White House: Broad Coalition Urges Prompt Action by President Obama on Draft Executive Order to Reveal Secret Political Spending by Government Contractors
On Wednesday, May 4, 2011 groups representing more than 30 organizations held a press conference on Capitol Hill in support of a draft White House executive order to require disclosure of secret political spending by government contractors. The organizations urged President Obama to promptly sign the executive order and unveiled a citizens’ petition and letter to be delivered to the White House.
The press conference addressed the vast amount of disinformation leveled at the draft executive order since it was leaked last month to opponents of the executive order.
Associate Legal Counsel Tara Malloy provided remarks on behalf of the Campaign Legal Center at this event. She highlighted the history of secret money spent to influence the election of candidates in our democracy and noted that, "Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Supreme Court has shown very little tolerance for the argument that the First Amendment requires that campaign contributions and expenditures remain anonymous. Nevertheless, opponents of President Obama’s April 13th draft executive order, apparently lacking any objections to the order on its merits, have resorted to attacking its constitutionality. But they conveniently disregard the Supreme Court’s longstanding and consistent support for campaign finance disclosure both as a means to combat political corruption and to ensure a well-informed electorate."