Washington, D.C. – Campaign Legal Center has released a new report, “Top Ten Training Upgrades for Ethics Commissions,” focused on ways state and local ethics commissions around the country have improved their training programs. Featuring proven solutions from North Carolina to California, the report analyzes innovations that can ultimately help other commissions improve their own programs.  
 
State and local governments maintain a higher level of public trust than the federal government. The ethics commissions that serve these governments play a fundamental role in maintaining that trust by conducting trainings across vast government workforces to ensure that employees are adhering to laws and rules that increase transparency and maintain accountability.  

“Ethics commissions are the guardians of good government, the often unseen but essential guardrails that ensure our state and local governments are accountable to the public they serve,” said Delaney Marsco, Senior Legal Counsel for Ethics at Campaign Legal Center and one of the report’s primary authors. “We hope this analysis helps government employees see the benefits of implementing these practices and are able to find a way to share those benefits with their own offices.” 
 
This report is the third in CLC’s annual report series designed to promote the successes of state and local government ethics offices, following 2021’s “Top Ten Transparency Upgrades for Ethics Commissions,” and 2022’s “Top Ten Enforcement Upgrades for Ethics Commissions.”

 

Read CLC’s 2023 Ethics Commissions Report

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 311-114 to expel Representative George Santos of New York after a House Ethics Committee investigation found substantial evidence that he committed serious legal and ethics violations. Rep. Santos also faces a 23-count federal indictment that includes campaign finance crimes. Adav Noti, Senior Vice President & Legal Director at Campaign Legal Center, released the following statement in response to today’s vote:  

“No one is above the law. The expulsion of Rep. George Santos after a House Ethics Committee investigation revealed substantial evidence that he engaged in criminal and unethical activity vindicates the voters’ right to financial transparency from their representatives and demonstrates that oversight bodies in Congress are critical to accountability.

The House Ethics Committee’s monthslong investigation into the Santos campaign was triggered by a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics – the only independent ethics investigatory body in Congress. Findings by the Committee released in mid-November detailed substantial evidence that Santos violated a slew of federal election laws, including conspiracy to commit perjury in filings with the Federal Election Commission. The Committee also noted Santos’s refusal to cooperate with the Committee’s investigation.  

Santos’s expulsion shows the power and potential of ethics enforcement. While it should not take violations as egregious as those committed by Santos for this system to work effectively, it is also further proof that an independent investigatory body for the Senate is long overdue.  

All Americans have the right to financial honesty from members of Congress, and to effective enforcement against any elected official who deprives the voters of that right.”  

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On January 9, 2023, Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that Rep. George Santos, his 2022 campaign committee and treasurer Nancy Marks violated federal campaign finance laws. The following day, CLC referred the complaint to the Department of Justice.   

CLC’s complaint alleged, among other things, that Santos’s campaign falsely reported $705,000 in “personal loans” from Santos, and the information underlying Marks’s guilty plea appears to support that allegation: Prosecutors in Marks’s case have reportedly indicated that Marks and Santos conspired to fabricate $500,000 in loans made to the campaign in order to meet fundraising benchmarks. The superseding indictment against Rep. Santos includes new charges related to the loans.   

Today, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan signed major pro-democracy bills into law that will help ensure the state is ready for the 2024 election. This includes four bills that CLC testified in support of and provided feedback for throughout the legislative process. Senate Bill 529 updates the state’s election laws to conform with the new Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 (ECRA). Senate Bills 590 and 591 establish critical legal processes for when a political candidate could challenge the results of an election. House Bill 4129 protects election workers by establishing penalties for intimidating or preventing them from doing their job.   

Catherine Hinckley Kelley, senior director for policy and strategic partnerships at Campaign Legal Center, issued the following statement:  

“Taken together, the commonsense, pro-democracy bills signed into law today will not only protect the everyday Michiganders who run the state’s elections, but they will also prevent bad actors from undermining Michigan elections for their own personal gain.  

“CLC commends Michigan lawmakers for doing the hard work to update the state’s election laws in a way that truly safeguards future presidential elections. As we saw following the 2020 general election, the lack of clarity in Michigan’s previous election laws caused uncertainty and confusion among voters and within the courts. By enshrining these new bills into law, Michigan ensures legitimacy, fairness and transparency in its election processes. This is a good thing for our democracy, and for the state of Michigan and its voters. 

“Campaign Legal Center hopes other states will follow Michigan’s example and make necessary legislative updates in advance of the 2024 election.” 

More about the bills: 

SB 529 helps to conform Michigan law to meet the new federal Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA) deadlines. It requires the governor to certify the results of the election within the specified timeline outlined by the ECRA and puts in place important security features on the certification to ensure that Michigan’s slate of electors can be verified as authentic. It provides important clarity around judicial procedures for recounts and other parts of the post-election process to ensure that the certification process isn’t jeopardized and clarifies the duties of county and state boards of canvassers as non-discretionary.  

SB 590 and SB 591 together establish a clear procedure for ensuring legitimacy, fairness and transparency in the state’s election contests. This bill provides important guidance for filing and decision deadlines, but also protects the post-election timeline against frivolous contests by requiring the aggrieved candidate to file a challenge only if they would have won had it not been for the error that occurred.  

HB 4129 creates a criminal penalty for threats and harassment against election officials in the state of Michigan — a vast improvement from the lack of protections afforded to administrators in past elections. This bill penalizes an individual for intimidating an election official with the intent of interfering with their official duties.  

For more than 40 years, private individuals and groups have brought claims under Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) to challenge discriminatory districts and ensure that voters of color have an equal opportunity to have their voices heard in our democracy.  

Just this past term, in Allen v. Milligan, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a case brought by individual voters challenging racially discriminatory maps passed by the Alabama legislature. However, today a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit of Appeals upheld a lower court decision over voting maps in Arkansas, ruling that private individuals and groups cannot bring lawsuits under Section 2.  

The 8th Circuit’s ruling contradicts more than 40 years of court decisions awarding relief to private litigants under the VRA and conflicts with the Supreme Court's recent decision in Allen v. Milligan. Moreover, the ruling is out of step with other circuits, including the Fifth Circuit, which just this month affirmed the right of private plaintiffs to bring claims under Section 2. 

In response, Paul Smith, senior vice president of Campaign Legal Center, issued the following statement:  

“Eliminating individual people's right to sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act runs contrary to settled law, common sense and any basic concept of fairness: when the government discriminates against people, they should have a right to fight back in court. 

If today’s erroneous ruling were to be upheld, it would have a significant impact on the rights of voters of color to challenge discriminatory redistricting maps. Private suits under the VRA are critical to ensuring that voters of color are able to secure fair maps and make their voices heard. 

The fight is far from over.  CLC will continue working alongside our partners to fight back against today’s clearly incorrect decision and make sure that voters of color can continue to use Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to secure fair maps and make their voices heard in our democracy.” 

CLC submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case decided today, Arkansas NAACP v. Arkansas, on behalf of former U.S. Department of Justice officials arguing that private lawsuits are critical to enforcing the VRA. Historically, the majority of Section 2 cases have been brought by private litigants — with thousands of litigants bringing such cases over the past few decades. 

The Eighth Circuit's ruling — which applies to Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota — provides that only the Attorney General of the United States can bring lawsuits to challenge discriminatory maps under the VRA, though it leaves open the possibility that private groups can seek relief under other federal statutes.