John, a key piece of evidence in Donald Trump’s trial came directly from CREW’s work. Now, he’s been convicted—and that will come with real consequences. Let me explain:

Yesterday, the jury in Trump’s New York trial determined unanimously that he was guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business documents in New York. The jury agreed that Trump committed felonies, which hinged on the fact that Michael Cohen was reimbursed by Trump for the hush money payments and that they tried to cover that up before the 2016 election.

Here’s where CREW comes in: Starting way back in 2018 we filed complaint after complaint (literally, four complaints) against President Trump for not disclosing the money that he owed Cohen for the hush money payment on his personal financial disclosures. That money he owed Cohen was known as an unreported liability—and you’re not allowed to hide those types of things as an elected official.

After our repeated complaints, Trump eventually disclosed the loan to Cohen, which was a victory for CREW and for transparency.

Here’s what’s so important: Trump reported the hush money as “reimbursements” owed to Cohen – which is exactly what the prosecution accused him of.

John, Trump signed these disclosures saying they were true, under penalty of the law. The head of the Office of Government Ethics even put a note on Trump’s disclosures noting that we were right in our complaints about it.

The prosecution in Trump’s New York trial submitted those forms that we fought for years for Trump to correct as evidence, which showed that Trump reimbursed Cohen.

This is why we fight so hard for transparency, and why we never give up.

You never know what could end up submitted as evidence in the first criminal trial in history against a former president…

So, what does this conviction actually mean?

First of all, even if Trump is elected to a second term, because he was convicted on New York state charges, he would not be able to pardon himself for these crimes. That’s a big deal.

We’ll know more about the consequences for Trump after his sentencing on July 11, but here’s what we already know: while this conviction does not prevent Trump from holding office, it may prevent him from voting in Florida, from serving on a jury, from owning or possessing a firearm, or from getting a security clearance.

In general, convicted felons are disqualified from receiving a security clearance or renewing a security clearance because the conviction “creates doubt about a person’s judgment, reliability, and trustworthiness." This makes sense, but there are real questions about how it would apply in Trump's case.

Given Trump’s felony conviction over falsifying records (not to mention his indictment for mishandling classified records) there would be legitimate questions about granting him access to our state secrets.

Thanks,

Arielle Linsky Stogner
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington