Must-read: “‘Italygate’ election conspiracy theory was pushed by two firms led by woman who also falsely claimed $30 million mansion was hers”

June 21, 2021, 6:46 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Another crazy, grifty, report on the 2020 election conspiracies, this one from WaPo: Late last December, as President Donald Trump pressed senior officials to find proof of election fraud, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows emailed acting attorney general… Continue reading

TPM: von Spakovsky Involved with Group That Originated Crazy Conspiracy Theory that Italian Defense Contractor Changed Votes from Trump to Biden (via Satellite!) During 2020 Election

June 19, 2021, 8:53 amchicanery, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Josh Kovensky for TPM: For those ready to believe that President Trump really won re-election, there’s one particularly fantastical conspiracy theory to hang your hat on.It’s called ItalyGate, and it offers a simple, direct, and especially implausible claim: An Italian… Continue reading

Redacted Kobach Deposition Transcript and von Spakovsky Cross Examination Transcript Now Available, Includes Discussion of False Claim of Somali American Voter Fraud

March 19, 2018, 7:31 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

This trial is going to go down in the history books. It is the first time the Fraudulent Fraud Squad’s spurious claims of massive voter fraud literally have been put to trial and cross examination. It is not going well… Continue reading

“Kansas May Be The Toughest Place to Vote in America”

October 21, 2015, 4:36 pmelection administration, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

John Hockenberry talks to Kansas SOS (and fraudulent fraud squad huckster) Kris Kobach on The Takeaway. Kobach admits that most noncitizens are registering (or voting) not because they want to commit fraud but because someone else has (mistakenly) told… Continue reading

Must-Read Jane Mayer Profile of Hans von Spakovsky

October 21, 2012, 9:28 pmchicanery, fraudulent fraud squad, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Jane Mayer has written The Voter-Fraud Myth: The Man Who Has Stoked Fears About Imposters at the Polls for The New Yorker. This piece covers similar terrain to The “Fraudulent Fraud Squad” chapter of The Voting Wars , but it… Continue reading

More Hans v. Reality

July 28, 2011, 8:20 amelection administration, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Hans: “A 2010 election in Kansas that ended in a one-vote margin of victory included 50 votes cast illegally by citizens of Somalia.” Reality (Missouri Court of Appeals, affirming the following findings of the trial court) (note that this… Continue reading