Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a legal advocacy group with previous connections with political strategist David Brock. The organization describes itself as a “nonpartisan” watchdog group directing litigation against government corruption in an effort to advance the public interest. The group is part of Brock’s network of organizations including Democratic-aligned opposition research Super PAC American Bridge 21st Century (AB PAC) and media criticism organization Media Matters for America.¹

The organization has been recognized as having “played instrumental roles in building a stronger, more integrated progressive infrastructure” by the Democracy Alliance.² CREW has received funding from left-of-center foundations, including philanthropist George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and singer Barbra Streisand’s Streisand Foundation.³

CREW has received criticism for the appearance of pay-for-play advocacy on behalf of for-profit universities. ⁴

History and Founding

In 2001, several individuals affiliated with the Democratic Party operatives founded CREW as a rejoinder to right-leaning legal advocacy groups such as Judicial Watch, the Rutherford Institute and the National Legal and Policy Center. The organization’s founding directors were: Louis Mayberg, a Democratic party donor, and co-founder of the Maryland-based ProFund Advisors LLC; Daniel Berger, another Democratic party donor who in 2004 made a $100,000 contribution to America Coming Together; and Mark Penn, a fellow at the New Politics Institute, and a Democratic strategist who worked on President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign and on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 U.S. Senate campaign. Norman L. Eisen, another Democratic Party operative, played a role in the group’s 2001 founding, although, he was not listed as a director.⁵

When they initially conceived of CREW, both Eisen and Mayberg said that the organization was intended to even the playing field against conservative legal groups that had weakened the political position of President Bill Clinton during the 1990s.⁶ Melanie Sloan, another longtime Democratic operative, was listed as the executive director on the 2013 990 form with an annual salary of $260,699. She is no longer with the organization.

Prior to joining CREW, Sloan served as the nominations counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Delaware), in 1993. She was also counsel for the crime subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee under then-U.S. Representative Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in 1994 and served as minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee under Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) from 1995 to 1998.⁷

Financial Support and Leadership Changes

In August 2014, liberal political operative David Brock, founder of the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters, was elected as CREW’s board chairman. Sloan then announced that she would resign as a soon as a new executive director was named.⁸ Noah Bookbinder, who previously served as a U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor and a chief counsel for the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee, was tapped to become the new executive director in March 2015.⁹

As of the end of 2015, CREW reported assets of about $820,000 and total annual revenue of about $2.3 million.¹⁰

In December 2016, Brock announced that he would be stepping away from CREW’s board after serving for two years. Norman Eisen, the Democratic attorney who helped co-found CREW in 2001, returned to the organization as the new board chairman after serving as a legal counsel in the Obama White House and as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic. ¹¹ According to CREW’s website and its 2021 990 form, Beth Nolan serves as Chair of the Board, with Wayne Jordan serving as Vice Chair. ^{12 13}

Since its inception, CREW has received financial support from several left-leaning foundations and organizations including the Arca Foundation, the David Geffen Foundation, Democracy Alliance, the Mayberg Family Charitable Foundation,  George Soros’s Open Society Institute, the Sheller Family Foundation, the Streisand Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, and the Woodbury Fund.⁷

CREW’s ties to late progressive funder John Sperling, founder of the University of Phoenix, led to criticism in the early 2010s. CREW had engaged in aggressive attacks on critics of for-profit universities during debates on Obama administration student-aid rules that would hurt for-profit colleges like the University of Phoenix, leading some to speculate that they might be receiving funding from Sperling to engage in the hostile campaign.⁴ A subsequent analysis of tax returns found that Sperling’s Aurora Foundation had routed money into pass-through nonprofits associated with a Sacramento Democratic political consultancy that subsequently funded CREW.¹⁴

CREW does not reveal its donors, so the money trail cannot be decisively confirmed. CREW faced additional criticism when former executive director Melanie Sloan announced her intention to join the public affairs firm of controversial lawyer and consigliere to the Clinton family Lanny Davis. Davis conducted advocacy on behalf of for-profit universities during the period CREW attacked the industry’s critics while allegedly receiving funds from Sperling.¹⁵

Background and Controversy

Focus on Republican Members

CREW’s efforts at “accountability” and “ethics” have been criticized as a partisan vendetta against conservatives and Republicans.¹⁶  An attorney who represents nonprofit groups said in an interview with the Hill that obvious one-sided slant of CREW’s IRS complaints could potentially jeopardize the group’s standing. ¹⁷

In 2004, CREW circulated a letter to House members in an effort to identify someone willing to pursue ethics allegations against then Majority Leader Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas). CREW soon joined forces with former U.S. Representative Chris Bell (D-Texas), who had lost an election in the Democratic primary. Sloan worked in concert with Bell to fill an ethics complaint against Delay with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. CREW’s role in this effort was in violation with House rules that said non-members could not file ethics complaints. The committee dismissed Bell’s accusations against Delay.⁷

CREW’s and progressives’ vendetta against Delay ultimately ended in criminal charges filed by the highly partisan Travis County District Attorney’s Office. After several years of trials, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Delay’s lower-court conviction, and one legal commentator called the charges “politically motivated.”¹⁸

An analysis by the Center for Organizational Research and Education suggests CREW claimed impartiality was contrary to the facts through at least the first 18 months of the Obama administration. CREW filed 29 complaints with the Federal Election Commission in the period between March 2004 and September 2010. Breaking down these complaints, 76 percent were trained on Republicans and right-leaning groups, but a list of cases from the FEC shows only 40 percent of the civil penalties of $50,000 the agency levied since 1980 were actually against Republicans or Republican Party supporters. Additionally, all of CREW’s complaints to the IRS concerning 501(c) statuses  as of 2010 targeted conservative groups. The IRS itself was much more even handed: Between 2005 and 2009 only half of the charitable organizations that had their tax-exempt status revoked by the IRS were connected with the right.¹⁹

Brock’s Clinton Family Ties

During his tenure within a leadership position with CREW, the organization’s “Most Corrupt” and “Worst Governors” lists, which occasionally mentioned the misdeeds of Democrats, were discontinued. ²⁰

Brock’s close ties with the Clintons and his own personal political agenda ultimately worked to undermine CREW’s ability to objectively investigate certain organizations. Bloomberg reported that “Some former staffers say that Brock, who has moved into the vice chairman role, has pulled the watchdog into a partisan agenda and, in doing so, weakened its impact.”²¹

Bloomberg News reported that this affected CREW’s interactions with Brock’s sponsors and allies in the Clinton family: “[CREW] walked away from a spat over Hillary Clinton’s treatment of e-mails as secretary of state, even after an U.S. State Department Inspector General found that CREW’s public records request had been improperly denied.”²⁰ CREW’s December 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the State Department inquiring about the former secretary of state’s email records was discussed at length and the Inspector General determined that department staff members did not conduct a search for these records.²²

Claims of Bias in Reporting Data

Data from Federal Agencies and U.S Congress

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data, CREW filed 54 complaints between March 2004 and September 2017 in which 84%, were directed at conservative or right-leaning organizations. In addition, FEC data shows that only 41% of civil penalties of $50,000 or more applied by the FEC since 1980 were against Republican supporters or politicians. ²³

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data also shows that between October 2003 and September 2017, CREW had made 50 requests to the agency to investigate political members or organizations, with 49 of said requests against Republican-affiliated groups. ²³

Data from the U.S House of Representatives shows that between March 2004 to September 2017 CREW had filed up to 54 complaints or requests to investigate with the House Ethics Committee, but 80% of those complaints were against Republican members of the House whereas only 11% were against Democrats. In addition, since 1967, only 35% of House members disciplined by the Committee were Republicans and the remaining 65% were Democrats. ²³

Data from The Senate Ethics Committee shows that between June 2003 and September 2017, the Committee received 27 complaints or requests to investigate Senate members from CREW, with 85% of those filed against Republican members, 4% against Democrat members, and the remaining amount targeting both sides. Since 1967, however, only 3 Republican and 3 Democrat members of the Senate have been formally expelled or censured by the Committee. ²³

Data shows that between June 2003 and September 2017, the CREW filed 97 requests for investigation to the U.S Department of Justice, along with other federal and law enforcement agencies, including requests for disciplinary action by state bars and other professional licensors. ²³ Of those requests, 76% were filed against Republican-affiliated groups or individuals, 9% were filed against Democrats, and the remaining were either nonpartisan or against both sides. ²³

According to former CREW executive director Melanie Sloan, the reason for the greater number of complaints filed against Republicans is due to them holding the majority for longer periods of time, therefore, “making them more prone to corruption.”²³ However, data from 1995-2007 and 2011-2017, a period of 18 years when Republicans held the U.S House of Representatives prior to 2022, shows that during that time 23 members of the House were sanctioned or had received public disciplinary letters, with 11 being Democrats. ²³

Biased Coverage in CREW Reporting

CREW has previously published several reports detailing their findings that it claims shows proof of corruption, however other claims suggest that several of their reports might be biased against Republicans or conservative organizations in terms of coverage:

CREW released several reports critical of the Administration under George W. Bush, from criticizing the lack of support of climate change policy in the U.S due to, “what the public was reading and hearing from the individuals who managed climate change policy in the Bush administration,” ²³ to making claims about, “the Bush administration’s repeated constitutional overreaching and abuse of executive power and prerogative,” ²³ and even writing a report titled, ““Criminals and Scoundrels: The 25 Most Corrupt Officials of the Bush Administration.” ²³ However, there are claims that CREW never published such reports targeting policies or officials from the Obama Administration nor Democrat-affiliated organizations or when the Democrats held Congress. ²³

In early 2010 CREW published a report titled, “CREW’s Worst Governors,” ²³ but of the 11 names on the list, only 2 were Democrat and the other 9 were Republican. In addition, a report titled, ““CREW’s Most Embarrassing Reelected Members of Congress 2008” listed reelected members of Congress from that year it claimed were the most dishonest or corrupt. Of the 10 members listed, 7 were Republican and the ither 3 were Democrats. ²³

Other Activities

Activities during the Trump Administration

In keeping with the agenda of its former board chairman David Brock, CREW has been an aggressive opponent of the Trump administration. The so-called “Brocktopus,” which includes CREW, declared an intention to spend upwards of $40 million to oppose the Trump administration in 2017. CREW was reported to be “a particular locus of activity.”²⁴

Just a few weeks into President Trump’s administration, CREW filed an “open records request of all communication between White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and/or FBI Director James Comey concerning improper communication about the pending criminal investigation of Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 election and links between Russian officials and associates of Donald Trump.”²⁵

CREW has also called for investigations of Trump’s business and interests and potential conflicts of interest. The watchdog group claims Trump’s business interest may violate the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.²⁶ CREW claims that Trump is operating in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause because he continues to maintain ownership in business ventures such as hotels where foreign governments and businesses are customers.

CREW also filed complaints against Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president. Conway’s apparent endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s products violated federal ethics regulations, according to a complaint CREW filed with the Office of Government Ethics and White House Counsel’s Office.

In 2020, CREW co-signed a letter addressed to president Donald Trump which advocated for hiring Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioners to reach quorum and to enforce election laws.

Support of H.R.1

In 2019, Norman Eisen, former chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and former US ambassador to the Czech Republic, and Fred Wertheimer, founder and president of Democracy 21, wrote an op-ed for Politico together entitled “How to Fix America’s Broken Political System.” ²⁷

The article discusses the introduction the H.R.1 bill in the House of Representatives in 2019. The bill consists of a package of democracy reforms introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes on behalf of the Democratic House majority. The bill addresses election security reforms, establishing standards for election vendors, providing assistance to states to protect their election systems, and enhancing federal initiatives to respond to threats to election systems.

The legislation addresses Russian President Vladimir Putin’s violations of United States campaign finance laws. In 2016, when Russian agents spent money on campaign advertisements in the United States, they violated a U.S. ban on foreign governments making expenditures to influence local elections. H.R.1 includes disclosure provisions that would allow American citizens to know which advertisements are sponsored by foreign governments.

The H.R.1. bill also seeks to expand the access of voters in the United States to ballots. Voting reforms include requiring states to register voters automatically, to offer online and same-day voter registration options, to expand voting rights to ex-criminals that are no longer serving a sentence, and to establish Election Day as a national holiday.

The H.R.1 bill seeks to create financing systems for congressional and presidential campaigns that allow for candidates to run for office without becoming financially dependent on large campaign donors. It creates a financing system that matches contributions to campaigns of up to $200 with public funds at a 6-1 ratio. ²⁷

Post-Trump Administration Activities

In July 2022, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) called for Department of Homeland Security Inspector General and Trump appointee Joseph Cuffari to step down from his position over claims that he had known about the dealation of text messages from agents’ phones around the time of the January 6th riot at the U.S Capitol Building several months earlier than he had admitted during congressional briefings.²⁸ According to the inspector general’s office, Cuffari had been aware of the deleted text messages by December 2021, which was roughly two months earlier than he had admitted in February 2022. At the time, in July 2022, CREW had asked for the Justice Department and the FBI to open a criminal investigation into the deleted text messages, with CREW senior vice president and chief counsel Donald K. Sherman admitting in a statement, “The Federal Records Act requires that agencies like the Secret Service preserve records so that there is a complete and accurate history of the government’s actions and decisions.” ²⁸

In November 2022, CREW had asked for the resignation of former U.S Capitol Architect and Trump appointee J. Brett Blanton after an Inspector General report claimed that Blanton had, “violated every pillar the OIG operates under including theft, fraud, waste, and abuse against not only the AOC but also the taxpayer.” ²⁹
In a statement released, CREW Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel Donald K. Sherman claimed that the report, “warrant[s] the Architect of the Capitol’s removal from his position…[and] demonstrate[s] [Blanton’s] unfitness to serve and to meet the challenges facing that office given the reality of these threats.” ²⁹ Blanton would be fired from his position by the Biden Administration in February 2023. ^{29 30}

On November 3, 2022, CREW released a letter signed by its president Noah Bookbinder to former president Donald Trump claiming that should he run for office again they shall pursue legal action to disqualify those efforts. According to the letter, the organization would base their attempts around Section 3 of the 14th Amendment which claims that a person shall be allowed to hold office should they, “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” ^{31 32} The letter continued by stating, “The evidence that Trump engaged in insurrection is overwhelming…We are ready, willing and able to take action to make sure the Constitution is upheld and Trump is prevented from holding office.” ³¹ On November 15, 2022, Trump announced he would run for reelection for President of the United States. ³³

In March 2023, CREW president Noah Bookbinder released a statement reacting to former president Donald Trump’s indictment in New York state. He stated that, “Donald Trump was the most corrupt president in American history. He was the first president to be impeached twice, and now he’s the first former president to be criminally indicted.” ³⁴
He continued by claiming, “The charges in New York are the first ever brought against him, but they will not be the last.” ³⁴

In May 2023, CREW sent a letter to Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas calling for him to resign from his position due to claims of corruption and ethical failings. CREW president Noah Bookbinder stated that Thomas demonstrated, “a long-standing pattern of conduct to accept and conceal gifts and other benefits received from Harlan Crow, a billionaire political activist,” ³⁵ while failing to, “recuse yourself from cases in which you have a personal or financial conflict of interest. Your conduct has likely violated civil and criminal laws and has created the impression that access to and influence over Supreme Court justices is for sale.” ³⁵ The letter also claims that Thomas failed to recuse himself from, “Supreme Court cases relating to the 2020 election, despite your wife’s active support of and communications with Trump administration officials about former President Donald Trump’s unprecedented efforts to overturn the 2020 election.” ³⁵

In June 2023, CREW published a report claiming that during his term, former President Donald Trump made over $82 million from his properties in Ireland and Scotland (or roughly $25 million from his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, and an additional $58 million from his other properties in Turnberry and Aberdeen, Scotland during that period of time). ³⁶ CREW’s report claims that Trump mixed, “personal financial interests with the national interests of the United States…[taking] every chance he got as president to promote them through stays footed by U.S. taxpayers and relentless promotion to the media.” ³⁶

In February 2024, it was reported that CREW had hired BerlinRosen following the former bringing the disqualification case against former president Donald Trump before the Colorado Supreme Court resulting in Trump’s name being removed from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot. According to an interview by BerlinRosen Vice President Caitlyn McNamee, the firm was hired by CREW to “Correct the record” surrounding media attention that portrayed the campaign as an “Anti-democratic and partisan effort.” ^{37 38} In addition, McNamee stated that they specifically targeted media and audiences that had “Influence within the court” in order to reshape the campaign as a bipartisan effort. ³⁹

Leadership

Noah Bookbinder is the president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for CREW since 2021. He previously served as the Executive Director of Crew from 2015 through 2021. Prior to working at CREW, he served as director of the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at the United States Sentencing Commission from 2013 to 2015, Chief Counsel for Criminal Justice for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee from 2005 to 2013, and a Trial Attorney for the United States Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section from 1999 through 2005. ^{40 41}

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s founding executive director, left the organization in 2014 to form a public affairs firm, Triumph Strategy with ProgressNow founder Michael Huttner. ⁴²⁴³

Donald K. Sherman is the Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel for CREW, as of June 2023. He previously served as CREW’s deputy director. Before CREW, Sherman served in several government positions such as, “Special Assistant to the President for Racial and Economic Justice at the White House, Senior Counsel to Ranking Member Claire McCaskill on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Chief Oversight Counsel to the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, then-Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.” ⁴⁰ Prior to this, he was also, “the Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel for Oversight and Investigations in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).” ⁴⁰ In addition, he formerly served as counsel for the House Ethics Committee. Before working within the government, he practiced at DC office of law firm Crowell & Moring, LLP and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Neil E. Kravitz of the District of Columbia Superior Court. ⁴⁰

Matt Corley is the Chief Investigator for CREW, as of June 2023. Prior to joining CREW, Corley served asAssistant Editor at the Center for American Progress, where he wrote for the pieces ThinkProgress and The Progress Report. ⁴⁰

Jordan Libowitz is the Communications Director for Crew, as of 2023. Prior to CREW, he served on campaigns while working as an organizer for the Alaska Democratic Party. Beforehand, he headed a nonprofit-focused communications consulting firm. ^{44 45 40 40}

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