Jeff Clements, CEO of American Promise, issued the following statement in response to the Associated Press investigative report on foreign influence in politics: 

“American politics is awash in limitless, untraceable money, and no party’s hands are clean from abusing it. Instead of assigning blame to one side or the other, we should focus our energy and attention on reforming the system that perpetuates the opaque and corrupting system of money in politics. Decades of Supreme Court decisions have dismantled commonsense safeguards, letting this crisis worsen with each election cycle. 

“Foreign spending in elections is a clear and present threat to a government of, by, and for the people. A recent American Promise analysis on foreign spending highlights how foreign-backed actors and companies influence politics at all levels of government, from statewide referendums to federal elections. 

“Voters recognize the threat from unrestrained political spending. The role of money in politics was cited as the top challenge facing the country in a Pew Research Center poll earlier this year. This is a bipartisan problem that requires a bipartisan solution. 

“American Promise’s For Our Freedom Amendment presents a solution that carries support from 8 in 10 voters and 23 states. Six state legislatures have introduced resolutions this year calling for a constitutional amendment to reclaim powers to set limits on political spending—many of those resolutions cite the threat posed by foreign spending in local elections. Utah legislators overwhelmingly adopted their resolution in March. Congress can take meaningful steps to address the broken system of money in politics by supporting the For Our Freedom Amendment, giving states and the people the power to control election spending.”