Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint asking the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate possible violations of House rules by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy appears to have paid below market rate for a luxury apartment, an improper gift in violation of House gift rules; in the alternative, he may have used leadership political action committee (PAC) funds to offset the cost of rent, which would be a violation of the personal use ban.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) ​filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee requesting an investigation into whether Sen. Ted Cruz violated Senate ethics rules by converting campaign funds to personal use. Sen. Cruz’s campaign committee spent up to $18,000 on Facebook ads exclusively promoting Sen. Cruz’s book, for which he stands to receive royalties, seemingly in violation of the personal use ban. 

Campaign Legal Center conducted a study of members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ cooperation with ethics investigations initiated by the U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The findings show that members of Congress from both major political parties refuse to fully cooperate with ethics investigations, and the rate of cooperation has declined in recent Congresses.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) asks the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate Rep. Tom Malinowski for a possible violation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act and House rules. From 2019 to 2021, Rep. Malinowski made more than one hundred stock trades worth approximately between $1.3 million to $5 million without filing any periodic transaction reports as required by the STOCK Act and House rules.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) conducted research comparing the enforcement activity of the Senate Ethics Committee and Office of Congressional Ethics over the past ten years.

This report by Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the League of Women Voters empowers those interested in strengthening democracy at the state level with the tools and knowledge needed to ensure that their respective redistricting processes are transparent and accountable and ensures members of the public at-large and communities of interest can provide meaningful input during the redistricting cycle.

Campaign Legal Center submitted a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics calling on the committee to immediately address threats from congressional staff to condition official actions and access to elected officials on campaign contributions.

On June 30, 2020, CLC filed suit against the FEC for failing to act on our administrative complaint demonstrating that Iowa Values, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) corporation, violated federal campaign finance law by failing to register as a political committee and publicly disclose its donors. CLC's administrative complaint had been pending with the FEC for over 190 days.  

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) developed a memo explaining how the democracy reforms in the For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1) are drawn from bills that have long had bipartisan political sponsorship at both the federal and state levels, and how H.R 1/S 1's provisions would address problematic practices employed by both Democrats and Republicans. 

An organization called Empower Texans and Michael Quinn Sullivan initiated a lawsuit asking the court to find the Texas Ethics Commission's enforcement powers unconstitutional. On Jan. 26, 2021, Campaign Legal Center filed an Amicus Curiae brief on behalf of the Texas Ethics Commission, arguing that the Court should affirm the lower court to ensure the Texas Ethics Commission retains its enforcement powers.

In a series of explainers, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) shows how passing and signing into law H.R. 1 would improve our democracy by increasing election access and access to vote-by-mail, establishing independent redistricting commissions, promoting transparency in elections and digital ads, stopping foreign money in U.S. elections, creating a public financing system, enacting Federal Election Commission reforms, ending super PAC coordination, and creating an ethics pledge for senior executive branch officials. 

H.R.1, "For the People Act" was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This landmark legislation would: increase transparency of campaign spending; set up a system of small-donor matching funds for congressional candidates; revive the matching-fund system for presidential campaigns; expand conflict-of-interest laws; increase oversight of lobbyists; end partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts; establish nationwide automatic voter registration; and reinforce the Voting Rights Act.

CLC submitted a statement of support for HR 1, the For the People Act of 2019, to Chairperson Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Rodney Davis of the Committee on House Administration in the United States House of Representatives. HR 1 is a landmark bill designed to address the most pressing challenges to our democracy, which are the four issues CLC focuses on: the influence of money in politics, the erosion of ethical norms, threats to voting rights, and extreme partisan gerrymandering.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) voices its strong support of the For the People Act in a letter to key House and Senate members and urges Congress to prioritize passage during the early days of the 117th Congress.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) ​filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee requesting an investigation of whether Sen. Kelly Loeffler violated federal law ​and Senate rules by soliciting campaign contributions ​in a Senate building.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Commerce Department Inspector General requesting an investigation into former Senior White House Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce Eric Branstad. Branstad appears to have violated financial disclosure requirements under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and revolving door provisions provided by Executive Order 13770: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees, commonly referred to as the ethics pledge.

On Oct. 15, 2020, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) ​filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee requesting an investigation of whether Sen. Lindsey Graham violated federal law ​and Senate rules by soliciting campaign contributions ​in a Senate building following a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he was chairing on Oct. 14, 2020. 

This backgrounder can be used by members of the media and the public to guide their understanding of the electoral process of electing a President.

Today, CLC submitted public comments to the Vermont State Ethics Commission regarding a proposed statutory ethics code. CLC’s comments support Vermont’s effort to promulgate a statute with meaningful safeguards to maintain Vermonters’ trust in their state government. 

Specifically, CLC’s comments recommend changes to the proposed code’s gift rules, misuse of position provision, and outside and post-government employment restrictions. CLC also recommends that the Vermont State Ethics Commission house all financial disclosure documents and ethics disclosures required to be filed by state public servants in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format on the ethics commission’s website.