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John,

I know a lot of you may have only heard about CREW in the last year or even in the last few weeks. But did you know that CREW has been around since 2003? Since then, our mission has remained the same: hold those who abuse the system to account, compel the government to be more open, transparent, and ethical, and drive secret money and influence into the light.

Here at CREW, we’re deeply committed to reforming ethics and campaign finance laws, and we work alongside policymakers to turn that into reality.

We work every day toward a government that actually works on behalf of the people rather than big donors or powerful industries.

In recent years, we’ve also prioritized shoring up our democracy against attacks and defending the Constitution.

Because Americans deserve a government that is ethical, accountable and open—and they deserve a functioning democracy.

At CREW, we use aggressive legal actions, in-depth investigations, and innovative policy and reform work to achieve that vision. We take on powerful opponents, from the president of the United States to secretive dark money donors. Despite long odds, we continue to have victories large and small, thanks to our innovative legal strategies and unrelenting dedication.

Our complaints have led to record-breaking FEC fines for dark money groups in the post-Citizens United era, and our lawsuits have brought about stronger enforcement of existing campaign finance laws, leading directly to more disclosure of dark money donors.

Here’s some of what we’ve been up to at CREW recently:

• We’ve called for an investigation into Justice Clarence Thomas after he failed to properly disclose gifts that he accepted from billionaire and political mega-donor Harlan Crow.
• We’ve sued the Department of Justice for records on what happened to Rep. Matt Gaetz’s criminal investigation.
• We exposed 10 members of Congress for owning nearly $1.2 million in Big Oil stocks and urged Congress to pass a ban on congressional stock holding and trading.
• We’ve called on the Senate to investigate Jared Kushner’s use of taxpayer money to travel to the Middle East to help secure a $2 billion investment in his firm from the Saudi government.
• We filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Andrew Clyde alleging he violated House ethics rules by introducing, sponsoring and advocating for legislation that would benefit his firearms company.
• We’ve led the call for Senator Bob Menendez to resign–ever since he was first charged with bribery and acting as a foreign agent.
• We’ve called out big corporations like Boeing, AT&T, Home Depot and more for donating millions to support the members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
• We’ve fought back against claims from 16 members of Congress who spread a conspiracy theory claiming that the January 6th insurrection was an “inside job.”
• We’ve even gone to the Supreme Court to enforce Donald Trump's constitutional disqualification from office for engaging in insurrection.

John, it’s pretty incredible to see what we’ve taken on so far this year, and just how much we’ve accomplished. Despite long odds, we continue to have victories large and small – and that’s because of supporters like you!

But our work is far from over.

We invite you to join CREW in holding our government to a higher standard and demand a democracy that works for all of us.

Thank you so much for your continued support,

Noah Bookbinder
President
CREW