Ferguson, Director of Strategic Litigation, Campaign Legal Center. 

“We will not stand by while a federal fishing expedition puts the information of millions of Michiganders at risk and encourages voter intimidation. There is no reason for the federal government to seize control of voter data that they do not need and have no right to possess. We are seeking to intervene to send a clear message to the administration and voters: we will fight to protect our members’ and voters’ data from unlawful seizure. We are proud to stand with our partners in defending the integrity of our democracy.” — Lynne Kochmanski, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Michigan.

"The Department of Justice’s relentless crusade to demand sensitive voter data from states, now landing in Michigan, is a flagrant power grab that tramples critical voter privacy laws and undermines the trust in our democratic processes. The League has already sought to intervene in five other cases, and we will not back down until we ensure that Michigan’s voter files remain shielded from political interference. No voter deserves to be intimidated by their own government.” — Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States.

“The Justice Department’s case against Michigan is part of an effort to collect voter files — including drivers’ license and social security numbers — from every state. This push is part of the administration’s campaign to undermine our elections. The department may manipulate the data in service of false claims about our elections or to pressure states to remove eligible voters from the rolls. The states have been protecting voters’ personal information and running reliable elections for decades and decades. Yet the federal government is now trying to amass a trove of sensitive information about American voters that would put their privacy at risk.” — Eileen O’Connor, senior counsel, Brennan Center for Justice.

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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials. 

Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events.

Washington, D.C. — Democracy Defenders Fund (DDF) and Campaign Legal Center (CLC) are demanding the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) launch investigations into Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s continued failure to divest from numerous financial holdings, including his financial stake in High Plains LLP, which reportedly holds up to $25 million in North Dakota farmland. Because Secretary Bessent is making policy decisions that could affect these holdings, this is a clear and unacceptable conflict of interest.

Over the past several weeks, it has become clear that Secretary Bessent has been deeply involved with bilateral trade negotiations and tariff decisions involving China that affect the value of soybeans, one of the primary crops produced by High Plains LLP, meaning that Secretary Bessent could be financially benefiting from his insider knowledge and direction.

“Secretary Bessent has himself admitted, on national television no less, that he has a significant financial interest in decisions affecting soybean prices through his ownership of High Plains LLP,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel for ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund. “But the law is clear. Federal officials can’t participate in decisions in which they have a financial interest. Treasury OIG must take action immediately to address the blatant corruption.”

Before his confirmation, Bessent pledged to Treasury ethics officials that he would divest at least two dozen assets within 90 days of assuming office to avoid violating ethics rules, but he has yet to provide documentation showing he has done so, the DDF and CLC complaint noted. When he failed to meet that deadline, DDF and CLC called the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and OIG to investigate Secretary Bessent’s apparent failure to comply with his ethics agreement and subsequently filed a formal complaint.

“Secretary Bessent initially agreed to end his ownership stake in High Plains LLP because of the conflicts of interest — yet he continues to hold that stake while apparently participating in decision-making that could impact its value,” said Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel, and senior director for ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “Executive branch officials are required by law to take immediate action to either recuse themselves from the matter at hand or divest from their personal holdings if a conflict of interest arises. An investigation is needed to determine whether Secretary Bessent’s public work in trade negotiations that could directly impact his assets is an attempt to enrich himself."

Executive branch officials hold some of the most powerful positions in government, and it is their responsibility to prioritize the best interests of the American people, not their own personal interests. DDF and CLC call on OIG to promptly initiate a thorough investigation into whether or not Bessent violated the law and release a report on their findings.

Read the full letter here.

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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.

Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events.

On October 23, 2025, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) sent a letter to Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioners Shana Broussard and Dara Lindenbaum urging them to hold former Rep. George Santos accountable for his brazen, admitted violations of federal campaign finance laws.

As an independent agency, the FEC has civil enforcement authority to pursue violations of federal campaign finance laws. In light of President Donald Trump's commutation of Santos’ criminal sentence, the FEC can still fulfill its duty and provide accountability in this matter.

Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at Campaign Legal Center, issued the following statement:

“Commuting the sentence and restitution obligations of former Rep. George Santos — who was expelled from Congress, convicted of defrauding his campaign donors, sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, and ordered to pay more than $370,000 in restitution to the people he defrauded — undermines government accountability and threatens to further erode public confidence in our democracy.

"Despite President Trump’s commutation, the Federal Election Commission, as an independent agency capable of enforcing civil complaints, can still hold him accountable. By enforcing federal campaign finance laws, as outlined in CLC's 2023 complaint against Santos, the FEC can show voters and the public at large that there are consequences for candidates who enrich themselves at the public’s expense.”

Washington, DC — Today, the League of Women Voters of New York State — represented by Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law (Brennan Center) — filed a motion to intervene as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain the complete list of all registered voters in New York without proper basis and purpose. The DOJ is attempting to obtain voters’ sensitive data, including private information such as driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers — data beyond what’s typically publicly available.

This filing comes on the heels of an earlier motion to intervene, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Maine in United States v. Bellows, et al., where the DOJ is seeking the same data regarding Maine voters.

"Maine elections are safe, secure, transparent, and accessible," said Jill Ward, president of the League of Women Voters of Maine. "The action initiated by the Department of Justice to access voter data would only serve to erode trust in the democratic process. It would needlessly compromise voter privacy and open the door to abuse of these sensitive records. We are committed to protecting Maine voters’ information and preserving the integrity of Maine elections."

“New Yorkers take pride in our state’s long commitment to fair and transparent elections,” said Erica Smitka, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New York State. “The Department of Justice’s attempt to collect sensitive voter data without cause undermines that trust and puts every voter’s personal information at risk. The League of Women Voters of New York is proud to stand up for voters—to protect their privacy and trust in the democratic process.”

“The Department of Justice should be protecting voters, not putting their personal information at risk,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States. “There is no justification for the federal government to demand access to sensitive voter data under the guise of election security. These actions erode public trust and undermine democracy. The League will always work to protect voters’ privacy and ensure every American can cast their ballot free from intimidation or misuse of their data.”

The DOJ has a responsibility to protect the freedom to vote, but its recent actions would infringe upon these freedoms. The DOJ’s improper overreach into state data at the behest of the Trump administration would not make our elections any safer or more secure. It could instead jeopardize voters’ personal information and discourage them from participating in the democratic process.

As recent reporting shows, this threat to voters is compounded by the potential for this requested information to be misused by other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for immigration enforcement.

Our elections already have numerous safeguards in place to make sure only U.S. citizens participate — a responsibility that election officials take seriously.

“This overreach by the federal government is an attempt to seize personal information and take control over our elections when the Constitution gives the power to regulate and administer elections to the states or Congress,” said Brent Ferguson, director of strategic litigation at Campaign Legal Center. “Voters should have confidence that their information is secure. Attempts by the DOJ to retrieve sensitive voter data are an attack on Americans’ privacy and freedoms, including the freedom to vote.”

“The DOJ’s demands for the voter files are one element of the Trump administration’s concerted effort to undermine American elections,” said Eileen O’Connor, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. “If its requests succeed, the department could amass a federal database of personal information about every registered voter in the country. The government could misuse this data to concoct more false claims about election fraud, target political opponents, or try to force states to remove voters from the rolls.”

Our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter can exercise their freedom to vote, and the League of Women Voters, Campaign Legal Center and the Brennan Center intend to work together to protect that freedom.

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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.

Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events. 

Washington, DC — Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has published a new resource that tracks and analyzes specific instances in which President Donald Trump’s administration has rewarded big donors with benefits, exposing the overtly and unprecedentedly transactional nature of President Trump’s second term. This tracker is not only a valuable resource that catalogs the benefits the Trump administration has effectively put up for sale, but it also offers a full slate of political and legal solutions that demonstrate that this corruption is not just preventable, but reversible. 

CLC researchers and legal experts highlight and contextualize dozens of the most egregious instances of wealthy individuals, CEOs, corporations and foreign governments trading contributions and investments for huge political favors in return — including everything from dropped federal investigations to high-level political appointments. 

“Allowing money to dominate our political process creates a breeding ground for corruption. President Trump has repeatedly shown that those who financially support his interests will be rewarded in turn, while his administration ignores ethics requirements and serves his wealthy donors ahead of everyday Americans,” said Saurav Ghosh, director for federal campaign finance reform at Campaign Legal Center. “To help hold our elected officials accountable, Campaign Legal Center is highlighting the most egregious examples of pay-to-play corruption while explaining how these transactions are hurting the American public.” 

This resource is the first of its kind to offer a full picture of the pay-to-play corruption in the current administration. CLC will continue to update this tracker with the latest instances of these transactions as they occur. 

If you have any questions or would like to speak further to the team behind this project, do not hesitate to reach out. The tracker can be found here.