Trump
AUBURN, AL- Liberal mega-donor Tom Steyer continues to expand his profile ahead of a possible 2020 presidential run. The largest donor of the 2016 election cycle, he has already increased his national footprint with an 8-figure ad campaign aimed at impeaching President Trump. With ads featuring himself on camera, it is fair to speculate whether Steyer has his sights set on the highest office in the land. Now, his efforts have expanded to funding the George Soros founded “Immigrant Voters […]
Read MoreTake Back Executive Director John Pudner penned the following OpEd on money in politics for the Concord Monitor: Two years ago, I was sludging through New Hampshire snow drifts, just before the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. As I talked with Granite State voters, I kept hearing the same thing: everyone was concerned about the influence of “Big Money” campaign donors. Once the primary results were in, it was clear that “Money In Politics” was a deciding issue for voters. The two […]
Read MoreStill, the promise to drain the swamp “is a central topic to why President Trump won this election,” said John Pudner, director of a conservative good-government group called Take Back Our Republic. His sense of the situation now: Trump started strong on the ethics issues but needs to do more follow-up. Pudner also sees a problem, though: Trump’s own decision to maintain ownership of his business empire, through a transparent trust that designates him as the only beneficiary. Pudner said […]
Read MoreJohn Pudner, executive director at Take Back Our Republic and former Republican political operative, cites the recent presidential election, with Trump raising significantly less than Clinton, as reason to believe tougher campaign finance regulations would hinder both Republicans and Democrats. For this he said in an email to the Syracuse New Times, “It is now time for all to rally in support of campaign finance reform as a way to drain the swamp at the state level.” Click HERE to […]
Read MoreA central tenet of President Donald Trump’s campaign was his promise to “restore law and order” by enforcing the laws of the land. But that’s not likely going to include campaign finance laws, or telling the Federal Election Commission to do its job. Former Santa Clara County counsel Ann Ravel announced last week that she’s resigning from the commission effective March 1, having concluded that there’s nothing she can do to alter the dysfunction permeating what’s supposed to be a […]
Read MoreWAYCROSS, GA – Take Back Our Republic circulated educational items on campaign finance reform to hundreds of conservative CPAC attendees, but also to people leaving Washington for the Democratic National Committee meeting in Atlanta where a robust conversion was taking place about the problems with corporate contributions. However, the most important education also occurs in localities like this one, Waycross, Georgia, where people who can’t travel to Washington and are not invited to national partisan events. Many Democratic campaign rallies […]
Read MoreUS Senator Johnny Isakson and TAKE BACK Executive Director John Pudner discussed the need for transparency in political contributions during a flight from Atlanta to Washington Tuesday for inaugural week. In particular, Pudner referenced the Wall-Street Journal report that Super PACs may have funneled the money to pay for a former British intelligence officer to coordinate with political op research consultants to produce the dossier in an attempt to discredit President-Elect Trump. When TAKE BACK urged closing the LLC loophole that circumvents […]
Read MoreAnother nonprofit, Take Back Our Republic, which seeks to increase conservative support for stronger ethics and campaign finance laws, said Trump’s announced actions were less than ideal but indicated that the president-elect was at least taking seriously the question of possible conflicts of interest. “I am disappointed a more aggressive plan for full divestiture into a blind trust was not pursued,” said a statement from the group’s executive director, John Pudner, a former Republican political consultant. But he noted that […]
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