On November 17, 2016, more than a dozen pro-democracy organizations and leading government ethics experts today urged President-elect Donald Trump to divest his holdings in his business assets.
On November 17, 2016, CfA asked the California Attorney General to open an investigation into companies that offer residential solar panels. A review of consumer complaints filed with the California Public Utilities Commission – which lacks jurisdiction to resolve these complaints – reveals many of these companies have engaged in false and misleading acts in the marketing and sale or lease of solar panels, in apparent violation of California law.
A bipartisan coalition of Members of Congress and 2016 congressional candidates filed a federal lawsuit today against the Federal Election Commission seeking to end super PAC spending in US elections.
On October 31, 2016, following FBI Director Jim Comey’s unprecedented decision to inform Congress that the FBI was re-opening the investigation into former State Department Secretary and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, CfA filed a complaint with the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
On October 27, 2016, CfA asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate companies providing solar panels to residential homes. CfA’s request is based on a review of consumer complaints filed with the attorney general’s office suggesting false and misleading trade practices that may violate Texas law.
On October 25, 2016, CfA called on the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) General Counsel to investigate correspondence between Google Vice President Vint Cert and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler about a provision of a pending rulemaking proceeding. The communication appears to violate the FCC's rules requiring the disclosure of ex parte communications.
On October 19, 2016, CfA joined 15 other organizations and ethics experts in calling on the presidential candidates to adopt an ethical code of conduct for their transition teams.
On October 4, 2016, CfA called on the White House to develop a more robust ethics program in light of the numerous meetings between former Google executives who became White House officials and their former colleagues.
On September 30, 2016, CfA called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to improve its ethics enforcement program. Documents published by the Google Transparency Project reveal that top NHTSA officials were in frequent contact with Google executives while working on federal guidelines for self-driving cars.
On September 26, 2016, 37 organizations signed an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging McConnell to reject any poison pill language in budget legislation that would prohibit the Securities and Exchange Commission from strengthening corporate disclosure laws by requiring transparency of secret political spending.