Thomas Barrack’s arrest illustrates the dangers of our access-and-influence system.

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From the Desk of Trevor Potter
Dear John,

For the past several months, Campaign Legal Center has been advocating for the passage of the For the People Act in Congress, because it will help make the promise of democracy real for us all. This week, we saw yet another tale of corruption that illustrates the problems of our current system and why Congress ought not to pass up opportunities like For the People Act to address these problems. I wanted to share this story with you in case you hadn’t seen it already.

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On Tuesday, top Trump donor and fund-raiser and inaugural committee chairman Thomas Barrack was arrested and charged ([link removed]) with illegally working to influence the foreign policy of the U. S. government—particularly concerning the Middle East.
The indictment says he used his close ties and insider access to Trump and his administration to push the foreign policy interests of the United Arab Emirates, all the while keeping the American people in the dark.

This case is about transparency and ethics. As my colleague Kedric Payne, CLC's general counsel and senior director, ethics, highlighted on Twitter, ([link removed]) the Barrack indictment has implications beyond lobbying violations. As Kedric observed, “Like [Rudy] Giuliani, Barrack bypassed ethics laws designed to inform the public of influential White House advisors with foreign conflicts of interests."

Kedric is referring to how Rudy Giuliani, like Thomas Barrack, worked on U.S. foreign policy while evading conflict of interest and other ethics laws that apply to federal employees who work on U.S. foreign policy. CLC sent a letter in 2019 ([link removed]) requesting that the U.S. Department of State’s Inspector General investigate Rudy Giuliani’s arrangement.

Additionally, the Barrack indictment is a tale of the problems and dangers of our current campaign finance system: a system that enables wealthy interests to gain outsized influence with our government.

Thomas Barrack is a billionaire. He's close to Trump, and he was a major donor to Trump’s joint fundraising committee (Trump Victory) and Republican groups: since the 2016 cycle, he has personally given over $1 million in total.

That’s at least what was disclosed. It's certainly possible, too, that he could have funneled even more money through “dark money” channels, which allow for secret spending in elections—we just don’t know. (CLC has a great new explainer video out about dark money, ([link removed]) for the one-year anniversary of our Stop Secret Spending ([link removed]) campaign—I highly encourage you to check it out).

Barrack also served as chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee and helped raise $107 million from private donors to celebrate Trump’s inauguration. This was the most money ever raised ([link removed]) to celebrate an inauguration.

Barrack is now facing a seven-count indictment ([link removed]) on federal charges.

The lack of a working presidential public funding system permits wealthy donors like Thomas Barrack to gain insider access to elected officials, and it provides them with opportunities to foster close, influential relationships. Everyday Americans do not have these opportunities and often remain in the dark regarding the activities of special interests attempting to influence our government. Here, the Thomas Barrack case illustrates for us yet again the dangers of this access-and-influence system. By being able to channel large amounts of money into Trump’s orbit, Thomas Barrack was able to open a door to pursue his own interests at the expense of independent deliberation about policy choices that impact the American people.

There are solutions that can prevent these kinds of scenarios from happening again. The For the People Act, which passed the House earlier this year, for example, would create a system of matching contributions for campaign donations, so the voices and dollars of everyday Americans can be heard and not drowned out by the donations of special interests. It would also help stop secret spending on elections, so Americans can be more certain of how much powerful, wealthy donors like Thomas Barrack are spending to influence our political process.

Congress ought to act to create the conditions for more accountability and less corruption in our political system—so Americans can have our voices heard. Congress has an opportunity to pass solutions this year, and I hope it will do so.
Sincerely,

Trevor Potter
President, Campaign Legal Center
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