There’s no way around it, Rj: President Trump has reached new levels of brazen corruption never before seen by a President of the United States.

But Trump is not entirely to blame for this problem.

Last week, I delivered a keynote speech at New York Law School centering on the overarching diminishing trust in elected officials in this country. As a former prosecutor and lead counsel for President Trump’s first impeachment, this is a topic I take very seriously because I’ve seen firsthand how public corruption, when left unchecked, can hollow out the rule of law from the inside.

The title of my remarks was Democracy on the Brink: Corruption and the Public Trust. And the reality is, that’s exactly where we are right now.

No president has disregarded the Constitution as routinely (or as brazenly) as Donald Trump. And I can think of no congressional majority that has so completely surrendered its power and independence to a president as this Republican House has.

But too many Americans simply view all politicians as “corrupt.” They see members of Congress suspiciously trading stocks with impunity. They observe the Supreme Court whittle away the public corruption statute so that it covers nothing.

That’s why I sold all of my individual stocks shortly after becoming a member of Congress. And it’s why I support legislation to ban all stock trading by members of Congress.

And it’s also why this week I introduced the No Gratuities for Governing Act, which would specifically reverse a Supreme Court opinion that held it was permissible for an elected official to accept a “tip” after taking an official action to benefit the tipper.

I intend to lead by example to restore the public trust in elected officials. And in doing so, it will be easier to expose the egregious corruption of Donald Trump and his cronies.

If you believe in my work and stand with me in the fight against corruption, I hope you’ll chip in to support me today:

If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Thanks for standing with me in this fight,

Dan